Top Off your Tree !

An Angel or a Fairy... ?

If you are looking for some idea for the top of your Christmas tree, look no further...

Here is a
Tilt-Top Magazine exclusive
on what 

Mrs Emma Peel
&
Mr John Steed,
none less... 

... chose to top their tree off with... in 1965 !
...

From scraps to riches...

Part II

(Read Part I here)

Collection Ysé

So the trio composed of Ruth Handler, Elliot Handler and Harold Matson found itself starting from scratch all over again...

Miss Twist's Halloween Dream (Episode 6)

Miss Twist rêve... pour Halloween
(See here for / voir ici pour Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4 & Episode 5)

That very night, Miss Twist had a dream...
La nuit-même, Miss Twist fit un rêve...

Miss Twist and the Pumpkin in the Vegetable Patch (Episode 5)

Miss Twist trouve une Citrouille...
(See here for / voir ici pour Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3 & Episode 4)

On the following day, Miss Twist decided to do some gardening and visited the vegetable patch...

Le jour suivant, Miss Twist, couverte d'une petite laine, alla faire un tour dans le jardin et dans le potager...

On arriving there, she was struck by how much the pumpkins had grown !
Sur place, elle trouva que les citrouilles avaient beaucoup poussé !

Miss Twist in the Forest of Heartache (Episode 4)

Miss Twist a des regrets...
(See here for / voir ici pour Episode 1, Episode 2 & Episode 3)

Miss Twist's infatuation with Marin Sailor came to nothing (see Episode 3)...
L'histoire avec Marin Sailor (voir Episode 3) n'aboutit malheureusement à rien...

It always starts in a shack...

Part I

First, let's talk about the two first enterprises created by Elliot and Ruth Handler before Mattel in 1945 : Elliot Handler Plastics (1939-1942) and Elzac (1941-1947)...

House & garden ! Maison & Jardin

After a long break this summer, it's time to re-start this blog... and I have a question for you...

Does anyone know the maker of this all plastic living-room set ?

Here it is as in a complete set...

Petra Plasty Plastic

I am very fond of girl toys in vintage plastic (principally from the late 40s to the late 60s). Most of the time these toys have surprisingly survived well considering...

I recently spotted this furniture :

Miss Twist sails to Love (Episode 3)

Les marins sont bien plus marrants...
(click on French title for song / cliquer sur le lien pour la chanson)
(See here for / voir ici pour Episode 1 & Episode 2)

Miss Twist has at last been enjoying the beach for a few hours. Her friends dropped her off there 

for the rest of the week-end and went on their way... She had a long awaited picnic lunch on the sand and is now lying down under the shade of a large parasol...

Miss Twist profite enfin de la plage depuis plusieurs heures... Ses amis l'y ont déposée pour le reste du week-end avant de poursuivre leur route. Après un léger pique-nique, la voilà allongée sur le sable à l'ombre d'un immense parasol...

Behind the illustrations (1976 Panini Album) I...

Update (January 2014) More details on the illustrations in a new post

Following the publication of this album and a question on Flickr by Foxy Belle, I looked more closely... Where the Barbie Panini Album 1976 got its inspiration from...

An Update on Mily's furniture...

Astrid who has an extensive collection of German doll furniture just gave me some news about the famous TV used for the Mily doll documentation by Gégé in 1964... We still don't know who its maker is but as Astrid I believe that it could be from East Germany...

Made in Hong-Kong, but designed where ? Part II

Part II

(Read Part I here)

The kitchen is not the only piece that was copied from Marx by Blue-Box...

Minichou's false Return ? / Minichou, un faux Retour ?

I was lucky enough as a child to be offered one day the delightful Minichou/Pti'chou* doll by Gégé (in fact - I don't know why or even how - I got two of exactly the same one - Maybe both my grand-mothers had simultaneously the same idea ?... so I played with one a lot and as a result the other one is still in a very nice original condition...)
J'ai eu la chance, petite, de recevoir en cadeau l'adorable petite poupée Minichou/Pti'chou de Gégé (en fait j'ai même eu deux fois la même - je ne sais pas très bien ce qui s'est passé, peut-être mes deux grand-mères ont eu la même idée ?... Alors j'ai beaucoup joué avec l'une et l'autre est encore aujourd'hui dans un très bel état...)

1968 (My twins)

You'll guess easily...

Made in Hong-Kong, but designed where ? Part I

Part I

I have been interested in Blue-Box as a brand and a manufacturer for years now... Ever since I identified two of my childhood toys as being of that make (Made in Singapore)... I remember buying two sets myself in 1972 - I was 6 then - from a sweet and toy stall in a big park near Paris on a rainy sunday afternoon with a little money I was given for the occasion.

One, the bedroom, is still intact in the box...

Early 70s

Its near pristine state is the proof that...

Gégé set the Scene... !

Pour la version française, voir article suivant...

Everything has already been written on Mily, the 60s fashion doll by Gégé.. about her story, her amazing clothes, her marvelous life at the top (1964-1976... Dolls often have to retire early...).

So we have decided to have fun and focus on one aspect - maybe overlooked so far - which might have contributed to her image and perhaps her success : the furniture used in the leaflets and magazine ad photos to create contemporary surroundings and enhance Mily's modern image of hip girl... 

In short : How and with what did Gégé set the Scene ? 

Une Mise en Scène signée Gégé...

For the English version, please see post above...

On a déjà tout écrit sur la poupée mannequin lancée début 60 par la maison Gégé... sur l'histoire de sa création, sur la qualité de ses superbes tenues, sa Vie Merveilleuse au sommet (1964-1976... Et oui, les poupées prennent parfois une retraite anticipée...).

Alors, nous avons décidé de nous amuser et de mettre l'accent sur un aspect - qui n'a peut-être pas encore eu l'attention qu'il méritait - et qui a sans doute contribué à son image et peut-être, toutes proportions gardées, à son succès : les meubles utilisés dans les fascicules et les publicités des magazines pour créer autour de Mily un cadre contemporain et peut-être souligner sa réputation de mannequin dans le vent... 

En bref : comment et avec quoi Gégé a réussi sa Mise en Scène ! 

Romantic French Touch... / Le charme à la Française...

Sometimes all that, we, beings need is a bit of lightness...

and Régis Roinsart with his first film, Populaire (2012), is bringing just that to our screens...

Déborah François, Romain Duris & Bérénice Bejo star in this 50s revisited flick...

Déborah François - I love her shoes !

A think pink decor (even the typewriter !) that could come straight out of the Rayon Lingerie of a chic Parisian Department Store... with retro golden iron volutes furniture and rococo frames show-casting real perfectly manicured hands... 

Miss Twist and Baso the Dog (Episode 2)

(If you haven't yet you can read here Episode 1)

(Vous trouverez ici l'Episode 1)

Miss Twist and her friends have been welcomed in but as they were about to sit down for a cup of tea, they were invited into the garden to be shown a new feature and she discreetly stayed behind...

Après avoir été accueillis par leurs hôtes et alors qu'ils étaient sur point de prendre le thé, ils sont tous passés au jardin pour admirer un nouvel ornement... Miss Twist est restée discrètement en arrière...

Meet Miss Twist... (Episode 1)...

It's spring at last and Miss Twist is off for the week-end...
C'est enfin le printemps et Miss Twist part en week-end...

Would you care for a cup of tea ? (English version)

Pour la version française, voir article suivant...

As a child, I played a lot with plastic tea-sets and dinner-sets... In 1968-69, I remember that my sister and I had two Gégé* teasets (they were the must !) that were exactly like this one in shape (with a different motif, and smaller flowers maybe) :

Gégé tea-set

Then in 1970,...

Une petite tasse de thé ?... (Version française)

For the English version, please see post above...

Petite, j'ai beaucoup joué à la dînette... En 1968-69, je me souviens qu'avec ma soeur nous avions chacune une dînette Gégé en plastique qui ressemblait beaucoup à celle-ci (avec un motif différent, des fleurs plus petites peut-être...) :

Dînette Gégé

Puis en 1970,...

Miniature Fan / Éventail Miniature...

In preparation for summer, Miss Twist got her new fan out of her chest of drawers... 

where she keeps this rather fragile item...

This is no ordinary miniature fan... I'll let you guess what it is made of...

Let me just show you how delicately hand painted it is...

... the only reason I didn't throw it straight in the recycling bin when I realized...

...and I must admit it does look good in Miss Twist's hand...

It probably fans very well too...  

Still...

You have just read an article written by Ysé

An exclusivity Tilt-Top Magazine - © Peinture Fraîche

Pink-Gingham (English version)

Pour la version française, voir article suivant...

When you hear Pink-Gingham... what does it make you think of ? 

In France, it immediately evokes Brigitte Bardot and the little dresses that she contributed to make fashionable in the 1950s... (Hang-on, you are thinking right now, this is not a blog about celebrity, isn't it ? Or even about fashion ? And if you do, you would be right, just read on and you’ll see...)

Vichy-Rose (Version française)

For the English version, please see post above...

Que vous évoque le Vichy-Rose... ? 

Ce tissu évoque presqu'immédiatement, en France, Brigitte Bardot et les petites robes qu'elle a contribué à mettre en vogue dans les années 50 ("Non mais attends", vous vous dites, "je croyais que c'était un blog sur les jouets vintage pour filles ?!"... Mais si si, c'est bien ça, vous allez voir...)

Mystery Miniature Milk Crates...

Horse cart with milk crates (and a milkwoman for a change !) -
Doris Hudson delivering milk for the Co-op Dairy in Disraeli Street, Middlesbrough(UK) in 1956

If you are a vintage toy car collector, 

you might know where these miniature milk crates belong...

Miniature lead milk crates (1.9 x 1.6 cm)

I got them in a lot of 1930s-1960s dollhouse items... They are very well made and pretty heavy (made of lead ?) and also tiny... The white paint has rubbed off in places... I would love to be able to remove and replace individually the little bottles of milk (Mind you, they could have gone missing)... Still they would look good as a prop in any scene of that scale and they have a real 50s feel to them...  

I am quite sure they were not originally meant for a dollhouse but rather, I imagine, belong to a vintage miniature milkman's van or float ? Could they originally be from a large 50s Lesney horse drawn milk cart (Made in England) ? Some of their small scale milk crates look like these...

© blue-gold-angel.de
http://www.dream-tintoys.de/index.php?page=lesney

Well certainly, you Reader and Mrs Peel are needed to help solve the milk crate riddle... 

Careful, coming off the milk float though...

The Avengers - The Hour that Never Was (Series 4 - 1965)

You have just read an article written by Ysé

An exclusivity Tilt-Top Magazine - © Peinture Fraîche