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I received this splendid vintage teatowel as a gift at Christmas.[thanks, D] I was really excited about it. Two reasons: it's a Pat Albeck design, and I was taken aged about 7, to see the Queen's Doll's House in Windsor
Pat designed hundreds of teatowels, in particular for the National Trust. Her son, artist Matthew Rice, wrote a fabulous book about her work, called the Queen of the Teatowel
It is a phenomenal piece of work. Over 100 authors of the day contributed to the miniature books in the library. Manufacturing companies produced tiny, working versions of kitchen equipment, household goods, furniture... Over 1500 items - with electricity, running water and working lifts. This year marks the centenary of its official opening in 1924, and there are special events at Windsor. See website
This tour video is in two parts. - there are others on YouTube
Three Queens - Mary, Elizabeth, and Pat!
Have you seen the Royal Doll's House?
Have you ever dressed a Pegdoll?
And do you possess a Pat Albeck teatowel? [some of them fetch Surprisingly High Prices on line, but I'm keeping mine]
None of her tea towels but I have the book which I'd forgotten that I was going to write about some of the designs.
ReplyDeleteLove your little peg doll , now you need Bob to make you a posh palace dolls house for her to live in!
I'd love a palace dolls house... but no idea where we could put it. After a lifetime of living in "tied accommodation", having Cornerstones is like owning my own full sized doll's house, where I can rearrange things to my heart's content.
ReplyDeleteAt the museum where I volunteer we do a session on making peg dolls, this fits into a theme of 'toys from the past'. Last week I handled a doll which was victorian and also some very large wooden 'peg dolls'. Not as pretty as yours.
ReplyDeleteMuseum. Volunteers are wonderful people who help to get others involved in history. Thanks for what you do
DeleteEnjoyed your post this morning. I was born just after the war, the austerity period. Toys were very few. My lovely gran,who we visited daily, would sometimes have a sweet little peg doll dressed for me. Oranges then had pretty, tissue wrappers and she would use those to make a cloak. Memories! Love Isabel
ReplyDeleteWhy don't we have tissue round fruit anymore? I used to love the wrapping on our Christmas tangerines
DeleteI've never heard of her, but that brought back memories of Joyce and her tea towel talks!
ReplyDeleteLynn P
Oh yes! Wonderful Joyce Wainwright was the spouse of a Baptist minister (like Lyn & me) She had a HUGE collection of teatowels, and gave informative, amusing talks about them.
DeleteYes I have seen the Royal Doll's House two or three times. It is amazing and when I saw it the first time it was quite a time ago and it didn't seem to matter how long I stayed looking at it but now it is much more hurried with more people. I love your good Queen Bess peg doll. I have done projects with children in school to dress peg dolls but none so fine as yours. I don't possess any Pat Albeck tea towels but would like to and I've made a note of her son's book to read. Thank's for a very interesting post as always. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteIt is good when you have time to stop and look. So often these days, they hurry you on because of the queue behind you
DeleteI wonder if the children really played with the dolls house. Somehow I think they might have been afraid to break the tiny little items. How lovely that it has been preserved so well.
ReplyDeleteI suspect it was Look, Don't Touch
DeleteLove your Queen peg doll-the materials provided are fabulous. I would frame the teatowel and hang it somewhere out of the sun to keep it pristine. Thanks for the video-I have sat and watched it with a coffee on this very windy morning which blew one of the slats off the bedroom blind! Catriona
ReplyDeleteIt is currently folded up back in the drawer. No spare wall space!
DeleteI bought the Mary Stewart Wilson book about Queen Mary's Doll's House when it was published in 1988, and still love looking through it.
ReplyDeleteI've never actually seen the Doll's House, but would love to. However, I don't want to just look at it from a distance, I want to have a little play with it, very carefully of course, but I don't think that would ever be allowed.
I can dream though! X
The book looks fascinating.
DeleteI have that tea towel and love it! A cherished purchase from a National Trust shop in York, many decades ago. It's a bit thin now and I use it for laying over food to cover it rather than as a tea towel.
ReplyDeletePure linen teatowels last so much longer than cheap cotton/polycotton ones. And I'm sure they dry more efficiently too
DeleteI quite agree about linen tea towels. I won’t have any other sort. They are becoming very difficult to buy here, I find. All linen seems to come from Lithuania these days. Your new tea towel is fabulous. Nicky K
DeleteI was probably the same age as you when I saw Queen Mary's doll house and I was very fascinated by it. Mine at home was a very humble affair, more a red roofed white cottage with painted roses round the door. I see in the news that Queen Camilla is adding to the doll house library with some modern authors. Xx
ReplyDeleteQueen C is very keen on promoting literacy - which is a very good thing, imho. Yes my little doll's house was a pale shadow of the spectacular royal one too
DeleteAPOLOGIES - yet again I've managed to delete a couple of comments in error. If you don't see yours, do try again (unless you are the annoying person from Karachi advertising your business who is sending three or four a day. I blame you entirely)
ReplyDeleteI am using a National Trust linen tea towel right now! It's called Country Fruit by Lee Parry. My mother had several of NT towels, all have lasted 30+ years. My niece has the others now. Some had properties on them.
ReplyDeleteThey are such good quality fabric and withstand frequent laundering.
DeleteI don't have any tea towels; I've kitchen towels, but, I think they are different from tea towels.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Queen Mary's dolls' house, but, I watched the videos you linked. Now I wish I had kept the dolls' house I decluttered!
Your peg doll looks lovely! What will you do with it? Display it? I don't think I've ever made a peg doll. I do have a package of pegs, bought to make reindeer, one Christmas (which I didn't make!)
A teatowel is (I think) the UK equivalent of a US dish towel - used to dry plates etc after washing up. I saw a number of peg reindeers at Christmas Craft fairs in December
DeleteLovely doll house and tea towels, too.
ReplyDeleteLook uo Colleen Moore's doll house that is in a Chago Museum. Amazing. I saw it several times when my family lived in a Chicago suburb.
Hugs!
Oh wow - that's a great dolls house with a lively story. How wonderful that it was sent on tour in the Great Depression and raised over $½M for children's charities
DeleteLove the Doll House. My mother used to bring back tea towels from holidays in England instead of sending postcards. Tea towels were cheaper then and not much more than the cost of a card and postage. I've had some for years, now most used for rags. Never made peg dolls but I did make apple head dolls.
ReplyDeleteWhat a thoughtful thing for your mum to do!
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