Love at First Sight

It all started when I first clapped eyes on Little Loosie's Keystone Put-Away (circa 1949), it just spoke to me!

  Look at these lovely lithos...

(Photograph © S. Schafer 2013)

...and the inside, well! More fab lithos,a fitted kitchen and a buit-in shower!!!

(Photograph © S. Schafer 2013) 

Oddly, the one thing I DIDN'T like about my childhood dolls' house  (Toy Works, 1970's) was the lithographed interior - what could be more annoying than putting a T.V. into a room which already has a T.V. litho'd on the wall? But the Keystone lithos make TOTAL sense!

So how could I get my hands on one??

A quick search on the Internet and a beautiful "1949 Delux Keystone Put Away" was found, for sale on Ebay - hoorah!   Item location: Arlington, Texas, USA - oh dear - over 4500 miles away!

Well never mind - determined not to be daunted by either the distance or sale price (US$395 roughly £260), I contacted the seller only to discover that it would cost US$500 /£330 JUST TO SHIP!!! 

Disaster! Clearly I couldn't justify a total cost of $895 / £590 for a little Masonite (hardboard to us Brits.) house - well not to my husband at any rate, it actually seemed like a 'no brainer' to me!

Neither could I talk my husband into emigrating to Texas and so, being a tenacious and resourceful sort, I decided:

I'll make my own!

(My dolls' house motto has always been; "How hard can it be to make one of those?")

Next thing I know I'm in my local antique shop and the owner is telling me she has an "interesting" old dolls' house out the back that I might like to see. (She'd been putting it out the front of the shop all week, in between rain showers, in the hope that I would pass by and see it - yes, I have history in her shop!)

And so Droopy, came into my life.  She was only £15 and needed a home and some TLC...

I think you can see why I named her Droopy!

I am so excited... DROOPY WILL BECOME MY KEYSTONE PUT-AWAY!!!

I have examined her layout and measured her dimensions and everything tells me she is up to the job.  I have of course, asked her permission and her resounding answer was; 

"Yes, I very much want to start a new life under an assumed identiy - I would love to be your Keystone Put-away!" (All my houses talk to me, same as my dogs).

Oh joy! 

She won't be an exact copy of the original Keystone Put-Away but she will be a good look-a-like with 'Handy Deluxe' modifications (well that's the plan at any rate!).

So, I've now been to my local DIY store and am armed with my 'Masonite' and paint and I'll be making a start on the outside in the next few days.

I'll keep you posted!

P.S. Take a look at Little Loosie's excellent vintage US dollhouses at:

http://happylittleworlds.blogspot.co.uk