CDHM The Miniature Way
Dollhouse Tourism, Page 3
August 2010, Issue 7
Litho paper solved a world of problems: clapboard siding, brick, Persian rugs, parquet floor, tile and even woodwork, sconces and furniture could be represented in brilliant color and in three dimensional appearance.
The next step in this lithographic revolution was the appropriately named Bliss company. This Rhode Island company made lithographed dollhouses from 1889 to 1914 before being taken over by Mason & Parker, who continued the dollhouse manufacturing tradition into the 1920s.
Bliss houses are some of the hottest collectibles on the market today, all the more so if their lithographed interiors and exteriors are still vibrant and unmarked by water stains or fading and complete with their equally vibrant lithoed furniture collection.
In 1925 The Dowst Brothers Company of Chicago created a Colonial "Tootsietoy Doll House" made of container board (corrugated) and metal fasteners that could be shipped in a ½ inch deep box. Painted in seven colors with oil paint, this house was the ultimate easy-clean toy.
Tootsietoy continued manufacturing dollhouses and furniture into the '30s. along with Arcade, Hubley, Kilgore, Realy Truly, Tynietoy and Schoenhut.
Until WWII devastated the entire continent of Europe and created a scarcity of many resources.
Custom Dolls, Houses & Miniatures / CDHM