British Style: I would advise anyone interested in recreating British style to seek out the book Suburban Style The British Home 1840-1960 by Helena Barrett and John Phillips ISBN 0-356-14054-7

Helen Cottrell in York, England

Cooking in a log cabin: If you are doing a 'really, truly' log cabin, you would do your cooking at/in fireplace. If you go to the Hobby Builders Supply site and do a search for item #0244 or 02441 (brick or stone Colonial fireplaces) you will see how people who lived in log cabins cooked. I teach American history and could rattle on endlessly about reflecting ovens, etc., but those fireplaces will give you an idea.

Pots would have hung from the arm that swings back and forth, or set upon a long legged trivet (sometimes called a spider) with coals piled under and around them. (The pots had flared tops to keep ashes from falling into the food.) The 'holes' on the side are ovens, and would have a cast iron door on them. A fire would have been built inside the oven and then scraped out, and food cooked by means of 'stored heat'.

If you are going to use a wood burning stove, you wouldn't need a fireplace, as the stove would have kept the place *more* than warm enough! The flue from the stove would either go directly thru the wall or up the chimney and the fireplace closed off. Which way would obviously depend upon when the cabin was built. Franklin stoves (fireplace inserts) and 'heating machines' (I suppose you'd call them cast iron furnaces set in the middle of the room) were in use in America as early as the late 1600's, but the idea of cooking on a stove rather than over an open fire apparently didn't begin until 1830-35.

Dani

Stoves: http://www.antiquestoves.com/history.htm

I found this url for "Stoves" and thought that you might be interested in the pictures of stoves from the 18th and l9th centuries in America.

Marcia

Period Styles - A source of period style information is http://www.tulane.edu/lester/text/lester.html. It covers all time periods from ancient Greece to modern day. Not much to do with clothing but it is good for architecture styles, decorating, furniture, etc.

WWII era living - With WWII running from 1939 to 1945, the era in which you'll be decorating is a short one. Many of the items in the homes at the times were from previous decades, with families not having the discretionary income to replace items in the home as they aged. The United States produced a limited amount of furniture during 1941 through 1945, due to devoting their energies to war time productions.

A radio would definitely be found in most homes of the era, to keep abreast of war time news. Radios of the mid 30's to early 40's sported legs and ornate woodwork covering the grill cloth on the single front speaker. The unit doubled as a piece of furniture, and was usually produced in a veneered wood cabinet. These radios were kept as furniture by frugal housewives long after they ceased to be functional as radios. Small pull-up benches were in vogue to sit along side the radio. These were sometimes also called fireside benches.

A telephone table with a nearby chair would set the mood, as would a wooden sewing stand or container to hold Grandma's knitting. This would be next to her chair in the living room. She would also work on hand sewing like mending while she listened to the radio in the evening.

Smoking stands were a popular accessory and would be ideal to display your ashtray and cigarettes. These came in many different styles, and all included a closed door cabinet in which to store smoking items. This enclosed area was often lined with copper and functioned as a humidor to keep tobacco fresh. These stands had their origins in the 20's, but continued on in popularity through the 40's.

With the legalization of liquor in 1933 in the form of the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, cocktail tables and cabinets hit the market. For the general public who did not imbibe, the low tables were advertised as "coffee" tables. These new low tables were often decorated with exotic veneers, or were glass topped with a removable serving tray. Nested tables also gained popularity at this time, allowing the homemaker to entertain guests in limited space.

If you had a desk of some sort in the living room, your ration coupons could be there along with your air mail stationery. Kneehole desks and table desks were popular during the 30's and 40's, but an earlier style would be right at home as a family heirloom piece.

Decorative pottery was a popular collectible of the time, as were aluminum accessories, both of which were preferred wedding gifts of the time. Another popular accessory was sculptural glass pieces.

World War II was a period of great inspiration for poster designers, with slogans such as "Loose Lips Sink Ships" living on still. Graphics such as these would be appropriate in your scene. Buffet mirrors, or wall mirrors with ornate frames are also appropriate wall decoration for the time period. And don't forget framed photos of loved ones, both ancestors and the folks in the military.

Tere Perry in Texas

WWII: All the school children sold garden vegetable seeds for everyone was encouraged to have a "victory garden". Just a tiny plot of land on your property with some veggies for the summer. We sold them to everyone in our neighborhood and everyone planted their little garden. Some of the money from the seeds went to the war effort. Neighbors spent many fun filled evenings working on their adjoining gardens together. Also, when it was time for Gabriel Heater and the news on the radio, most men pulled a chair right up to the radio and listened staring right into the speaker fabric. LOL Quite often I would be asked to rip old sheets my Mom had marked into strips. She and her friends met one afternoon a week to take the ripped sheets and other white cotton strips and roll then into bandages for the soldiers. Often baskets of rolled strips were sitting by her chair in the living room. We also made "ditty bags" for the soldiers including personal items. My Mom was into civil defense and when the practice air-raid sirens would go off, she would go to their headquarters to make phone calls. We would pull down the dark blinds on all the windows. Everyone had fruit cellars in the basement where we kept canned goods and juices, etc. should the air raid ever be a real one.

Sally

Old Time Music: For those WWII room boxes there are illustrations of song sheets etc on http://www.bol.net/overseer5/midisongbook.html

The pics are smallish but not to scale and will require some reduction.

Janet in Christchurch, New Zealand

1920's Flooring: In the 1920's light green and white alternate tiles matched the green porcelain topped tables and rolling carts, cooking utensils also had green handles and enamelware with green edges and towels with green stripes; later on in the 1930's, black and white tiles were used and enamelware pots and pans with red edges and utensils with red handles, and red gingham curtains and towels were more common.

Pat in South Jersey

Carpets - People are always so surprised to find that wall to wall carpet has been around for thousands of years. In America, carpet was only for the very well to do pretty much right through the 1800's. Early American portrait's show people in rooms with wall to wall. What everyone believes and spends thousands of dollars to achieve is that all floors in New England homes were sanded and stained. This is not true. Bare floors were only found in really poor homes. Early settlers put up with these floors only until they could afford carpeting. In service areas and back rooms, floors were painted. Later, when people still could not afford carpeting, the floors were painted and large area rugs were used. That's why in old houses you do not find wide pine floors after the Revolution. Cheap, scrap, wood was used because the floors were going to be carpeted. That's why by the late 1800's you see very narrow floor boards because they were never meant to be exposed, let alone sanded and stained. In homes today where people have spent all that money sanding and staining, the original home owners would be appalled!!! Yet, the first thing a person does when buying an old house is to strip the floor. I do Preservation consulting and once walked into a house where at least $10,000 had been spent stripping floors of mismatched pine of inferior quality and the homeowner was up in arms over the mess and asked what to do. At the time I was not aware of this amount of money spent so I looked around and said "paint them!"

I was not very popular!!!

Steven of Kennebunk

In the south, chimneys were often located on the outside of the house because of the warmer climate, and in the north inside the house to help with additional heat. You also have to consider the locations of fireplaces inside. If you want the chimney coming through part of the mansard, I think it would look more realistic to really have something coming through, not just stuck on. And you might want to add some copper flashing too!

Beth

House Plans: I thought I'd mention the Dover reprint of American Victorian Cottage Homes (full-sized ones, not dollhouses). They are by no means what we'd think of as cottages -- some are about 6 stories high, or townhouses -- but they are often incredibly complicated, with gables everywhere, and towers (but not round ones). There are perspective drawings and elevations and floor plans. Might give you a few ideas. Originally published in 1878 by Palliser, Palliser & Co.

Frances Armstrong

Salt box: I'm not and expert, but what I do know is that the early saltbox had these traits: a room with a brick cooking wall, hearth, bread oven and such. Also in the living room a fireplace, formal, with chair rail if the family could afford it, and almost always, exposed roof beams to hold up the other floor.

The library has a treasure trove of this historic structure. My library has in its art dept.

Susan

Saloons, Taverns 1830s - 1850's: I'm afraid most peoples concept of a 'western tavern' is about 1870 and later. Those fancy kerosene lamps you see in the movies; until oil was "discovered" in PA, there was no kerosene; they used whale oil or candles. Kansas wasn't settled until 1854, the OK land rush was 1880, IA was settled beginning in 1833, South Dakota in 1859, Texas was part of Mexico until 1845. I expect in your time period, the taverns (mostly located east of the Mississippi) were very much like 'colonial'. They would have been multiple rooms, sleeping accommodation would typically be provided, food probably was as important as drink. Most would have had stables for horses. Leather drinking vessels were common, pottery and pewter would also be ok. Cowboys didn't exist in the modern sense. Kitty, Doc and Festes weren't even born yet.

Tom

Gutters and downspouts. In medieval times, they put gargoyles on the roofs to "spit" the water away from the building – so I guess there would have been gutters to collect the water but no real downspouts. I don't know when downspouts came on the scene but I do know that in Savannah, Georgia there are some really old buildings there that have these marvelous downspouts with dolphins at the end to direct the water away from the foundation. I was so fascinated with them that I took pictures hoping to be able somehow to duplicate them for my miniature house. Maybe someone in Savannah could let you know the exact age of those buildings. I plan to put gutters and downspouts on my house. Houseworks makes a gutter molding and I would think drinking straws would probably be convincing looking as downspouts after proper painting.

Doris McIntyre

Terrarium: We'd call it a Terrarium but in the 1860's and beyond it was usually called a Wardian case or a fern case, and it was a popular parlor-window accessory, especially in England, where several species of native ferns got wiped out because of the craze for displaying them.  Think of a glass box sitting atop a soil-filled open box planted with greenery, often with its own table-height legs.  Then think of faking the construction by using small plastic boxes or blister-pack shapes.  To hold the "pieces" of "glass" together, edge all angles with narrow stick-on technical tape (drafting supply) in a metallic color.

Sometimes these cases were pretty fancy, in the manner of Victorian birdcages.  (Give your search engine the words "Wardian Case" for several retail sites showing contemporary copies.) If your hardware store carries Green Thumb brand garden hose accessories, look for their yellow plastic end caps.   The blister pack covering a pair of these is the shape that's maybe called "vaulted" - I'm not sure - but anyway it makes a great starting point.  The plastic's lack of clarity actually helps suggest the moisture inside.  (And the end caps wouldn't be half-bad for contemporary terra cotta planters!)

Mary

Egyptian Resource Site: I've seen pictures of ancient Egyptian room boxes, but there's a wonderful site aimed at theatrical designers that might inspire somebody to recreate other aspects of the ancient world.  Take a look at Period and Style for Designers: www.tulane.edu/lester/text/lester.html.    The site is divided into a number of eras and places, showing exteriors, interiors, furniture and other artifacts, etc. Not all sections are complete  (19th century's skimpy) but you'll find Art Nouveau on one end and on the other some absolutely stunning stuff from Knossos and Pompeii, with wonderful colors and a sense of delight in living.  (Somebody could have fun costuming one of those wonderful little snake priestesses, with their Barbie-doll shapes and flounced skirts!)

Mary

Schoolhouse: I've not watched the TV show, but the book Christy, by Katherine Marshall is a favorite and quite dog-eared.  It's very detailed in the descriptions of the rooms (I used it as a guide in finishing an mountain cabin).  You could probably pick up the book at a used bookstore for a minimal charge and get some good ideas (plus read a wonderful story and probably shed a few tears at the same time).

Paula Isaacs

Matting pictures: All the talking about matting pictures makes me want to point out that matting pictures is relatively modern. Victorians didn't mat pictures. Victorians didn't have coffee tables either, but that's another subject. Being an old antiques dealer, I tend to be a perfectionist about time periods.

Sharon Begley

Witch balls: In England, witch balls used to be hung in house windows (inside) to scare away witches. The idea was that if a witch looked into a house she would see her reflection distorted in the glass ball and be frightened away. Old witch balls have a cork in the top and another story is that the witch’s spirit would be captured inside the ball and would not be able to escape because the ball was sealed. It was obviously very dangerous to take the cork out of a witch ball because of releasing anything bad that had been trapped inside! Some people believe that twisted glass walking sticks were used for the same purpose, again because they would distort a reflection. I have never heard of a witch ball being put in a garden. They were relatively fragile and would not have been able to withstand the weather, at least not in England. I would guess the new ones are appearing in garden centers now just as decorative items-our local center sells all sorts of things that are nothing to do with gardens.

Pat

Victoriana: An interesting site on Victorian living -- http://www.victorianstation.com -- everything from architecture to nightgowns.

Anita Myers

1950s Kitchen: I have seen a wonderful full sized pattern in 1" scale in a book by Joan McElroy. Can't remember the title of the book at the moment, but I'm sure if you punch in her name at your public library 'card catalog' file, you'll find her book. Her patterns are wonderful, and very easy to understand and to build.

Maggie Dickens