Queen Mary’s Doll House is arguably the most magnificent display of beauty, detail, and creativity of any dollhouse in history. King George V of the United Kingdom presented this house to Queen Mary in 1924 as a gift from the people of England to reveal to future generations how royalty lived during the early twentieth century.
Princess Marie Louise was the first to broach the idea of creating such a masterpiece with Sir Edwin Lutyens, one of England’s top architects of the time. Taken by the notion, Lutyens immediately set forth on designing a house that would be fit for a queen, no expenses spared. He wanted to create a fully furnished miniature home that was accurate to items found in Windsor Castle, down to the finest detail.
Built at 1:12 scale and standing nearly three and a half feet high, the forty room doll house began to take shape. Lutyens employed artists and artisans to work on the interior. To provide an idea of the detail and care given to these rooms, they built a front foyer complete with a swirling staircase to the second floor, a library with walnut bookcases, a servant’s pantry equipped with all modern conveniences of the day, and a Queen’s bedroom with a four-poster bed, the night sky painted on the ceiling.
These little touches alone would be enough to make the Queen Mary’s Doll House one of the most impressive miniatures ever created. Sir Lutyens had plans that were more ambitious.
He insisted it necessary that everything within the house be fully functional. He hired electricians to make every light and chandelier work, plumbers to make every toilet flush and tap run, and crafters to have the two elevators stop at every floor. He even went so far as to have a one-twelfth scale gramophone built to work as a normal one when played.
Sir Lutyens had talented furniture makers of the day make small replicas of the furniture found in Windsor Castle. He had all cupboards stocked with canned goods that bore logos of popular brands found in the real Queen’s kitchen. He had linens, curtains, clothes, nursery toys, and rugs created to scale. The basement wine cellar contained miniature bottles of wine with real labels filled with a thimble’s worth of the actual advertised wine. The lavatory even had its own roll of toilet paper.
Over one hundred and seventy writers, from Poet Laureate Robert Bridges to Rudyard Kipling, were commissioned to write miniature books for the Library. Well-known artists supplied watercolours and art for the Queen Mary’s Doll House.
As the project ballooned, Sir Lutyens chaired a Dolls’ House Committee to oversee all these artists, writers, and companies eager to lend there services to his vision.
No detail was forgotten. There was Royal Doulton and Wedgewood China, a Singer sewing machine in the linen room, utensils, ornaments, napkins, stamp albums, and a little snail crawling on a leaf in the garden.
By the end of the project, nearly fifteen hundred people were involved in the creation of the dollhouse. Queen Mary took great joy when she saw her gift, and ruled this house shared with everyone so that people might see and appreciate the ingenuity of the English people.
It made its first appearance in 1924 at the British Empire Exhibition, attracting two million visitors before it was relocated to Windsor Castle. There the dollhouse remains today for anyone to see and enjoy.
Add to your miniature collection, or start a new one! Come see our large selection of wooden doll houses and accessories. Visit us online at http://www.TheMagicalDollhouse.com today.
Are you interested in losing weight? Whether you would like to improve your health, improve you appearance, or do both, you may be interested in finding a weight loss plan to use. When it comes to weight loss plans, you will find that you have a number of different options. Two of your most common options include paying for a weight loss plan or developing your own.
If this is your first time attempting to “seriously,” lose weight, you may be wondering whether you should develop your own weight loss plan, also commonly referred to as a weight loss program, or pay for one. One of the best ways to determine which weight loss plan you should use is to examine the pros and cons of each. A few of the most influential advantages and disadvantages to developing your own weight loss plan, as well as paying for one are outlined below.
When it comes to paying for a weight loss plan or a weight loss program, you will find that you can do so locally or online. If you choose to participate in a local weight loss program or plan, you will likely meet in a centralized location. Many times, you just get together every week or two. There are some weight loss programs where you can exercise onsite though. Should you choose to join an online weight loss program, you will likely have online meetings or discussions with trainers or other weight loss program members, either on a message board or through emails. You should also have access to healthy recipes and easy to do exercises.
One of the many advantages to paying for a weight loss program or a weight loss plan is that you are often given a professional plan. Many times, the individuals or trainers in charge of running these programs have training or firsthand experience with losing weight. This often eliminates trial and error, as many have already learned what works and what does not work with weight loss.
In all honestly, the only downside to paying to join a weight loss program or a weight loss plan is that you have to pay to do so. With that in mind, however, you should be able to find affordable weight loss programs and plans, both locally and online. Although it is not guaranteed, many people find the most affordable help in the form of online weight loss programs or online weight loss plans.
As for developing your own weight loss plan, there are a number of advantages to doing so. One of those advantages is that you can customize your weight loss plan and program to you. For example, if you were allergic to milk, you could work your allergy into your weight loss program, where as a paid weight loss plan or program may not do so. You can also customize your workouts to yourself. This is great if you are obese and unable to follow many workout videos, which seem like they are designed for those who already in “perfect,” shape.
Another one of the many advantages to developing your own weight loss plan to follow is that it is fun to do. You also have a number of tools at your fingertips. There are a number of websites and magazines that you can get weight loss information from; information that you can use to create your own weight loss plan to follow. Some individuals have said that creating their own weight loss plan to follow makes them more excited about the process and more likely to see the plan all the way through.
The above mentioned factors are just a few of the many that you may want to take into consideration, when trying to determine whether you should develop your own weight loss program or join a paid weight loss program. Many individuals have reported starting their own weight loss program and then later joining a paid one if they didn’t get the results that they were hoping for.