A Brief History of Modern Miniaturism
Or how did things end up so small?
We have all heard about how dolls houses came about in the 16th Century; as cabinets for precious things & then later, teaching tools for young ladies to learn how to run a household, before being mass produced in the late victorian era & sold as the must-have toy for every little girl, but how did it come full circle? We are once again using our dolls houses to keep our precious things safe (miniature things of course), when did the new era of serious dolls house collecting begin in the UK?
Could this really have been how it all started? (see above) A letter in the ‘letters’ page of a woman’s magazine, read by another while under the dryer at the hairdressers? Â
Felicity & Ann could not have imagined what they started back in 1967, International Dolls House News ran for over 30 years & was always seen as the ‘House & Garden’ of miniature mags, but others were to follow. Richard Jenning’s wife, Margaret, visited the LDF in the late 80’s & came home with a copy of the then black & white pamphlet style IDHN, This sparked the idea in Richard’s head to produce Dolls House World, published by the small publishing company, Ashdown in 1989 & still going today. Dolls House & Miniature Scene followed in 1992 (sadly it printed its last copy in 2023). At its peak, there were 4 monthly, UK based magazines available & many others in the US & Europe. There has been a decline in specialist publications generally, with so much now available online, but SHRUNK Magazine first appeared on the scene just 4 years ago, re-enforcing how strong the market for miniatures is at the moment.
I have been involved in the miniature world since 1986, when the craze for tiny things was an obsession for many. I was working in ‘The Dolls House’ in Covent Garden for Michal Morse. Michal was another important part of this story, as she opened the first specialist dolls house shop in the UK in 1971 in Broadley Street, Marylebone. This was the 1st of 4 locations for ‘The Dolls House’, which is still open today in the picturesque Northleach, Glos.
At the time, Michal was married to Peter Hunt (of Perfect Miniatures). He had a model train shop called ‘Chuffs’ & Michal wanted to have a sanctuary for all the long suffering wives of Peter’s model train customers. She was planning to open an old fashioned toy shop next door but then met Ann Griffiths (more on her later) & Felicity Locke who told her about the dolls house hobby & introduced her to a couple of makers specialising in miniatures. The shop grew from there & quickly had to find larger premises in Lisson Grove, before being ‘head-hunted’ for the new Covent Garden Market who were determined to fill their units in the refurbed flower market with interesting shops (now full of big brands unfortunately).
Shortly after Michal opened her shop in Broadley Street, 2 other important dolls house shops opened in London. Kristin Baybars opened her ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ in Gospel Oak, North London. A dream of a place for anyone who loved toys & especially dolls houses. Kristin was a compete addict & loved to buy top quality (mainly British made) miniatures for her shop. She was an incredible supporter of all the talented artisans working at the time & her shop remained a ‘go-to’ for all serious miniacs until it closed a few years ago.
The Singing Tree always gave the impression of being the more upmarket dolls house shop. Opened by the aforementioned Anne Griffiths & others in Fulham Broadway (SW London), it was less chaotic than CG or Kristin’s store – it was a really beautiful place to visit with gorgeous window displays of Christopher Cobb dolls houses & the most perfect pieces of handmade furniture. The Singing Tree closed in around 2000, but is still a bit of a myth amongst dolls house enthusiasts. (The lack of any info on The Singing Tree online, makes me think I will need to write about this shop in greater detail in the future).
London was well catered for with dolls house shops in the 80’s & 90’s, these 3 weren’t the only ones around. I remember, when visiting & then living in London in the mid 80’s at least 2 dolls house shops in Islington alone. There was also ‘Tiger Tiger’ on the Kings Road that was a trad toy shop with some incredible miniatures, as well many others scattered all over the suburbs. Like the rest of the country, London was mini mad!
In other parts of the UK, dolls house shows/fairs were beginning to spring up all over the country. In 1982 the first specialist show opened in Pudsey, West Yorkshire. Doreen Jeffries had visited a doll show in London & noticed some minis among the stands, on the way home, she & her friend came up with the idea for a specialist show. Originally it ran alongside dolls & teddies as these 3 always seem to go well together, but after a few years & amazing success, she took over the dolls house side of the business while Dolly Domain (a doll shop) took over the dolls & teddy show.
Doreen ran her Pudsey Show twice a year & then added the Stafford Show to her calendar as well. She retired in 2018, but her shows are still running today with Gail Tucker at the helm. Doreen claims she wasn’t the 1st ever specialist show. She remembers going to a tiny show in a village hall, but can’t remember where. Michal remembers this show too.
In 1983, A year after Doreen opened the Pudsey Show, Miniatura opened in Birmingham, organised by Muriel Hopwood & now run by her son Andy. Miniatura celebrated its 100th show this autumn.
This is when London Dollshouse Festivals finally arrives! First open in 1985 we celebrate 40 years this year, but during the 80’s & 90’s there were dolls house shows & shops in most major towns in the UK, too many to mention them all & sadly, now many have gone. There are only a few specialist shops remaining with Michal Morse’s shop managing to survive our changing times.
There were also many museums & collections of dolls houses scattered around the country for us to view. The Young V&A & Queen Mary’s Dollshouse at Windsor are great to visit. Other displays commissioned in the 1980-90’s include the John Hodgson display at Hever Castle & Leonardslee House’s miniature English village & manor house.
Of course the hobby is now very different with the internet & modern technology changing the world around us. With the demise of the dolls house shop, miniatures are all over the internet & because of their size, they are easy to post!
The limited number of shops has also meant that the dolls house shows are thriving, as these events are the some of the only places people can go to see the incredible work by miniaturists today & get together with friends & like-minded people. Social media has helped spread the word about this art form, very much as that letters section in the Woman’s Magazine did back in the 1960’s, to a whole new generation & it is an exciting time to see the resurgence of enthusiasm for miniaturism from a new audience & being enthralled by where this & new technology will take us in the future.
Read more about Michal Morse HERE & Kristin Baybars HERE
UK dolls house shops to support:
The Dolls House
Northleach
+44 (0) 1451 860 431
Open: Thurs – Sat
10am – 5pm
Vie Miniatures
Clackton-on-Sea
+44 (0) 1255 317 350
Open: Weds – Sat
10am – 4pm
www.vieminiature.com
Miniature Real Estate
Morecombe
+44 (0) 7736 216 775
Open: Tues – Sat
10am – 4pm
A huge thanks to Michal Morse, Doreen Jeffries, Pat Rochester & Zoe Handy for their help with this article.
