Posts Tagged ‘kids’

Kitsch Kids!

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

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We bought this trio of ‘wide-eyed children’ prints this week – a bit of classic 1950s kitsch.

detail of vintage Dallas Simpson "Wide Eyed" child print of a boy with a string of onions

We often buy Tretchikoff prints from this era, but don’t normally go for images quite this cutesy.

They were such good examples of the type though – and they do certainly have their fans… Red or Dead founder, Wayne Hemingway famously. Check out his book on the subject, Above The Mantelpiece: Mass-Market Masterpieces

Detail of vintage Dallas Simpson print showing her signature

The artist of these three is Dallas Simpson. Simpson moved with her husband in the mid 1960′s from London to live in a mobile home in West Sussex by the sea. She had no children of her own and her husband used to prime either her canvases or more often she painted on board.

She was a prolific artist of big eyed urchin children and she used to sell the originals and reproduction rights as long as payment was immediate, to fund her simple life and her beloved gin.

She painted under a number of pseudonyms including Emma Louise and Kelita with a subtle change of style in the painting but with the same subject matter. (biographical information taken from Felix Rosenstiel´s Widow & Son Ltd).

vintage Dallas Simpson "Wide eyed" child print of boy sitting on a riverbank holding a fishing rod

All three are in excellent condition with original frames. So if you’re a fan, drop us an email and we’ll give you first refusal before they go into our pitch or listed on our website.

set of three vintage prints of "Wide Eyed" children by Dallas Simpson

If you’d like to do a bit more investigating, other artists in the genre include Maio, Lee, Betty Raphael and Margaret Keane.

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New kids on the block

Friday, December 4th, 2009

The new shop department we’ve been promising is up & running. Childs Play has a mixture of traditional toys & games…

…piggy banks…


…tins…


…books…


…and furniture such as desks, chairs and blackboards.

Here’s our most recent acquisition – a fab 1960s cot.

So come check us out – we’re adding new items all the time!

Pop Up

Monday, November 9th, 2009

It’s full steam ahead for the new Child’s Play department on the H is for Home shop website – vintage books, toys, room decorations etc. The section should be up & running by this weekend.

These fab vintage pop up books we bought this week will fit in there perfectly.

They all date from the early 1970s and feature some very familiar characters a lot of you will recognise.

The collection includes Trumpton, Noddy, the Wombles and Play School.

For a trip down memory lane have a look at these original opening sequences to their TV incarnations!

Child's Play

Friday, July 10th, 2009

We bought a huge pile of vintage Ladybird books this week. They’re fabulous little books, designed to educate & entertain children of all ages.

We really enjoyed having a browse through them all. Having grown up with them it’s been a very nostalgic trip.

They cover an amazing variety of subjects…

…science & nature…

…careers & occupations…

…fairytales etc, etc, etc.

The wonderful illustrations have a distinctive “Ladybird” look despite being produced by a variety of artists.

Names such as John Berry, Roland Green and C F Tunnicliffe to name but three.

It’s not surprising that there’s a keen collectors’ market amongst adults too.

For more things Ladybird check out these websites:

The Wee Web
Vintage Ladybird
Official Ladybird website
Easy on the Eye
Fly Away Home

We’ve added the books to other items of stock that we’re accumulating for a new section on our website.

It’s going to be called Child’s Play, and as the name suggests, it will consist of lots of kids-related items.

In addition to books, there’ll be vintage toys & games…

…money boxes & tins…

…and bits & pieces to decorate nurseries, play rooms & bedrooms.

We should have gathered enough stuff to add the new section in the autumn – so watch this space!

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