If you thought the recent eBay appearance of some unusual--and unusually well-preserved--Creative Playthings toys being sold from Hamilton Square, New Jersey--a town within easy commuting distance of CP's vintage headquarters in Princeton--was a fluke, think again.
The same eBay seller is back, and her basement is yielding more CP gold. First up, of course, is the family of carved wooden dolls designed by Antonio Vitali. "You are bidding on a family. It is a man, woman, baby, dog and cat all made of solid wood. My Mom got these for me for my Creative Playthings dollhouse in the early 1970's. They are in excellent condition." I love that the baby is doing a headplant or, if you wish, a sun salutation. Even without a mention of Vitali in the auction listing, these things should go pretty high.
And did someone mention of a dollhouse? Why, here it is right here. True, it's the square, single-story, rearrangeable, dollhouse and not the two-story, slot-together plywood dreamhouse, but it's still sweet.
Last month's auction descriptions made me wonder if this was the daughter of a Creative Playthings employee selling off stuff, but it could just as easily be a neighbor of a Creative Playthings employee. Maybe they sold CP like Tupperware back then, everyone on the block selling each other on the benefits of modernist, abstract toys for the development of the child's imagination. Who knows, but we have an eBay seller to watch.
Family of Wood People Creative Playthings 1970's Sweden, currently $5+5 s/h, auction ends 1/19 sure enough, $257. [ebay]
Creative Playthings Dollhouse 1970's, opening bid $5 + $30 s/h, auction ends 1/19 wow, just $22.50 [ebay]
Oh. My. God. Thanks so much for posting this picture.
I have the above doll house with all of the original furniture. My parents bought it for me in 1968 (It could have been a few years later but I'm pretty sure it was when I was three).