Mettoy tinplate doll's house
Object No. 85/2577-83
This tin-printed doll's house was made in Northampton, England, by Mettoy Playthings. It shows a fascinating insight into the interior design of aspirational housing from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s. The earliest surviving doll's houses were not made for children but commissioned by European nobles in the17th century. Some in Germany were used to teach young girls household duties. In England during the 18th and early 19th centuries, doll's houses were called 'baby houses' because at the time dolls were called 'babies'. These were made for mothers and daughters living in grand houses by their estate carpenters and had locks for safekeeping. Gradually the importance of children's play emerged and baby houses became doll's houses. By the end of the 19th century they were extremely popular and were commercially mass-produced. By the 1930s the English firm, Lines Brothers Ltd trading as Tri-ang Toys, was producing a wide range of doll's houses, the most popular of which was the mock-Tudor style. The significance of tin toys lies not just in their amusing appearance or how the evoke the remembered pleasures of childhood play. Toys can tell us a great deal about the experience of being a child in the twentieth century, how children are socialised, and how the young have been targeted as a consumer market. Some show quality in their design and finish. Changes in technology can be traced in the changing methods of toy making. Most toys mimic the adult world, and looking at them can tell us something about how this world has changed. "Dolls' Houses in Australia 1870-1950", Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, Glebe, NSW, 1999 Margaret Simpson Curator, Science & Industry June 2008
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Summary
Object Statement
Doll's house and garage with packaging and instructions, tin / paper, Mettoy Co Ltd, Northampton, England, 1954-1965
Physical Description
Doll's house and garage with packaging and instructions, tin/paper, made by Mettoy Playthings, Northampton, England, 1954-1965 Tin doll's house, comprising a two-storey, five room, main dwelling with a single-storey garage attached at the side. The tin printing is quite detailed and includes red bricks, flowers and windowsills on the exterior and wallpaper, various floor coverings, gas and open fire places, framed pictures and furnishings, all printed in bright colours, in the interior. A child's bedroom is decorated with wallpaper illustrated with toy soldiers and a tiny version of the doll's house printed into the wall. The garage is well detailed with work benches, a spare tyre, inner tube, tyre pump, various tools and a hand mower. The doll's house also has its original box and instruction leaflet with directions for assembly by tab and slot.
PRODUCTION
Notes
The Mettoy toy company, the name for which was derived from the two words 'metal' and 'toy', was founded by Philip Ullmann in England in 1933. Ullman moved from Nazi Germany to Stimson Avenue, Northampton, to set up his toy-manufacturing business leaving his German factory, Tipp & Co, which he had run for 21 years, to avoid the anti-Jewish activities there at the time. He was helped by his South African-born cousin, Arthur Katz, who had previously worked for him and moved to England earlier, and Bassett-Lowke. They initially produced very similar tinplate toys to those being made in Germany. Within six years the Northampton factory was said to have 600 employees and from 1944 Katz was the managing director. Katz introduced the famous Corgi diecast cars made at the company's at Felin Fach, near Swansea factory. By the 1970s Mettoy were employing some 3,500 people. Mettoy manufactured tin doll's houses from 1954 until 1965. At the same time other similar doll's houses were being made by another English firm, Chad Valley, and the American company, Louis Marx. After 1965 Mettoy began to make doll's houses from other materials. Mettoy also produced a supermarket, 'Emergency Ward 10' both in 1959 and a 'Central Fire Station' in 1963 as well as several types of houses. The Mettoy doll's houses were packed flat for distribution and assembled with tab and slot construction. "Dolls' Houses in Australia 1870-1950", Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, Glebe, NSW, 1999
HISTORY
Notes
This doll's house is part of a large collection of toys purchased in 1985 from the remarkable tin toy collector Ken Finlayson. Finlayson's knowledge and love of toys brought him a collection of nearly 2000 items, including highly collectable tinplate toys manufactured by respected names such as Carette, Bing, Marklin and Lehmann, as well as a variety of other German, English and Japanese makers. The Finlayson collection contains every type of transport toy - cars, trucks, tractors, fire engines, buses, motorcycles, aeroplanes, ships and trains,- as well as novelty toys, robots, kitchen toys and Meccano sets. It represents the type of toys that were available in Australia in the twentieth century, including ones made in this country by Boomaroo, Wyn-toy, Cyclops, Ferris and Robilt.
SOURCE
Acquisition Date
23 December 1985
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