Here is a house
That Jack built.
And this is wheat
Which is kept in a dark closet
In the House, That Jack built.
Samuel Marshak
The creators of the diminished world. Today, when many of us are forced to stay at home due to the virus, it makes sense to once again return to the topic of creativity: what else to do while sitting at home? And for someone this kind of "idleness" is a real gift of fate.
People started (finally!) Repairing, or even indulged in modeling. And we on the pages of "VO" have already talked about soldiers (and business on them!), And about modeling armored vehicles, and even casually touched on ship models and aviation. What was not said was about the models of doll houses. And this hobby today breaks all records of popularity both among children and among adults.
Today, our story within the framework of the cycle "Creators of the Reduced World" will again run in parallel: on the one hand, about what a hobby for dollhouses can give a person with hands and head, and on the other, we will just get acquainted with two such houses and the inhabitants of one of them, as well as manufacturing technologies. Suddenly someone will like such an activity during self-isolation …
Let's start with history. It is known that the oldest dollhouse was made in 1558 (although it is believed that in 1611) by order of the Bavarian Duke Albert V for his daughter. The house has not survived, but there is a description of it, from which it is known that there was a room for needlework and a bathroom!
Already in the 17th century, doll houses began to be used as visual aids for teaching young ladies to do housework. Dishes, furniture, curtains, miniature books and even knitted wallets were expertly made, as if accidentally forgotten on the edge of the table.
The houses were populated with figures of people of all sizes, and they, of course, needed clothes, so tailors also joined this business. And not only tailors! For example, Queen Victoria of England had a collection of 132 dolls, of which she wore 32 with her own hand, and then furnished the puppet palace theater, which is now exhibited in the Museum of London. House-cabinets appeared - cabinets on legs with doors, and house-toys, in which the roof was removed and all the walls were opened so that the figures inside could be played. And, as always, very expensive, elite houses of the nobility appeared, pleasing the pride of their owners, and more democratic, according to the tastes and wallets of everyone else. In England during the Victorian era, every decent nursery had to have its own dollhouse. In Germany in 1900, a dollhouse cost an average of 10 to 75 marks. Inexpensive folding cardboard houses appeared, and even then there were houses from just one room, with such a house it was possible to play on the table.
But the most famous house was, of course, the House of Queen Mary, commissioned by the architect Lutens by Queen Mary - the wife of George V. Since 1925 it has been in Windsor Castle. Everything about it was state-of-the-art! Underground parking, where there were six limousines, refrigerators, first aid kits, elevators, closets and even a waste cistern - nothing was forgotten!
Englishmen tend to love their monarchs and even their quirks. And since the British press constantly wrote about the queen's hobby, the fashion for doll houses literally captured England.
Not very long this house retained the palm. In 1956, John and Jane Zweiffel decided to create the layout of the White House. It took 14 years and about one million dollars to make the model. The weight of the house is about 10 tons! It has three hundred meters of wires and six miniature TVs, and even tiny bulbs - without counting. Moreover, the decoration of the Oval Office in it is constantly updated as soon as the next president renews it!
Today the most popular house scale is 1:12, and popular styles are Victorian, British Colonial, American Wild West and Pop Art.
But we have here, first of all, "VO", it is, firstly, and secondly - the theme of modeling as a form of leisure and a certain income. Therefore, further we will continue in this vein.
Imagine any diorama on a scale of 1:35 with the same Sherman tanks on a street in an Italian town. A narrow street, typical houses with lattice shutters, several rows of clothesline. And the tanks, and the townspeople, and the absence of rear walls on the houses facing the street, and there - and furniture, and residents at the windows, and a couple, which all the tanks and allies "don't care", because they are busy with something completely different … In a word, there life. And it can be an absolutely chic set, like those made by Miniart.
The same plot, but the houses are in ruins … Scatter broken bricks, broken glass in the windows, walls with traces of bullets, burnt roof beams. There are those who do it themselves with love. And there are lazy ones who would prefer to buy a set of parts. And you can start "production" with the most common "bricks" at a scale of 1:35!
People love episodes. And the more original they are, the better! For example, it can be a series of houses - rock monasteries. And to them in addition - Brazilian favelas or something else equally exotic. People are generally greedy for exotic things, so why not ?!
It shows a house in Stalingrad and how it is defended … So call it “Stalingrad House” and show how our soldiers defended it. The set itself consists of several sets, that is, the buyer has a choice. Very historical and patriotic. Especially if the set itself is supplemented not only by the assembly instructions, but also by the corresponding text.
But wouldn't it be interesting, first of all abroad, for a three-story typical Russian house of the early twentieth century of some well-to-do merchant with a shop and a rented basement for workers! Such houses have survived. You can restore their interior and furnishings from photographs, make copies of furniture and accessories from museum collections. For the same Englishmen, Germans or Frenchmen, a Russian merchant house is such a curiosity that it can arouse interest. Naturally, it is necessary to think over the strategy for the development and launch of certain sets on the market, to resolve the issue of advertising placement and the legal status of your production, that is, to take everything seriously. But on the other hand, the fact that this is a pleasant and interesting occupation is undoubtedly.
But even if you start making such a house "just like that", just in order to please your child, your efforts will be fully rewarded. "Dad is making me a house!" The delight that you hear in these words will remain in your heart for life, moreover, your grown-up son or daughter will talk about this to their children, and your creation will decorate both your own home and the home of your children.
It is often said in our country that modern parents cannot build a "bridge" to their children, that they have no communication, that their life passes in parallel worlds. So, working together on such a house is just a great way to get closer to your child, to have a confidential talk while working.
And, of course, the child's mind is at his fingertips and his brain develops when he does something with his hands. A child is just able to participate in the manufacture of such a house. So let him participate with you. And the reward for your diligence and patience (and you can't do without it!) Will surely come.
The materials for making a dollhouse can be the simplest, of course, unless you plan on mass production. Then, of course, large expenditures will be needed. For example, to make large-scale bricks, you will need to make a large vixinth shape for many bricks at once, and even more than one. Vixynth forms will be needed for curly cornices, platbands, caryatids and cupids that adorn the facade, and they, in turn, will need to be ordered by someone if, say, you yourself cannot mold a miniature torso from plasticine.
Those with electrician skills may well set up the production of miniature battery-powered lamps with LEDs instead of bulbs. Such lamps are at a great price. And, as always, the Chinese hurried up here, throwing even lamps "from Tiffany" onto the market. But there were so many porcelain chandeliers, sconces, kerosene lamps that there will be enough samples for your lifetime. The Kerosene Lamp Master sounds pretty good, and this niche is still not very densely occupied.
A separate niche is food. It can also be molded in vixinth molds and then painted with model paints. Lobster with vegetables on a porcelain platter will always look great, as will a Christmas goose with legs tied with ribbons or the same ruddy turkey.
In short, you can do all this if you wish. To do for your children and even turn this activity into a good business.
