Triang Model 61 Dolls House

Remember how Naomi was searching for a Triang Model 61 dolls house for me last year? Well the very exciting news is that she found another one and we are going to share it. My childhood dolls house was almost certainly a Triang 61 which formerly belonged to a neighbour’s child so although it does not have a lot of rooms, a staircase or some of the features found in more elaborate houses it has always been close to my heart.

Triang made a number of different dollshouses in various sizes and configurations and in many cases the same model was released for decades with minor changes. Triang’s Model 76 is also identical to the 61 but much larger which is the reason that I think mine was the 61. Most people in our neighbourhood would probably not have been able to afford the more expensive Model 76.

This particular style of house first appeared in the 1930s and continued to be manufactured until 1958. There are a lot of websites dealing with Triang dolls houses as they are very popular and from these I’ve learned that the earlier 61’s had a flower box built into the front of the house while the later ones did not. Green window frames were a feature of the 1950s houses. I expect that wall and floor papers may have varied over time too. I am still researching that. There is a set of steps which came with them too. I’m not sure when they were discontinued but as they were not attached to the base they would have been easily lost. I know that I did not have them as my dolls had to jump off the base when they left their house. That bothered me as much as the lack of stairs did because it was not like real life.

Triang No 61 House (1950s) photo 2005_1030Image0001.jpg — 1950s Triang No. 61 by Jesamine Kelly short_paws

My childhood dolls house was a 1950s model like the one above. It had the green frames. It didn’t have a flower box. I was born in 1957 and although I don’t remember when I was given the house I must have been at least four years old. I had it until late 1965 when we left for Australia. It was one of the things left behind. I suppose it was either sold or maybe given to a younger cousin.

Our “new” dolls house is an older model though. The eBay seller dated it as circa 1939. It has the flower box and the window frames are black. This is how model no. 61 appeared in the 1937 Triang catalogue.

An illustration from the 1937 Triang catalogue

Naomi is tracking the parcel and says that it is about to leave the UK for Australia. She’s promised to bring it to my place so I can photograph it when it arrives. We are both very excited as we loved playing with my dollshouse as children and its occupants had many adventures.

UPDATE:

Our house has now arrived in Melbourne and Naomi hopes it will arrive at her place this week. If so she will bring it for me to photograph on Friday along with some vintage furniture she has stored. I’ll post about that next weekend.