Dolls' Houses Past & Present

I am going a bit off this hobby when I see mini condoms in packs and used condoms, laxitive medicines, all for sale. I can accept loo-rolls  and little Dol-toi loo roll holders but I think that the other items are a step too far. Why this bad taste realismn - or am I just being prudish?

I suppose it's a question of how much realism and how much dolls'-house-ness you want in your hobby, Rosemary. I definitely veer towards the dolls'-house-ness end of the scale myself. Indeed, scale or rather lack of it is also a part of that continuum. I'm quite happy with lack of realism and scale inconsistencies once the overall feel of a house is "right" for me - but "rightness" is something none of us will probably ever be able to define...

Now we know why your Grecon population is booming Rosemay, joking apart agree with you.

I confess that I have (empty) packs of these latex essentials in the bedroom drawers in 123, No 50, and the students house, and Belle has a pack of the Pill. There's Tampax in the girls' rooms in the students house, too. Chris Shepherd made some mid-60s Kotex packs to commission for me for 123 and No 50. All the houses have analgesics and antacids, and all but the students have laxatives. The ritual Friday night dose of Syrup of Figs for the children, whether they needed it or not, was a fact of life in many working-class homes from Victorian times until the practice gradually faded away, starting sometime after WWII, so there's a bottle of the stuff in both the Shukers' cottage (1900) and Brenville (1933). A few mothers were still administering it routinely in the 1960s. Ads for Andrews' Liver Salts and other aperients aimed at adults were common throughout the 20th century - they were in almost every medicine cabinet. Working class Victorian and Edwardian women such as Ellen Shuker, bearing a baby almost every year, bought bottles of iron-based tonics when they could afford them, in attempt to relieve the symptoms of chronic anaemia - Ellen has one on the shelf. (And she's just learned about Rendell's pessaries!). My houses are as accurate a portrayal of social history as I can make them. Realism rules for me - but I do draw the line at showing these items after they've been used!

Ha ha, not suitable for children though, well young children.

I have few meds in the cupboards/ on the shelves of my 1/12s - Nicotinell, Calpol, Nurofen etc, but no vintage style ones, though I would if I saw them for sale. I don't like having headaches! I prefer to ignore menstruation, it's such a drag.

Apart from social realism in collectors' dolls houses, perhaps they also have another purpose? Dolls houses are used by psychologists and counsellors with children, and if the children have suffered abuse, had parents who were drug users or prostitutes, having such items in miniature might help the children play out their experiences, perhaps.

Never thought of that Rebecca.

Jan at May 18, 2017 at 4:28 PM

Now we know why your Grecon population is booming Rosemay, joking apart agree with you.

LOL Jan!!!

It was the used condom in the pictures from the Kensington Fair that got me. I have no objection to Syrup of Figs!

The booming population of Greconville is a bit of a mystery to me. I have always felt that their feet of lead would mostly keep them firmly on the ground - I remember that Marianne's romp with Dave was quite difficult to achieve. On the other hand, had precautions been taken, the tale would have had a different outcome by having no outcome at all.

I suppose since Greconville is my place of escape from Brexit, the forthcoming election  and the antics of Mr Trump, I really don't want to see too much realism when I open the doors of the tiny residences. It is my escape and fantasy world.

"I remember that Marianne's romp with Dave was quite difficult to achieve. On the other hand, had precautions been taken, the tale would have had a different outcome by having no outcome at all."

A true LOL, Rosemary!

I'm not keen on "used" chamber pots in miniature, neither, nor the puddles of vomit which were sold on eBay a few years ago!

Incidentally, if anyone does want to supply their dolls houses with prophylactics, they're made by Delph Miniatures:

http://store.delphminiatures.co.uk/

Type condom into the search box on the site's home page. (I couldn't get the full URL for the specific page to post).

There is also an eBay seller who has some listed just now.

Badger at May 18, 2017 at 7:52 PM

I have few meds in the cupboards/ on the shelves of my 1/12s - Nicotinell, Calpol, Nurofen etc, but no vintage style ones, though I would if I saw them for sale. I don't like having headaches! I prefer to ignore menstruation, it's such a drag.

Lots of empty outer boxes for vintage medicines are available from Shepherd Miniatures:

https://shepherdminiatures.com/ ;

All Chris Shepherd's boxes are TRUE 1:12 scale, so look acceptable in 1:16 houses, too!

It's quite easy to fake vintage packaging if you have a colour printer, it doesn't even have to be a terribly good one. There are so many images of practically everything on the web that it is generally possible to find an image of what you want, then reduce it to whatever size required and mock up the flat package on your computer, print, glue to thin card, cut out, fold and glue. And a  little bit of antique Briwax helps to age almost anything  

I like your Briwax tip Edel it works so well.

I can see why some of you do go into detail with such items but, as some say, we do have different approaches.  I try to make my houses and dolls look as real as possible but there is a lot of stuff I don't use.  I suppose one could say my houses and dolls give as realistic impressions as I can achieve but it doesn't matter to me that lots of little things are missing.  I only go so far and the rest is in dreamland,

e.g.  I don't have radiators or fires (apart from one or two in each house) and there are no electric heaters.  What I say is that dolls are different and don't need everything we have.

Maddy says:

...dolls are different and don't need everything we have.

You're right Maddy - but some dolls do seem to need more than others!

Thinking about an animal family for the art deco house so they will need flea treatment and wormer.

Apart from a small pot of Nivea in my Stockie, my dolls houses are lacking in such things.  

We never used Syrup of Figs in our house preferring a bowl of prunes for breakfast if necessary, or rhubarb when in season. Senna Pods were my Aunt's favourite remedy.  In our medicine cabinet could be found Iodine, Cotton wool, Surgical Spirit, Permanganate of Potash, Calamine Lotion, Beecham's Pills, Aspirins, Cod Liver Oil, Oil of cloves for toothache, plasters, a roll of bandage, several strips of torn sheet bandages rolled up, lint, ajar of Vick's Vapour Rub, & a Thermometer in a case.  How am I going to get all THAT in a Dolls House cupboard?

Aspro was a favourite in our home being migraine sufferers, but good old Beechams Powders are a godsend for me now, you would have to store them under the sink Val, rather a lot though.

Most of my 'residents' are seniors - so they are unlikely to need to avoid a pregnancy. They are also incredibly healthy and do not need medication. Loo rolls - well they don't have any at the moment, so perhaps they should invest......

Seriously though, I share my houses with visiting children and am not about to put myself into the firing line of explaining to the offspring of others exactly what condoms or the pill are for. No,  I think my dolls' house people can keep such items in drawers or medical cabinets, if they feel the need, and I won't check on them!


Vomit? Euw! It isn' something I would leave lying around on my own house floors (even in my long past student days), so I'm assuming that, should there be an unfortunate, upset stomach or over-indulgence event, Grandma Jean would deal with it before anyone else could see it.

My houses tend to be furnished using the slightly unrealistic 50s  furniture of the Barton/Twigg/Dol Toi kind and I feel no need to have the totally realistic extras that might appear in a student house share. Perhaps I might branch out into more realism if I even make a modern 1/12 kit up. I've nothing against the idea in principle -except the used condom or vomit either of which would make me evict mt residents, real or miniature. It is just just don't particulalry want such items in the houses I have just now and find it hard enough to find the essential furniture etc. without buying them extras.

HOWEVER - Jan, if you ever come across flea powder in 1/16 scale, we hav a little dog that appears in a perpetually scratching pose, so let me know, as we probably need it!