A History of the Furniture and Accessories (Updated)
A History of the Furniture and Accessories
(Updated 4th April 2025, with pictures!)
My dolls' house is roughly 1/16 scale, where 1 foot (12 inches ) in real life is 3/4 inch in dolls house size. But the rooms are very slightly smaller, (probably to squeeze in the bathroom and the garage!) which adds to my feelings that it's hand made.
The furniture for my dolls house is also made to 1/16 scale, although as most of it was hand made, it can vary! It's mostly made either by Barton or Dol-Toi, (both English companies, now sadly defunct) with some made by, Barrett , DCMT and also Lundby (a Swedish company, who bought Barton in 1984). Some of it I've had to guess the manufacturer, and some I have no idea who made it (yet!).
Dol-Toi 1944 - 1978
Dol-Toi Products (Stamford) Limited had its origins in a company set up in 1944 by Eric William Green and George H.C.C. Hind to build caravans and build and repair agricultural barns, with the spare offcuts being used to make dollshouse furniture. Having a main business that could demand supplies of building materials during the war and afterwards, and which would generate a certain amount of waste suitable for small toy items was a clever idea, as it guaranteed a supply of raw material, which would not otherwise be guaranteed for a new toymaking business in the context of wartime and post-war restrictions on the supply of scarce materials.
Dol-Toi are chiefly remembered for their wooden furniture, which was sometimes slightly clunky, and sometimes had oversized end-pieces, but was always obviously made with care and attention.
Dol-Toi also made cast-plaster plated food and plaster moulded fireplaces (which seem to be becoming rarer over the years, as they have a tendency to shatter when dropped onto a hard floor!).
Dol-Toi plaster fireplace dating from the 1950s.
A distinguishing feature of Dol-Toi's range is that their wooden products seem to have all been made out of solid beechwood, as opposed to similar products by Barton, which tended to be made of plywood.
Some of the degree of variation in wooden Dol-Toi pieces is explained by the story that for many years there were no official plans or specifications for individual items in the range: workers were instead simply handed a finished piece and told to copy it. This seems to explain why there was sometimes so much creative variation between examples of what was supposed to be the same item! Most people selling Dol-Toi items take care to list the exact measurements of the pieces of furniture.
A. Barton and Co (Toys)
of 31 East Hill, Wandsworth, London, SW18.
In 1945 Barton started to make doll's house furniture just after the end of the Second World War, as a means of giving employment to demobbed British soldiers. But its founder, Albert Barton, had been making dolls' house furniture on a part-time basis from c1940, when he was a WWII firefighter - he recruited several members of his watch to make items for him. Barton were one of the best-known dolls house furniture brands in the UK. At the time, little dolls houses, made from sheet metal by companies such as Tri-ang and Gee-Bees started to be mass produced. The doll's house became the must have toy for every little girl in Britain, and she needed to furnish it.
Barton catered for this expanding market by mass producing "Model Home" doll's house furniture from wood, plastic and metal. Barton's wooden dollshouse furniture differs from those for some other companies in being made of plywood. Although quite heavily varnished, the plywood layers are often quite easily visible on side-panels.
Barton furniture such as sideboards and wardrobes, had thin plywood backs from c1945 until 1949/50. After that the backs were made of a type of fibreboard which looks like card. Any furniture carrying an ink-stamp version of the black diamond-shaped Barton trademark dates to 1946 - c1949. After 1949 a red and black paper label was applied - these paper labels were easy to remove, so are often missing.
By the 1970s the company also made miniature dolls, "Motoplay" garages for boys and miniature farmyard sets. Barton and launched the "Caroline's Home" range in about 1976. By this time every little girl owned a doll's house - if not shop-bought from one of the manufacturers such as Tri-ang, it would probably have been constructed by her father. Every toy shop and department store had a doll's house section and the "Caroline's Home" range of doll's house accessories presented in box sets and on cards covered with bubble plastic were best sellers. With the "Caroline's Home" brand came the first "Caroline's Home" doll's house. Its distinctive yellow door and window shutters and child's bedroom decorated with a Chicken and a Horse turned it into an instant favourite.
In 1984 Barton and the "Caroline's Home" brand were taken over by Lundby of Sweden.
Lundby continued to sell the "Caroline's Home" brand until the recession of the late 1980s, when UK operations ceased. The Lundby company has since changed hands many times but still continues to make doll's houses and furniture.
Lundby
Also known as Lundby of Sweden, Lundby is a Swedish maker of dolls houses and miniature furniture for the mass market. Lundby dollshouse furniture has been produced since 1947 and their dolls houses have been sold since the late 1940s. The company started in the Gothenburg borough of Lundby, which also gave the company its name.
Lundby was the first maker to include electrical lights in their dolls houses ("child safe" 4 volt rather than the more standard 12 volt) and is notable for following contemporary trends in interior and furniture design.
The most common Lundby house style is the 'Göteborg' ('Gothenburg') which first appeared in 1959. This style of house was very popular and is still being sold today. It was renamed as the 'Småland' dolls house in 2006. There have been many other styles of Lundby dollhouse introduced over the years, such as the 'Stockholm' House in 1975 (and a newer, more modern, version in 2005). Lundby houses, furniture and accessories are also 3/4 inch scale, (aka 1:16 scale).
Barrett and Sons
Alfred Barrett had been in business with his brother and brother in law Fred G Taylor, since 1920. They produced lead toys, mainly animals, trading as Taylor and Barrett (All pre-war models were marked T&B). The business grew, and in 1923 they bought a factory in Scholfield Road, Upper Holloway, London. Then moving on to a larger building in East Finchley.
During World War 2 production of toys had come to an end, and the partners shared the toy moulds between then for safe keeping. The partnership came to an end and each went their separate ways. Two new companies were formed F.G. Taylor and Sons (1945-1980 FGT & Sons – For Good Toys) and Barrett and Sons.
Barrett & Sons started supplying cast metal doll’s house furniture to A Barton & Co in 1953, but, by the early 1960’s, Barrett changed from producing lead toys to plastic, often using the same moulds, first for the "Model Home" range, and then, from 1976, for the "Caroline's Home" range.
In 1970 Barrett & Sons had to move out of the factory because of a compulsory purchase order, and they rented part of the Barton’s factory, at New Addington, near Croydon. Barrett & Sons continued making doll’s house furniture and accessories for Barton’s, until eventually, Barton’s bought out Barrett & Sons in 1982.
I've managed to find several versions of the Barrett & Sons cat and kitten in a basket, starting with the original (and my favourite!), the little cat model made from cast lead.
This little black and white cat in a yellow basket with her tiny kitten (all made from cast lead, and then hand painted) dates from the 1950s.
I'm fairly certain there was originally more than one kitten, (later plastic editions have several kittens, as we shall see,) but they are easily lost as they are so small.
The underside of the cat has a manufacturer's mark on it, a capital B with the letters ‘&’ and ‘S’ inside the B, and the words London England around it.
Production of the Barrett and Sons Lead Cat probably finished in the 1960’s, with the move away from lead toys. (Personal note: despite the obvious health hazards associated with toys made from lead, somehow they do have a much more satisfying feeling and weight than their modern plastic counterparts!)
The Barton Model Home range included a blister pack, which contains a cat and basket with kittens, as well as a dog with puppies and a kennel. All made from plastic. This cat does not have the Barrett mark underneath it. The pack is marked "25p" on the back in pencil, which dates it to after decimalisation (15/2/1971), but before the launch of the Caroline's Home range in 1976.
The cat and kittens from a collection without the packaging, dating from around the same time. The kittens are joined to each other either by a "ball" of wool, or by an indeterminate piece of plastic. Presumably this was to help prevent them being lost or swallowed! Interestingly, this cat does have the Barrett mark underneath - maybe this is an earlier (late 1960s) plastic version?
The Carolines Home Ginger Cat is made from plastic , but from the same mould as the lead cat. It dates to 1976 and was sold in a carded blister pack with a Bear Rug , but, again, doesn't have the Barrett mark underneath.
The plastic black cat and the ginger cat both appear in Barton Caroline’s Home Catalogue from 1976.
Romside
I also have some items made by other manufacturers, but this post is getting rather long, so I'll talk about them in another post!
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