Metal Dollhouses

Postwar shortage of materials resulted in significant changes in dollhouses after 1945. There was an increased use of fiberboard, metal, and plastic. Companies such as Marx, Cohn, Mettoy, and others began manufacturing lithographed steel houses. Plastic windows, doors, and roofs soon became common, and all-plastic houses began to appear. These houses of the immediate postwar period reflected the homes created in the building booms of the times. (Dollhouse Furniture, Margaret Towner, Running Press, Philadelphia, 1993)

Marx Houses

Marx Dollhouse - Photo from Dollhouse Furniture
Photo from Diane's Dollhouse Collectibles

"Louis Marx & Co., Inc. began business after World War II, producing wind-up mechanical toys and metal trucks and cars. In 1949, the company produced its first metal dollhouse. Featured in the Sears Christmas catalog it was called the 'Disney' house, so named because the cartoon characters were festooned along the nursery walls. The 'Disney' had five rooms, garage and patio, and was fully furnished and electrified for only $4.98.

For over 20 years, Marx made metal dollhouses, often using the same model year after year. Painted in different colors and architectural design, the house had several interchangeable components which could be mixed and matched to create different styles or sizes. In this way, they met the requirements of varied sale prices. The L-shaped ranch house was new in 1953 and sold in the Sears Christmas catalog for $7.29 furnished.

Marx's most expensive house appeared in the 1962 Sears catalog. It featured dormer windows, an inside staircase, a ringing doorbell, lighting, a 'Florida' room complete with jalousie window, awnings, shutters and painted-on flower filled window boxes beneath the front windows, plus complete furnishings --all for $15.88.

Marx continued to produce metal dollhouses, particularly spruced up Colonnade and Colonial models until the end of 1970 when the company went out of business" (Precious Metal Dollhouses by Joan Bramsch, "Tiny Talk", from the publication "Antique Trader Weekly".)

...... 1949-1951...................................1960's

Wolverine Houses

"The Wolverine Supply & Mfg. Co., was founded in 1903 by Benjamin Bain. Wolverine went from gravity-action sand toys (1913) to housekeeping toys (1920s) to Rite-Hite toy kitchens (1959) to dollhouses (1972-1990). They designed seven dollhouses, none of which was up to the standards of the very well-made houses bearing other name brands. Like those others, though, each sold complete with plastic furniture." (Precious Metal Dollhouses by Joan Bramsch, "Tiny Talk", from the publication "Antique Trader Weekly".)

Cohn Houses

1948 Cohn House

"A metal dollhouse featured in the 1948 Montgomery War Christmas catalog appears to be the first modern metal design. Manufactured by T. Cohn in Brooklyn, N.Y., the house had six rooms and sundeck with five windows and a front door that opened. Original price was $4.75. Most of the early Cohn models had hipped gable roofs and were clearly labeled with the company name--'T. Cohn Inc. Made in the U.S.A.' They produced metal dollhouses from the 1950s into the early 1960s, almost as long as Marx, though not as successfully." (Precious Metal Dollhouses by Joan Bramsch, "Tiny Talk", from the publication "Antique Trader Weekly".)

Other Companies

A Jayline House - 1940s Photo from Diane's Dollhouse Collectibles

A Keystone House

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