A special Birthday and Dolls' Wedding

As a twelve year old, I was very interested in playscale dolls and dollhouses. Playscale is defined as 1:6 scale (in playscale 1 inch represents 6inches in real life). Dollhouses are usually in a smaller scale defined as 1:12 scale (that is 1 inch represents 12 inches in real life). Dollhouses also called 'dolls houses' are mostly an adult hobby and the enthusiasts are usually women. Dollhouses in 1:12th scale are normally purchased as kits. The kits have to be assembled. After assembly the dollhouse is decorated and furnished and is a representation of real life on a smaller scale. Larger playscale (1:6) dollhouses are also available suited for play with Barbie dolls and are defined as toys for children.

As a young girl I did not actually own a Barbie doll, but I had other dolls such as Ken, Skipper and a baby doll all by Mattel and Daisy by Mary Quant. For my 12th birthday party I decided to combine my dolls' wedding with my birthday party. I invited my friends and they brought their dolls. My mother made shorteats and cake for my birthday and a special wedding cake for the dolls' wedding. My father was very obliging and took all the pictures of the wedding celebration and party.

Pictured on the left: Myself with friends at the Birthday/ Wedding celebration

Futhermore, my mother made the beautiful white wedding gown of georgette with lace tiers and the net veil that the bride, Daisy is wearing. She also stitched the black suit, shirt and bowtie that the groom, Ken is wearing. Daisy is holding a bouquet of a single magenta rose. The first bridesmaid is Ken's sister Skipper, and she is dressed in a magenta lace strapless gown and holding a white frangipani bouquet. The two little flowergirls are also dressed in magenta lace. The guests at the wedding are my friends' dolls. The wedding ceremony took place on my dressing table in my bedroom.

Below are all the beautiful pictures of the wedding of Ken and Daisy. Sorry that the pictures are a little faded due to the fact that they were taken back in 1979.






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Wedding Breakfast (note the Wedding cake on the little table)


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Wedding -Group photo





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My childhood Fashion Dolls and Dollhouse Furniture

My interest in dollhouses continued onward from the age of seven. Just before I turned ten, my Dad got a job in the Pacific region as an academic in a university there. So my younger Brother, my Mom and I also joined my Dad in the Pacific. I missed Sri Lanka I felt sad to leave my friends and my familiar life there. The journey from Sri Lanka to the Pacific was a long one and that's a story I will write on another day.

When I reached this new country there were toys galore that we didn't have in Sri Lanka, not to mention groceries and other items. The main department store in the City center was called Morris Hedstrom and they had a toy department. Of course I was delighted to spend time there. They had various dollhouse furniture sets made of plastic that I bought from the toy department. These included a blue and white bathroom set and a pink floral bedroom set. These furniture sets seemed to be smaller than 12inch scale in size. I also bought a doll called Daisy by Mary Quant. She had curly blonde hair but she was smaller than playscale but bigger than a 12inch scale doll. Each time we visited the toy department I bought a new set of clothes for Daisy.

During that same year my Dad's boss the Professor who was Italian American moved in to the house next door with his wife who was also a Professor along with their son and daughter. I think we got hold of the Sears Catalogue through them. So from then on we used to get our own bi annual catalogs and I was especially interested in the toy catalogues. They had so many wonderful dollhouses, dollhouse furniture and dolls. I used to dream about owning some of the things in the catalogue. I did end up ordering a Ken doll, a Skipper doll (when you turned her arm she grew taller and acquired a bosom) and a playscale baby doll complete with a set of clothes, crib, bottle and high chair. I saw dollhouses and dollhouse furniture, pools and cars for fashion dolls in the Sears Catalogue but even then I was rather restrained in my spending habits and I think that's the reason I never persuaded my parents to order those items for me. So I used to just dream about owning those things but never did get them.

My first Dollhouse

My very first dollhouse was a glass cabinet which had its sliding glass door removed. I must have been around seven years old.The glass in the cabinet had to be removed because my younger brother had thrown his shoe at it in a fit of rage and broken the glass!

At around the same time in the early seventies, I saw this tiny little wooden dollhouse living room furniture set painted pink and decorated with a design of flowers. I think it was in 12inch scale, my parents bought it for me.

Even at that early age, I started making miniature objects from scratch, since miniatures were not readily available in Sri Lanka at the time and I guess they are not even available these days. I made my own miniature wall clock with pendulum with a little block of wood in imitation of those hanging on the walls of sri lankan households and chiming at every quarter hour. I also used a bigger block of wood to make a piano with a paper keyboard. I got the urge to make this piano because when I was in Grade 1 at Kandy Convent, we made a cardboard dollhouse for our classroom. One of the girls brought some cute dollhouse furniture for the dollhouse. From what I remember she brought a tiny piano and a cute carpet. How I wished I could be the owner of such lovely miniatures but I could only dream :) I'm guessing that these miniatures were purchased somewhere overseas like England.

My Dad went back to the US to finish his PhD around the same time, so when he came back he brought for me a dancing Dawn doll with long blonde hair and long eyelashes. She wore a short gold color halter dress and red high heeled shoes. She was the right scale for my dollhouse.