Dolls House, kit-built (Romside)

Exhibit
Dolls House, kit-built (Romside) (i)
location:
Arch Two , Area 72 Arch Two, Overhead

1956: "If your customers wish to make their own Doll's House, sell them the parts!" An advertisement for Romside Dolls' House Fittings, from one of the companies producing dollhouse kit parts [image info]

A doll's house with garage, using kit parts produced by The Romside Manufacturing Company, who were advertising similar-looking windows and doors to the trade in the mid-1950s.

Dollhouse kits

A number of makers did sell sets of component parts for dollhouses, as this let them produce and sell sets of their speciality "feature" pieces such as doors and windows, without having to invest in building, stocking, transporting and selling an entire dollhouse each time they sold a set.

From the buyer's point of view, sets of dollhouse plans and parts allowed someone with a bit of woodworking experience to put together a dollhouse much more cheaply that buying one ready-made, but still with a professional finish thanks to the paste-on papers providing wallpapers, slates and brickwork and the small specialised details such as windowframes.

It was also nice for a parent with sufficient time to actually make their child's dollhouse, as this added a more personal touch to the gift.

However, the proliferation of dollhouse spare parts and accessories means that there are quite a few dollhouses in existence that look commercial, but which are impossible to find in any catalogue, and impossible to date.

Picture of the dollhouse

External links

• Romside metal dolls house components (rebeccascollections.blogspot.co.uk)