And Now, For the News...

I wouldn't normally post about something not directly related to the 1978 house, however, this was really good so I wanted all of the site followers to know about it. This new documentary is on Hulu (hopefully you are watching The Handmaid's Tale!) and is called, "Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mnC4LVGkr4

It is definitely a thought provoking watch, and we certainly all have our opinions about Barbie, what she stands for and what she means to children and the world. I think the dialogue is important because we still live in a world where women's rights, values and respect in the work place (especially in politics) are questioned. It seems to me that Barbie's image/purpose/message has traditionally been a two fold dichotomy. For one, (recounting the early years especially) she is the ultimate physical* ideal (tall, thin, young and blonde), on the other hand, she is also dons many career hats. Since in reality, people do not usually excel in physicality AND intellect, this presents an interesting cross roads for the perception of Barbie and consequently, dreams of being a grown up. 

Do I endeavor to be absolutely physically gorgeous/fashionable (at the risk of being shallow), or do I become a doctor, pilot or mathematician? Is there the pressure to be both gorgeous and successful? Is being tall, thin and blonde the only route to physical adoration? So many issues coming all at once! So, the documentary focuses on the new line of bodies that came out in recent years under the name, Project Dawn. I guess that means, dawn of a new era. I think that Mattel had an interesting challenge. In the world of the 50's it was socially acceptable to be a content house wife who was just beautiful and nice and thats about it (think Betty on Mad Men). 

Since probably the mid 60's that view dramatically shifted and especially now with shifting demographics, there are many, many many different versions of beautiful (color, height, width, etc). Mattel could either stay the course and keep her unrealistically thin and blond, or really, really change with the times (not just playing dress up with "teacher barbie" or "army barbie" and completely reinvent herself inside and out. Some would say (they did), "the PC police got her hands on barbie", or "why not have a healthy barbie who exercises rather than make a fat barbie", or "what child wants to be given fat barbie for a gift?", or even "fat barbie needs dad bod ken", "Let's call her Barbie's chubbie cousin, Carbie". 

All are valid questions, however, ultimately I am in the 'change with the times' camp, children are supposed to relate to their doll and dream through the doll about growing up. So few of us can relate to being tall, thin, blond and gorgeous. I do wonder once all the clothes have been played with and mixed up, how on earth will people know what size fits what in the future (when purchasing after market). A major feature of the toy line was always that the clothes are universal, as are the cars and accessories, so changing the size of the body can introduce some new challenges. Regardless, the world evolves and so did our glamour girl. Hope you enjoy the film. 

What are These?

Just came across it tonight, I guess it's a Moschino window store dressing. Nice reimagineering of the house. They thought of the furniture, too, and is a yellow/pink hybrid.

I am guessing this is a dog house? Either way, it's so weird I love it!

I'm not personally a member, but was noticing how similar the current Mattel reference to the Dreamhouse is to the 1978-1979 Barbie A Frame Super Star Era Dream House doll house is:

Revisiting the 1980 Commercial

I am not sure why it took 2 years for the commercial to come out (if the date on the video is accurate), but there it is, nearly identical to the 1982 commercial, just sans the grandparents. I have not yet found one that goes to the pink house.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imW-7f1GZmA

 I don't remember if I got mine for Christmas or not, I was about 5 years old.

Showing the furnished rooms of the house. 

Gramma putting the bow and tag on before Tracy comes down. 

Gramma and Mom wishing they had this when she was a little girl. 

Here's the money shot, the home in all of it's glory. 

The windows are pretty neat! One of mine is loose, so I am planning to drip hot wax on the hinge and see how that tightens it. 

Notice how they always elevate the house to make it seem bigger? They could have just hired little people, too!  

CAD House and 3D Printing Options

This was a fun watch:

CAD Video Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lfH0ph_e38

I found out you can print 3D in different colors now. The details on this one are remarkable and of course leaps and bounds better than the Worlds Smallest Homes houses. You can even custom select the color you want! Hopefully the Cottage will appear someplace online soon. =-) 

The 1982 Dream House Commercial - "Best Christmas Wishes"

I just today found this commercial, I thought there was only the original 1970's one that included the grandparents, but here it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNHWaFOcUGw

The commercial really shows off the beauty of the home. I noticed they always use little girls that are somewhat small in stature when advertising dollhouses so that the house looks bigger, and it does. Sometimes, on my knees I am that height so I can somewhat relive having the house when I was a wee tot. Admittedly, when I am done refurbishing these houses they look as good as the commercial making it all the more critical to restore them upon arrival rather than just immediately displaying.

Here they go again subtly elevating the house on a hidden platform to make it seem bigger. Its cheating, but then I like my house displayed at eye level to make it seem more impressive.

As Seen in Recent Pop Up Ad

Every once in awhile the spitting image of the house appears in pop culture or random advertising. Today I spotted this and wondered if it was inspired by the house or just random coincidence.

Unicorn Sightings

They could still happen, one day you just might walk into your local thrift store or antique mall and there it is...

One time I responded to a Craigslist ad for shelving. It was nice store quality shelves, in an old woman's garage, she had liquidated her doll booth someplace, she had an enormous collection packed into this old ratty garage, lots of 70's stuff, Mego Cher, Jem and the 1980 pool play set, but alas no A Frame ( I did ask).

You'll see them at flea market booths now and then:

Goodwill: $30

And at estate sales: 

Seeing the 1978 barbie a frame dream house on Facebook is becoming a unicorn sighting since it is rarer and rarer these days. I think most of the attics, barns, basements and guest room closet finds are just about done with these days. Collector's like us are holding on to the one's we have and sadly so many are being broken down and painted to be something else entirely. Here is a recent facebook find: near complete, fading minimal, round trip drive under 2 hours and price very reasonable: 

If I was looking for a house, I would get one this way. You'll remember my nightmare ebay seller experiences from the past. This way what you see is what you get, no overseas claims department situations or mountain of garbage to sort through for small pieces or clean up afterwards. It would be difficult to replace mine since I have the custom one of a kind post cover parts that another collector had specially made that are better than the originals and will never turn yellow, I have polished mine with plastique restore finish so all the flat matte surfaces of the house shine like diamonds, and the window assortment is cherry picked from 8 houses worth of windows to get the best carat pane clearness and frame darkest yellow color clarity. Plus, the flower boxes have a ton of upgraded aquarium and specialty silk florals. So, I think the house I have managed to put together is a keeper for the long haul. I imagine it will be real special find in the 2060's when I do get ready to sell it along with everything else before moving into a retirement home. =-0 

A "FREE" (with patio triangles) house is a unicorn sighting. The catch: a 4-6 hour round trip into Appalachian country. But they do exist! Just needs a complete restoration but that should only take about a week and maybe 3 trips to the store. Now, where do you put this mammoth structure? This could be my neighbor, or on the street on garbage pick up day and I honestly have no place to put it. In fact, the one I have is going back into the closet to make room in the guest bedroom. Oy! 

Welcome Home!

If you repaint your A Frame you could get it this bright white again. Normally, perfectly white walls and railing make even faded roofs and yellow parts look dark and rich by comparison. 

ad advertisement paperwork brochure vintage original

How/Where Do I Collect the 1970s Dream Furniture?

So, I see this question posted a lot, the best/quickest way is always Ebay, you do have to stalk it for awhile to get a complete, affordable set in nice condition. The way I did it was to check every few days for pieces, purchase them when they were reasonable prices, search random lots for small missing pieces. Eventually, I ended up with like 8 ovens and 6 green desks, so this enables one to pick out the mintiest pieces, sell the rest, mark up the shipping and hopefully net the pieces you keep for free. Sometimes there are tons of stuff on ebay, sometimes not. But, this week, here is what I found, the bulk of the 1978 Dream Furniture line in one set for $30, you would still need to do some collecting (and cleaning) but that's the fun in collecting vintage pieces.

If you scour long enough you should be able to amass the entire collection sooner or later, and then sell all the pieces you don't want to help pay for it. 

Alternately, you can make some retro stuff like this hanging egg basket style chair I made from thermostat wire. I used photos from google as inspiration, you can add a seat cushion, or make it out of white wire for a crisper more modern look. I like the brown because I have made several things that look like wood from it, very easy to work with, just need a vision, some down time to craft it and a pair of wire cutters. It's very inexpensive, so you could buy miles of it if you wanted.

I always wanted a 1960's orange chimney/chiminera for my AFrame, along wit a white stair case, so since an offordable one of the correct scale is unavailable, I finally just made my own, I used a 99 cent auto fluid spout but you could easily make one from paper board cones, this was too time intensive to sell them online, but it was fun, my only regret is that I didn't have the orange spray paint to tone down the fluorescent orange plastic color, otherwise its not bad, I jut need to make a fire poker set and log basket.

FYI the starburst clock is an IKEA christmas ornament with a home made clock piece made from a beer bottle cap. Yes, I have way too much time on my hands, no pun intended. lol The white wall art was a greeting card with a wood cut out, I removed the card and painted it white, acrylic paint works best, the table base is a napkin ing, the green shag carpet is a phot frame cover from dollar store, the Eames chair was a pink barbie one I repainted and contact papered, though its more for 8 inch scale figs. the TV is the 1988 pink microwave contact papered, turned around and black poster board added. Voila! - a mid century lounge. complete with 60s magazines from cut outs. Below is the inspiration:

Evidently, it pays to follow local thrift shops on Instagram, I'm certainly motivated now. Two things sicken me about this post: 1. I never walk into a thrift store and see anything like this. 2. I don't know what they priced it at, but having browsed thrift shops for 30 years now, more often than not, vintage toy boxes up to 70 years old are wrapped up in boxing tape and cheap price stickers slapped all over the brittle paper box labels making the tape and price labels a new permanent part of it, AND the prices so low, God only knows what hapless shopper will pick this up not knowing or caring these are nearly 50 years old, bought it for their kiddo and discard all of the packaging and such to the garbage can. I wish every thrift store had an ebay account so they could be sold correctly to protect these rare time capsules from pilfering and waste. I'd like to think an astute collector snagged these and preserved them in their collection at home. 

Vintage, First Hand Memory of the 1970s and 1980s Barbie Dream A Frame Doll House

Picture it, Georgia, 2001. In my mid 20's, I was with my elderly mom visiting her friend in the suburbs of Atlanta. We had gone out to lunch and on the way back to the friend's house, as I was riding in the back seat, I looked out the car window and saw in a parking lot one of those donation drop off metal containers/hoppers where people leave clothes and other household items. It had been awhile since they had done a pick up and it was overflowing with stuff, at the bottom of the pile, sitting next to the container was an A frame house, old and dirty. My heart raced, I was too embarrassed to speak up and ask her to pull over so I could have it, but the waste of just driving on and not picking up a free A frame house was too much. I directed her attention to it (as she had young grand daughters) and said, look a free doll house. She said, "Not interested, just another thing I'd have to clean". The light turned green and off we went. I am sure the charity that picks up that location eventually had a volunteer snag it for a close to nothing, or sold it at a store for $20.

I did recently watch a youtube video where somebody was driving and saw one beside a house and she knocked on the door, they sold it to her for $20, so you never know! I still scan the streets on garbage day just hoping beyond chance that I will luck out one day and snag one.

More Musings and Observations on the Architect's Inspiration

Generally, how I describe the house is "long sloped roof line, often asymmetrical with a 'broken gable/shed roof design', front facing gable, 1970s suburban house with balcony, diagonal slats". Here are some design elements present in Barbie's 1970s and 1980s Dream Doll House.

This one just needs red trim and yellow front doors. 

 Great artist rendering here.

 This is how I imagine the house to be theoretically decorated.

 Groovy!

here are the mysterious diagonal slats, so often featured in 70s granola houses, often, the living room accent wall was slats (I have seen them coming back into style now).

This one is right near my house, tons of 1970's Spanish contemporary single family homes in the area. Common are the dramatic cathedral ceilings, Spanish tile roofs, white or cream stucco and a front piazza.

I have never seen an egg shaped BBQ, but I have seen this before, an egg shaped TV, maybe this is what the 1980 BBQ designer saw for his or her inspiration.

Congratulations for scrolling all the way to the bottom, here is the popcorn picture for you, the real life green desk from the 1978 Dream Furniture line, featured on season 3 of Dynasty in Alexis' Denver condo. Luckily, we can just barely see it beyond her yuge shoulder pads.

This reminds me of the 1980 BBQ. Recent craigslist posting for a table.

This hotel was recently renovated, and as most renovations on vintage mod stuff go, white and bright garish colors transform to black, chrome and glass, a newer sleeker look. This circle within squares pattern is reminiscent of the flower box pattern and side wall of the 1980 pool set. 

I know Ive seen those windows before somewhere! Here, Elvis sits with his mother and a friend. Is he throwing shade on Gladys? 

Cary Grant's southwest home. 

So, the green slumpy, bean bag chairs of the 1977 Dream Furniture line that I have never liked, really did exist, here they are in beige in a high end consignment store, here in California. 

Small local Mom & Pop shop, similar lines, just needs to be white! 

In Sacramento, just needs to be white! Nature the diagonal slats over the garage that should of course been the flat, modern, non paneled type. with of course a mod light fixture, not Mediteranean style!! 

Here's a condo building in the SE. I noticed the classic A Frame lines immediately, here seen painted in late 70's early 80's natural neutral earth tones. Notice the diagonal slat balcony railings and box shaped bump out staircase, small rectilinear windows and full foliage surrounding. 

                   A Mid Mod Episcopalian retirement community, loving the atrium style staircase. 

How fantastic is this ocean view from the master bedroom? Here, you can visually discern the three house sections where the vertical studs bookend the glass doors. This is my favorite picture I have ever  seen of the architect's inspiration for the house. 

I think this is an artist's conception of how people snap off the wall pilar posts to make themselves an overly large cluster pile o'house, notice the mis-matched yelllow and pink:

The Palm Springs treatment:

I am sure this house exists out there somewhere to this day, I'm hoping to get lucky enough to find one like it next time I buy a real home:

Imagine how fun the magazine cover below was when it first came out. How light, modern and fun was a house like this? It boggles the mind this level of coolness and modernity is now 70 years old! 

This house probably used to be immaculate. Of course like with any property, the wrong owners will ruin it as we can see with the overgrown flora, late 1980's green, unstained or painted railing, dilapidated hot tub, and lack of any style or decor anywhere to be seen. It is wooded, and so would be my dream home in real life. =-/ 

I'm sure this one used to be immaculate when it was new, also. Now, with the ravages of time and poor taste, it languishes. Overgrown, a strange, unsafe balcony redo, and lack of any decor or stylistic touches, this home now rots in the woods. Shame, it has so much potential. 

Just needs a balcony and some plantar boxes. =-)