vintage giant play-inside dollhouse

i bought this giant cardboard 'play-inside' dollhouse about 25 years ago ~

mail-in offer & instructions ~

my kitties approve of it ~

it came with wildly off-scale furniture & dolls ~ lol!

cardboard kitchen with all the mod cons ~

also parts, lightbulbs & seeds for a 'real working greenhouse' ~

instructions & pieces ~

it's quirky, but we enjoy it ~
ghost & toxic

Comments

[Playmobil African Wild Life]

I hope you had a good time building this vintage electric giant doll house. I know how it does it feel when you are having a new toy. Toy can be our instrument to release stress. For girls, doll house is one of the best toy that they can have.

[ghost]

this house is large enough that even as a grown person i was able to hide inside it with it closed & play with my kitties through the windows.. ;)

[Kelly Lockwood]

That's the same dollhouse I bought for daughter about 20 years ago and now she is looking for it for her daughter. Where can we buy it?

[ghost]

good luck with that, i'm afraid, the ad & instructions were pre '.com' era & don't even show a company name that i can see, maybe one might be available still in box on ebay?

[ghost]

update:
i recommend this contemporary playhouse by discovery kids to anyone looking ~ http://friendlyghost.typepad.com/lost_found_vintage_toys/2013/02/play-inside-giant-cardboard-playhouse.html

bren/ghost

[Deborah]

I had one of these! My grandmother bought it in the mid 80's from a mail in offer from some tabloid. I played with it for hours and hours. This brings back great memories especially since I lost my grandmother last week. Thank you for posting.

[ghost]

deborah,
i'm sorry for your loss, i was fortunate enough to grow up in my great grandmother's house with 2 grandmas & i always felt it was such a privelege to have had that time with them before they passed.. take care ~

[Lizzyloo]

I had this in the mid 80s. So neat to see it again after all these years!

[ghost]

:)

[donna woodburn]

I have been looking for this for years. This was one of my favorite toys as a child I love seeing it. Do you know where else I could check for one? I have looked on ebay

[ghost]

hi donna ~
i was able to find several available here ~

http://vintage118.info/store/cardboard_dollhouse.html

other times i've searched i couldn't find one so this is good news!

thanks for visiting!
~ bren

[Charlotte]

Hi I just bought two of these in boxes with all original parts still sealed . I am will to sale them .

[Wayne]

How do I get a hold of Charlotte? I am interested in one of the cardboard houses.

[ghost]

charlotte ~ i just forwarded wayne's email address to you! :)

[Nina Taylor]

I just found one these im charity shop for £2.99 in uk lol

[ghost]

oh, nice snag, nina ;) kitties like these too!

[Amy]

I had one of these as a child and now looking for my daughter! Thank you for posting. I’m so excited to have found your post. Aren’t you glad you saved it?! What a gem.

[ghost]

amy, absolutely a favorite here at the lost & found, like i always tell others, try saving a very specific search on ebay & toggle it to email you right away when one comes up.. this has helped me get many items before, good luck!

[Jovonia]

Do you know where I can get one from?

[Jovonia]

This was the last thing my grandma bought me before she died. When my mom left my father because he was abusing her I couldn’t take it with me. I’ve been searching for this dollhouse for over 15 years

[ghost]

this vintage cardboard playhouse gets alot of attention here at the #lostandfoundtoys blog, they do still come up here & there on ebay, don't give up hope jovonia, please check the other comments here & i'll keep you in mind if i hear anything in future, ok?
thanks for commenting :)

[Craig McGuire]

I remember being so excited then it came.. The house wasnt too bad but the furniture and people were very weird.. And it said it lit up but it was one bulb with a box to put a battery.. I also got as an extra bonus a cardboard greenhouse with living plants!! Well it was seeds.. I should have known though.. We also ordered the 200 piece fishing tackle set!

[ghost]

craig,
yep the people were way offscale, & the seeds! i never tried out the greenhouse.. lol!

[Mandy]

OMG I had this thing! It ended up rotting in a storage shed, cause our house was too small to set it up when we moved.

I didn't know I could even comment on this til I saw the last comment was 2021.

I was lucky that I had some better furniture to put in here... and put the rest of it that came with it upstairs for the kids to play with, they were the only ones it fit!

I dunno what the lighting thing was about...

[ghost]

:D
i think the tiny lightbulbs & silver box were supposed to help the tiny seeds grow?? the real working greenhouse.. lol
i love that the people & furniture were so weirdly offscale..

[ghost]

:o cool, checkout this alternate version now up on etsy <3 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1294181734/vintage-marx-cardboard-litho-dollhouse?epik=dj0yJnU9ZlRsS3FhWFJvcVptSHZOUEU1X1M4Y0RiWlpvLVZFVmwmcD0wJm49ZGw0YjVJVHRHVEZWZHAxWVltWTRqZyZ0PUFBQUFBR1E3YlhZ

[Sally]

I had this too. Thanks for posting all the great pictures.

[ghost]

:)