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...