Tuesday, March 23, 2010


WOW! Here is a terrific book that I just found "out there"! This book has been needed for a long time. The photos are everywhere and it is easy to find the dolls you are looking for.
I was told years and years ago that two of my dolls were made by Dol-Toi and just recently I posted my Amersham house here on this blog and a fellow blog friend commented that she didn't believe Dol-Toi made dolls. That got me to wondering.
Thanks to this book I found that Dol-Toi did in fact make dollhouse dolls, and mine closely resembled their first dolls....but mine were not Dol-Toi!
Now I have discovered that my two dolls were designed by Katie Berl in 1943 and manufactured by the Grand Products Co. as their "Mini Doll" line! Pictured in the book was a "brother" to my Mr. Dol-Toi! (I suppose now Mr. and Mrs. Dol-Toi shall have to change their names to Mr. M. Line and Mrs. Mini Line!! ) Oh well!
Here is a wonderful new book and you can order it by emailing: USA-info@schifferbooks.com or in England - info@bushwoodbooks.co.uk. I paid $50 plus shipping but it is well worth the cost!

8 comments:

  1. Louise, the trouble with this wonderful book is that I want one of every doll pictured!! It can be found a bit lower in price on Amazon...

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  2. Hi Florine! Good to hear from you again! See, I just knew I might be the only one who has never seen this book before...haha! I did buy it from Amazon and forgot that it was $36 which is alot cheaper than the price quoted on the back of the book! I should add that to the blog---thanks for reminding me! I've been playing and sorting in my dollhouse room this past week so I'm all into my minis again right now! Have fun..thanks alot. Louise

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  3. I just ordered this book last week! I corresponded with Marcie Tubbs a few years ago when we both bid on some wonderful Erna Meyer dolls on ebay - back in the days when you could see the identity of other bidders! So I just looked up her book recently, and ordered it here in Australia. Must get in touch with her again, too!
    The ad book by Dian Zillner looks great too. I only have one of her books - now I'm not sure which one to get next. I was thinking of the International Dollhouses, as I believe that has some Australian makes in it.
    As for 'Dol-toi didn't make dolls', Zillner & Cooper has pictures of Dol-toi dolls, and they are what we had as kids! I must look again at the dolls in your Amersham - but most Dol-toi dolls are quite recognisable, with long thin plastic faces.

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  4. Ah, now I have looked and seen that it was me who commented about the dolls maybe not being Dol-toi! But what I said was that I didn't know Dol-toi made wooden dolls, as the dolls I have seen have plastic heads, metal feet and are made of wire wrapped with yarn (that's what their hands look like). And there were, I believe, older ones with button heads wrapped in fabric - but no doubt all of this is in the Tubbs book! I'm so glad the dolls in your Amersham house are in the book too, as I had never seen them before!
    cheers, Rebecca :-)

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  5. Hi Rebecca....thanks alot for the comments! I had forgotten who commented on the Dol-toi dolls...but like you said, I am THRILLED to know who actually made them. In this new doll book, they have a photo of the "old" Dol-toi dolls and they did look very similar to mine. I believe the book says that they had big flat metal feet however and mine have big, flat WOOD feet! Rebecca....I don't know if you are interested or not, but I am selling a whole dollhouse collection and I have all of the dollhouse books, including the Zilner books, etc. If you are interested, I will get the titles for you and we could come up with a very good price for you since you have to pay shipping. Let me know if you're interested. I will be posting all on ebay soon but I'm getting ready for a knee replacement surgery so I don't know how much that is going to slow me down. Maybe it will be good ebay time...who knows! I enjoy your input and comments alot. Hugs, Louise

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  6. Ladies...Florine...I agree...I thought I had a lot of dollhouse dolls until this book arrived! Well, now I have new "wishes" I guess. Rebeccca, Marcie Tubbs has been in my national dollhouse club...we've run into each other over the years as well. I'm just so pleased to see that she put together this wonderful book with Zilner!! What a treat for all of us! I'll check the International Dollhouse Book for you to make sure there are Australian dollhouses in it for you. I'll get back to you soon. I love that book but I have all of her books and each one is very special! I LOVE my books almost as much as my dollhouses! Hugs, Louise

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  7. Louise, I agree about the books! I will take one with me when I know I will have a long wait somewhere....car repair, doctor's office...makes the waiting almost fun!

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  8. Yes, Florine....I will be taking this book along with me for a year I'm sure. I love being able to pick up a new book and explore all the bits about these new-to-me dolls. I am still thrilled that Marcie put this book together for us.... I love dollhouse dolls and have over 800 of them but each one is special and without them my dollhouse town would seem dead. Each one of them has a personality!! Hugs...L

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