How A Dolls House Inspired A Book – MEMORIES OF BYGONE OXFORD SHOPS

I have just returned from a very special book signing of a lovely lady who I have had the privilege to know for several years now. I am sure she will not mind me telling you that she is just 79 years young!

The lady in question is called Hazel Bleay and she has been a member of the Thame dolls house club (MTM) for quite some time. It was when Hazel began to create a miniature version of The Cadena (a cake shop and cafe that was situated in Oxford but now long gone ) that she found the inspiration to write an entire book on the old shops of Oxford. At last  Memories Of Bygone Oxford Shops has now been published and is available to purchase (see details below).  Hazel was born and bred in Oxford and is quite a character, as anyone who knows her would agree! Her book is purely based on her own very special memories.

Whether you know Oxford or not, I am sure you will find this book fascinating as it is oozing with black and white photographs of wonderful old shops as they appeared over many decades. 

Memories Of Bygone Oxford Shops, is priced @ £9.95, published by Robert Boyd Publications of Witney and is now for sale at Blackwells in Broad Street, Oxford and both Oxford and Thame branches of Bookhouse.

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A Miniature Version Of A Hoover 262 Vacuum Cleaner - Made By DCA

I have recently put up for sale on KT Miniatures website a wonderful vintage miniature version of a Hoover Model 262 vacuum cleaner. It is an upright model and comes complete with the original flex and two pin plug on the end....fantastic!

On the base of the model there is an abundance of helpful markings and apparently this miniature vacuum cleaner was made in England by a company called DCA. A quick search on Google reveals that this particular 262 model  (the real life sized one) was first made in 1939 then produced again after the war by Hoover from 1945 to 1949.

To be honest, I have seen this particular miniature vacuum cleaner before and  always assumed that it originated from the 1950s.  But an advert that was kindly forwarded to me by Marion Osborne, shows that this miniature upright version of the Hoover 262, although made by DCA,  was actually being sold in 1948 by a company called Bailey’s Agencies of 51 Farringdon Road, London EC1.

(Special thanks to Marion Osborne for kind permission to use this image)

As you can see from the old advert, the little hoover was being sold for just 2/1d!  The only piece of information that I have been able to find out about Bailey’s Agencies is that it no longer appears to be in existence at that address.....and that no 51 Farringdon Road is now a cafe. I have also endeavoured to find out more about this DCA company but sadly to no avail. The only other known dolls house size item to my knowledge made by DCA, is a Jones Sewing Machine. To date, I have never been able to lay my hands on one of those and have only ever admired from afar....they are like gold dust and more valuable than the vacuum cleaner!

Does anyone have any information about the DCA company or even Bailey’s Agencies that you can share with us on here? (I can't even find out what the initials DCA actually stand for). Also, other than the vacuum cleaner and sewing machine, does anyone know of anything else that DCA made for dolls houses?

CLICK HERE to view the full listing of the DCA Hoover on KT Miniatures

Dolls House Fair Bank Holiday Monday Not THE Thame Fair!

I have received a number of emails and phone calls over the past few days asking if the Thame Dolls House Fair advertised to take place at Thame Leisure Centre next Bank Holiday Monday is anything to do with the wonderful annual February fair and if I am having a stand. I can categorically say NO, this definitely has absolutely no connection with the Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair which takes place every February and sorry no, I will not be having a stand at Monday's event.

Bit Of Fun- Madame Aimee Zing!

I have now been a member of MTM of Thame since 2002 (local miniaturist club here in Oxfordshire) and very rarely do I ever get to start, let alone finish a club project due to there never being enough hours in the day, as my time is usually totally consumed with KT Miniatures work, family and life! In fact I am ashamed to say that the very last club project I actually completed was a shop front based on the local coffee house here in Thame and that was back in 2004!!!

The club's 2010 project of a seaside stall was set months ago and I envisaged,as like previous years,  it would be another non starter for me as time is so limited but on the spur of the moment decided to take a day off and spend an entire blissful day making for pure fun....(I'm not kidding, have not done that for years)!  It is not quite finished, needs some tweaking but here it is anyway ....Madam Aimee Zing - A Seaside Fortune Teller's Kiosk. I know it sounds a bit corny but hey....what the heck! It has been great fun to do.

I was presented with a basic wooden structure of a simple stall consisting of a back, a base and counter front which a husband of one of the club members made for everyone and our brief was to make it into a seaside stand/shop/kiosk. I never thought to take a "before" photo but bit late now, never mind. After a scan on Google under various headings such as gypsy caravan, fortune teller etc, managed to get the ideas flowing. Then I simply got my paints out, cut card to fill in the walls, raided my "bit box" that has accumulated over many years and made it up as I went along. A gold gel pen also proved invaluable. I thorougly enjoyed making this so much that I have vowed to take more days off where I just "make for fun" in the future.

The entire club project will be on display at the 2011 Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair next February.

Freddie Is In Disgrace - My Poor 1930s Hobbies House !

Oh dear..... my 14 week old kitten Freddie somehow managed to get into the back of my beloved Hobbies 1930s dolls house the other evening and cause utter mayhem with my wonderful mini antique treasures! Luckily the damage on that first occasion was mostly limited to the kitchen.

Treasures that have withstood the test of time (over 70 years mostly) have luckily just about been able to withstand the playfullness of a kitten. The worst of the casualties though, was a 1920's-30's German hoover....ripped away from the main body.  How most of the china stayed intact on the dresser I don't know but I have yet to find a missing teeniest wooden egg in an egg cup (should have been three, now only two)...........seriously, I think he may have eaten it! My Hobbies house is open at the back and sits on a turntable. In anticipation of Freddies arrival, this house had already been pushed right up close to the wall but somehow he still managed to get through a 3” gap at the back?  I have been meaning to create a false back from Perspex for ages now, to help keep the dust out really.....so looks like this job is going to have to rise higher in priority on my list of to-dos!

But hey...guess what, even though the house has now been pushed right up against the wall with absolutely no gap at the back whatsoever, Freddie apparently decided that he was going into that house once more. My husband last night, alerted by a strange noise, found Freddie hopelessly trapped in the Hobbies house front doorway! Now let’s just say that the bloomin’ front door is hanging off its hinges. (Yes thats Freddie in pic).

I refuse to put my house away for the time being and this kitten, like any young child, is going to have to learn that my 1930s Hobbies house is out of bounds for him.....but I think the learning curve is going to be a long and painful one! Anyone else had this sort of problem?