The Miniature Travelogue

A bright and sunny, though bitter cold day in Augusta saw a very busy Guard Armory as several thousand fans of model trains and dollhouse miniatures thronged the hall. I arrived with my wife, two daughters and Li’l Bea’s best friend at about seven or eight minutes before the starting time of 10 AM, but the doors were open and almost a hundred visitors were already enjoying the sights.

I’ll admit that trains get the top billing at this show, along with two-thirds of the floorspace inside the hall, but the ten miniatures exhibitors who filled theirs tables were very busy most of the day. From the lighthouse that greeted us when we walked in the door, to the excited welcome of the vendors, to the bargain bins brimming with every possible kind of mini item, this was just a fun little show. Let’s run through some of the exhibitors.

Looksmore’s Dollhouse Dreams of Farmingdale brought the fully furnished Real Good Toys lighthouse (LH-100), complete with busy little pets and some lovely details. The lighthouse keeper’s wife doll is by Elaine Perkins (more on her below), and she is sitting down to a shore dinner of lobster (by Looksmore), Shrimp (by Cheryl Downing of Brunswick), and escargot (by Kathy Allen-Sidney).

Looksmore was also showing two other RGT houses that she had built, including a Cape Cottage Junior that she is making into a teddy bear shop. Some of the little bears have already moved in, and it’s no wonder because the house is lovely. Looks does a beautiful job with the RGT kits and can offer you a custom finished setting for your favorite miniatures. She loves to talk dollhouses anytime, so give her a call at 207-582-3833 to discuss the house of your dreams.

Next along the East wall Was a display with really interesting Egyptian miniatures that could have been a museum display, and a 1950’s kitchen by Mary Sheehan. This kitchen reminded me of so many that I used to see when I was very young, including my sweet old Auntie Bea’s little apartment kitchen in Norwich, Connecticut.

This shot of some of Barbara Hall’s items really doesn’t show the best items that she had on her table. Her hand-painted pieces, especially the blanket chests, have lovely scenes of one of my favorite subjects, Maine lighthouses. You can see one in this photo if you look carefully in the top-left room setting, plus a two hand-painted items in the lower-center setting. I’ll be corresponding with Barbara about club activity Downeast and will be sure to get more info about her wares.

As you can see, I got to Elaine Perkins’ table before she finished setting up. Later I went back to get pictures of the individual room settings. Make sure that you click on each photo to see the detail in the bigger version. These mini people are really special.

Robert and Elaine Perkins operate Our Dolls making french porcelain miniature people with exquisite detail, both in their features and in their clothing and accessories. I’ll have to admit to being one of those miniaturists who avoids putting people into my tiny settings. Even though I enjoy making up little back stories about the people who live in a house or roombox, I really prefer to leave dolls out of the settings. My wife is quite the opposite, preferring to decorate the dolls over accessorizing the settings, but even I was very impressed with these tiny people. In their expressions as well as their dress, they really seem to be going about their lives in the settings where they are placed. I’m not sure where Concord Township is, yet, but I hope to pay a visit to Our Dolls and see if I can find Captain Stone, that so far invisible little sea captain who inhabits my Early American roombox study. They are open by appointment, so call ahead (207-643-2479).

I spent a good deal of time enjoying the details of the displays on the many tables set out by the folks of Village Miniatures, like this sweet little kitchen with loads of accessories. It was almost like shopping at a miniature L.L. Bean, with bags and boots and fishing gear and even Adirondack chairs, just like the real thing. I could have gone a long way toward fitting out Li’l Bea’s cabin if the budget wasn’t flat for that project. I’m looking forward to visiting their store in Hampden very soon. I’ll do a complete entry with lots of photos after that day, I promise.

Jamie Lucas of Jamie’s Miniatures in Belfast had a number of tables and was very busy every time I was near her area. I had a good chance to speak with her about her shop, her schedule for the next several weeks. We also discussed the current situation and the future for miniatures in Maine. We agreed that this hobby needs to be actively promoted and passed on to the next generation, but also that the hobby is at low ebb worldwide. As cycles do, this one will come back around, all mini people need to actively seek to pass on their knowledge and love of miniatures to others, especially the young.

I found two vendors from out-of-state, one from Mass. And the other from New Hampshire. They seemed to be doing a brisk business and both had wonderful, hand-made items, including crocheted afghans at one table that took my wife’s breath away. Having crocheted for many years, she could really appreciate the work that went into these miniature crafts. The other vendor had, among many other thing, the best little wooden lobster traps that I have seen to date. I was sorely tempted, but I had to hold onto my twenty dollars for more pressing purchases.

A new vendor, so new that his shop isn’t quite open yet, was Sam Dunlap of Bar Harbor. His gallery, with tiny shelves full of eye-pleasing pottery and china, will be opening in June on Eagle Lake Road. His web site, SamDunlapGallery.com should be operating by May and I hope that his wares begin appearing in local shops very soon. If you are interested in learning more you can try contacting him at sdunlap@hypernet.com, or call (207) 288-5039.

This display had quite a number of pieces that would fit very well with Li’l Bea’s log cabin. They specialize in camp and cottage items, as you can see in the photo, and they definitely capture the rustic feel that is so apropos for that cabin by the lake. The stone fireplaces caught Bea’s eye and she was ready to pull out the existing, plain mantle in her cabin to replace it with one of these. The box of split wood and other accessories go a long way to making a miniature setting feel as inviting as the real thing. Cottage Carpenters is on Brentwood Road in Cape Elizabeth, and you can reach them at (207) 767-2366.

Likely the largest display, and right up front and center, wa set up by Barbara’s Barn of Windsor. The Hagans have been organizing this show forever and their booth was busy constantly. Barbara seems to know everyone and she, along with her helpers, were making sure that everyone was finding what they came to find. This breadbox with a kitchen in it really catches the eye and brings to mind quite a number of other unique ideas that you could use to have fun creating thematic dioramas. Lots of people have a breadbox in their kitchen, but how many people have a kitchen in their breadbox!

Barbara’s is located on Coopers Mills Road in Windsor, and you can reach them at (207) 549-5526, or email them at hagan3@earthlink.net Barbara was making it known that her shop is carrying a new dollhouse line by The Olde English Dollhouse Company of Colchester, England.

The last big item of news from the show is the announcement that was passed around, telling all that Nana’s Dream Museum of Miniatures will be opening next month in Auburn! There will be a preview on March 17th at their 67 Minot Avenue location. They will be opening later this spring with regular hours, Tuesday through Saturday from 10 Am to 3 PM. It has been formed as a non-profit and promises dollhouses, roomboxes and scene in miniature. They are actively seeking volunteers and you can contact them for more info at (207) 782-9611.

Whew! That’s it for now. I’ll share more tid bits in other areas of the site as they come to mind. If you were at the show and want to fill in blanks or help with some corrections to anything that I have reported, please do so!

Michaels is a decent, general craft store that I am used to visiting occasionaly with my wife. She enjoys crochet and also encourages children with little craft projects from time to time, so she visits the store in Augusta a couple of times each year. I sometimes look over what they have in the way of plastic car models and my son likes to look at their art supplies. Our family can easily kill an hour in the store.

This visit I concentrated on what they might have that would be of interest to miniaturists. In doing so I found several items that I just had to have. Among the interesting items: they have a small selection of basswood pieces, various dowels, a great selection of polymer clays, lovely paintbrushes, a middling selection of X-acto items, lots of paints, and tons of interesting jimcracks of every kind. I dropped about forty bucks in the place without even trying.

The Michaels.com web site lists only two stores in Maine. Our local haunt is in Augusta Marketplace (next to Barnes & Noble), but there is also one on Panye Rd. in Scarborough. I was surprised not to see one listed for the Bangor area.