When I was a child growing up in London, I yearned to possess a doll house such as the one my friend owned. It was a large, three-storied wooden house with furniture and lighting and I was green with envy. I was too young to understand that my parents couldn’t afford to gratify my craving for such a lavish toy and when they did eventually buy me a small, metal 4-room house, I can remember the feeling of bitter disappointment which I hope I managed to hide. Perhaps this is why now, as an adult, I can’t resist the occasional urge to buy a wooden dollhouse and splurge out on fixtures and fittings or gaze longingly at really fancy houses and miniature furniture in museums such as those pictured below at the Stephenson County Historical Museum in Freeport, Illinois.
I’m currently renovating an old house that I bought at a thrift store and every time our granddaughter visits she looks to see how far I’ve got with the decorating, her little fingers itching to rearrange the furniture. I want to tell her that this is not the kind of toy that you play with. This is just for looking at, not for touching, but then I remember the house that I longed for when I was her age and I have to relent. “OK kid, but be careful.”
For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Teddy Bears, Dolls, Toys