THE LETTEROF SWEDEN

A Quarterly Newsletter Published for Members of the We Love Lundby Club

APRIL 2012Volume 9Number 1

www.toysmiles.com

Continued on page 2

OF SWEDEN

Lundby is for the Ages and the Future!We Love Lundby Club Salutes Lundby’s 65th Anniversary, 1947-2012

CELEBRATE WITH US on WLLC’s trip to Småland in southern Sweden during September 5-9! Itwas only five years ago in 2007, when we first hoped to visit Sweden to commemorate the60th anniversary of Lundby of Sweden. That trip didn’t materialize, but in 2012, it is actually

happening! So far, ten Lundby collectors have committed to attending the conference

in Växjö, Sweden. One of the highlights will be our visit to Micki Leksaker headquarters in nearby Gemla. Kristina Aronsson, Micki Product Develop-ment Manager, has planned a tour and lunch at the facilities, a visit to the factory outlet shop, where we’ll be able to purchase Lundby items, and a trip

to the Gemla Toy Museum. Attendees are encouraged to add days

to their visit by touring other parts ofSweden either before or after the con-ference. Please let us know as soon aspossible if you plan to join us on thisexciting trip. Be sure to access all theupdated information regarding the tripon the Members Only page on thewebsite, http://www.toysmiles.com.

We give special thanks to PeterPehrsson, Sweden, who has been extremely helpful with working out plans for the accommodations and travel arrange-ments. Peter made a special trip from his home in Nybro to visit Micki headquarters sohe could photograph several locations that the group will be touring. ♥

Photos of the Micki Outlet and Gemla Toy Museum areby Peter Pehrsson. Read more about Peter in the March2006 newsletter.

Scandinavian Design in the Doll’s HouseReady for Distribution

GOOD NEWS! The long awaited North American release ofthe book, Scandinavian Design in the Doll’s House, by mem-

ber Yvette Wadsted, Sweden, and Ulf Beckman, is near. Don’tmiss the opportunity to add this excellent resource to yourcollection of information about Scandinavian dollhouse man-ufacturers, mainly Lundby, Lerro, and BRIO.

We are thrilled that two of our members worked so close-ly with the book’s publishing by Arvinius Förlag AB in Stock-holm—Yvette Wadsted, as the main author, and ElisabethLantz, Sweden, who loaned materials and dollhouses for pho-

Some of the images from Scandinavian Design in the Doll’s House. Note thatthe dates, 1950-2000, have been omitted from the original title. Courtesy ofRam Publications.

“But It Looks So Real!” By Renee Ganim

Page 2 THE LUNDBY LETTER

SCANDINAVIAN DESIGNcontinued from page 1

tographing. Micki Leksaker AB alsodefrayed transport expenses for two pre-publication exhibitions, one at the Muse-um of Childhood in London, England, andthe second at the American Swedish Insti-tute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. See Page 1of newsletters from Autumn 2004 andMarch 2007.

Orders for the book are slated to befilled this month from its sole distributorin North America, Ram Publishing House,2525 Michigan Ave., #A2, Santa Monica,CA 90404, telephone 310/453-0043, oremail address, info@rampub.com. If youhave an inquiry about the list of book-stores and museum stores where it will beavailable or any further questions, contactRam Publications. The company will offerfree shipping if you mention the newslet-ter or club with your order. ♥

THE LETTEROF SWEDEN

A Quarterly Newsletter Published for Members of the We Love Lundby Club

OCTOBER 2011Volume 8Number 3

www.toysmiles.com

THE NEWS WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR HAS ARRIVED from YvetteWadsted, Sweden, author of the dazzling new book, Scandinavian Design in the

Doll’s House, which takes the reader through the changing trends in Scandinavian interior design, miniaturized in doll’s houses, from 1950–2000.

The book will be available in bookstores very soon. Members will receive a dis-count from the publisher, http://www.arvinius.se, by mentioning they are members of the We Love Lundby Club. However, the postage costs from Sweden may out-weigh the savings. Interested members may want to wait until the book is avail-able in their countries which will take some time

Breaking News:

“Will You Still Love Me When I’m64?” Or 65? Yes, We Will!

JuliePlovnick

JenniferMcKendry

Small Homes • Big Heart Lundby1947-2012

KristinaAronsson

Scandinavian Design in the DollScandinavian Design in the Doll’s Houses HouseExcerpts from Featured on Facebook Page

Scandinavian Design in the Doll’s House

THE LETTERA Quarterly Newsletter Published for Members of the We Love Lundby Club

OCTOBER 2011Volume 8Number 3

www.toysmiles.com

THE NEWS WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR HAS ARRIVED from YvetteWadsted, Sweden, author of the dazzling new book, Scandinavian Design in the

Doll’s House, which takes the reader through the changing trends in Scandinavian interior design, miniaturized in doll’s houses, from 1950–2000.

The book will be available in bookstores very soon Members will receive a dis-

Breaking News:

“Will You Still Love Me When I’m64?” Or 65? Yes, We Will!

JuliePlovnick

JenniferMcKendry

Small Homes • Big Heart Lundby1947-2012

KristinaAronsson

Scandinavian Design in the DollScandinavian Design in the Doll’s Houses HouseExcerpts from Featured on Facebook Page

Scandinavian Design in the Doll’s House

Vintage Lundby Logo vs.New Lundby Logo?

IT HAS BEEN PROPOSED that we changethe logo on our newsletter banner dur-

ing this significant anniversary year tohonor the new Lundby logo and the futureof the brand name. Before we take thisaction, however, we want to ask our mem-bers what they would like to see on thebanner of their newsletter. A group deci-sion is always for the best!

Please email your preference by May31. Thanks for your help in making thisdecision. The choice will be revealed onthe banner of the July 2012 newsletter. ♥

The vintage Lundby logo or the new Lundby logo on thenewsletter banner. What shall it be for the future? Ban-ner designs by Don Christian.

IT LOOKS SO REAL OR DOES IT, and ifnot, do we care? Here we look at actualreality, as in history, of just two pieces

of Scandinavian kitchen furniture.Scandinavia is comprised of rather close

countries, basically like the states in theUSA, so there is bound to be a great dealof cultural overlap. I decided to look atwhat I consider to be two very vintagepieces of Lundby furniture--first, the bluesteel sink with blue cabinets beneath, andsecond the cabinet that goes over it, withtwo sets of red drawers, which are bothpart of set #928 found in the 1947-1950(probably late 50s?) catalog found athttp://www.peppesdollhousepage.com.

The sink design is extremely accurate,as it dates back to the Swedish farmhousesink, when plumbing was first broughtinto the house. I actually saw one in mySwedish mother’s uncle’s home. But,unfortunately, Lundby’s design flaw makesit about as far from real as you can get…it has no drain! The poor Scandinavianhousewives must have had a lot of funcleaning up after they cleaned up!

The cabinet is a Lundby piece anddesigned after Scandinavian cabinetrywhich existed at the time. Unfortunately, itwas perfectly functional if you are six feettall and can reach up that far to get some-thing, not to mention, it must have beenreal fun trying to get something out ofthose tiny red drawers.

The main question remains: “Do wecare”? I say, “No.” I have seen these classicpieces used in Lundby, Lisa, BRIO, Barton,

The very vintage kitchen sink above, with the over-head cabinet and drawers below.

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and many other 1:16th inch scale homes,and they look beautiful!

Sometimes “reality” is open for ques-tioning so style and love become moreimportant. If you are just building a housefor fun, go ahead and decorate your homeany way you wish. Forget those catalognumbers and mix what you like from anymaker or time period. Have fun! ♥

In MemoriamWILLIAM E. MONTGOMERY, 78, belovedhusband for 35 years of WLLC memberand founding Associate Editor CarolynFrank, passed away in Fairfax, VA, on Jan-uary 3, of heart failure.

His witty humor and clever skills withminiatures are terribly missed by our cluband all who knew him. Pictured here in2007, William added so much sparkle toCarolyn’s life by building five dollhousesfor her and electrifying many more.

♥

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MORE THAN A DOZEN WLLC members, spouses, and friendsmet in Allentown, PA, for the 7th annual WLLC convention

held last November in conjunction with the Dollhouse Toys n’ Usconvention and the famous Allentown Toy Show. Maria Canniz-zaro, NC, acted as note taker at the WLLC meeting, as well asthe overall chairman of the four-day get together.

Highlights of the meeting were the updates on our trip to Swe-den, discussion of member Yvette Wadsted’s fabulous book, Scan-dinavian Design in the Doll’s House, our sharing time, and the Guess-ing Game Contest with 1/16th vintage stoves to identify. GeorgeMundorf won the prize by correctly identifying 6 of the 12 minia-ture stoves.

To help you distinguish the 1/16th stoves that were pictured inthe October newsletter, here are the solutions to the GuessingGame Contest. Both the manufacturer and the country of originare shown:

Back row, left to right: Dol-Toi; UK; Caroline’s Home; UK;Shackman, Japan; Dol-Toi, UK.

Middle row, left to right: Lundby, Sweden; Lerro, Sweden; Lisa,Denmark; Lundby, Sweden.

Front row, left to right: BRIO, Sweden; Nancy Forbes, USA;Barton, UK; Tofa, Czechoslovakia. ♥

Lundby Lovers Gather inAllentown

WLLC convention attendees, left to right in back row: Gary Mosholder, PA; DianeHogan, PA; Becky Norris, IN; George Mundorf, NY; Sharon Barton Maggio, CA; andLisa Ferrontino, MA. Front row, left to right, Judy Mosholder, PA; Geraldine Scott, FL;Maria Cannizzaro, NC; and Sue Morse, VA.

Guessing Game Contest at the 7th annual WLLC mini-convention—1/16th scalevintage stoves. From the Morse collection.

What’s Next in Preserving Lundby’s

History?By Sue Morse

IN THE JULY 2011 NEWSLETTER, we appealed tomembers to help us uncover more information aboutLundby’s founders, Axel and Grete Thomsen. We have

high hopes that the Electronic Age will reveal more aboutthem and other aspects of the company’s rich 65 year-oldhistory. This will help us prepare our vision for Lundby’sfuture.

In the July 2012 newsletter, we will feature some of thefindings that Peter Pehrsson has discovered through hisaccess to the Swedish Death Index. We hope others will alsostep forward with information.

What ideas do you have about how we should preserveLundby’s history? Are there any more club members whowould like to take on the challenges of researching and/orbeing the human depository of such information? Pleasecontact me at toysmiles@aol.com.

♥

OF SWEDEN

Generations of Queens to Come!

SWEDISH CROWN PRINCESS VICTORIA gavebirth to a daughter, Estelle Silvia Ewa Mary, on Feb-ruary 23. Little baby Estelle is the first royal baby inthree decades. Sweden changed its Constitution in1980, three years after Victoria was born, to allow theeldest heir to inherit the throne, regardless of gender.

♥

Page 4 THE LUNDBY LETTER

A Toast to Tofa FurnitureBy Marion Osborne

IT IS A WEIRD NAME, which sounds rather like the vegetarian item Tofu, but, believe me,it is a maker of dollshouse furniture. The first mention that I have found of this firm

was in “Toys International” March 1964, an advertisement for the Pragoexport 64, a fairbeing held in Brno in Czechoslovakia. Amongst the exhibitors was Tofa, manufacturer ofwooden toys.

The exact date of when the dollshouse furniture came on sale in the UK is a grey area,but probably after 1964 to late 1970’s. There are no catalogues, so there is no help as tothe range; however, in a page of FAO Schwarz of USA for 1977/1978 there were foursets, so I have used these as a guide for the following photographs.

The kitchen shown in the photograph isnot quite correct. The table in this set shouldbe square with natural top and not theround one. I have just noticed that it is twochairs not four. Actually it seems a bit sur-prising that though most of Tofa cupboardsand wardrobes have opening doors, thecooker and washing machine are solid

blocks of wood.The dining room set is a bit sparse, with four

chairs, a round table and sideboard. The sittingroom set consists of settee, two easy chairs, coffeetable and a TV on legs, whilst the bedroom has thebed, bedside cabinet, dressing table and wardrobe.It is interesting to note that the girl’s head thatappears on the boxed sitting room set also appearson all the larger boxed sets.

The name, “Tofa,” does notappear anywhere on the box,only the word, “Foreign,” andon at least one item the word,“Czechoslovakia.” The smallerindividual items are in a box,on which the name, “Tofa,” isshown as part of the patternand in lower case print, nocapitals. The TV on a smalltable with drawer flap is notin the Schwarz page and I won-der what else was available.Has any reader any items inthese colours, but not shown?

All the Tofa furniture is made from wood that is either stained or left natural (exceptfor the cooker and washing machine) and the finish is very smooth. Items are quite easyto find in auctions on the Internetat the moment and are not expen-sive. However, I should like tomention that a similar set of thecaptain chairs in plain wood withcoloured backs are not by Tofa,but a seller on eBay recently stat-ed that a set was marked GDR –Eastern Germany. ♥

Editor’s Note: Member Marion Osborne, UK, wrote thefollowing article in 2004 for Dolls House World, a popu-lar miniatures magazine published in the UK.

The Tofa kitchen pieces.

The Tofa dining room set.

The Tofa sitting room.

The Tofa bedroom set.

A Conversation about the Book betweenYvette and Sue

By Sue Morse

YVETTE WAS VERY KIND to send mean advance copy of her book, ScandinavianDesign in the Doll’s House. I soon happilylost myself in its pages filled with photo-graphs of vintage Scandinavian dollhousefurniture. Below I’m sharing my initialreaction while previewing the book:

Yvette, I'm just blown away by yourbook. The excellent photographs and theefficient organization of the history ofhow Scandinavian style evolved and wasreplicated through dollhouse design arethe backbone of this book. I know it willhave great historical interest and impact.

One of the best features of the book tome is the use of the picture guide in theback of the book because it adds so muchmore information than a simple caption. Ihave a question about the Electrolux-stylerefrigerator on page 32, described on page246 of the picture guide. What does itmean to be fit-in? Also the stove showingthe raised burners—isn't that also BRIO/Lerro?Yvette responds, On pages 15–16 you can read about the

Swedish standard for kitchen units. “Fitted-in” or “In-built” is a bad translation andshould read “built-in.” Although the trans-lator is an Englishman, you will probablyfind other bizarre translations. About thestove with raised burners—the wholekitchen is BRIO/Lerro. I so appreciate yourcomments and questions and I hope youwill continue. This is what I expect fromreaders. Thank you.

Yvette adds that comments on the bookare welcome on the Facebook page, http://tinyurl.com/68cry89, and the book’sphotographer, Michel Hjorth, would glad-ly receive interactions on his home page,http://www.booxencounters.com/the_dolls_house/, where he is showing pictures thatwere not included in the book. Be sure tovisit this beautiful site!

♥

Unique LundbyDoll on eBay

By Sue Morse

A Lundby baby sister dollnever seen before recent-ly sold on eBay for $27. Abidder other than myself

won it. Does anyone in the club own thisdoll or know anything about the periodwhen it was originally sold? ♥

Then, ten years later, in 1984 the imagewith the upper roof over the house came on the scene. This same logo with theasymmetrical design of the Gothenburgdollhouse was used until the end of

the Lundby era in the mid-1990s when in 1996 Micki Leksaker purchased the Lundby name.

At the time of the launch of the new

Lundby line in 1999, Micki re-

vealed a new

font for the name Lundby inside the same house design. Later in 2005, the companyintroduced the first significant change inthe Lundby logo design in 39 years by cre-ating the current stylized font in a redhouse design.

Lundby is for the ages and the future!♥

IN 65 YEARS OF PRODUCTION, Lundby of Sweden has had only a smatteringof known logos, the most famous onebeing the use of large Lundby letters. Thefirst known Lundby catalog, most likelyfrom the late 1950s, does not show aLundby logo per se, just a little creaturewith the accompanying words AB LundbyLeksaksfabrik.

In 1966, after the merger with Lerro, thelogo that is so meaningful in our mindsappeared in a catalog. This original Lund-by logo used simply the letters with nobackground. In 1970, the name Lundby isshown in white emblazoned on a red flag.

In 1974, “of Sweden” was added to thered rectangle with white Lundby letters.This style was used throughout the 1970sand early 1980s.

April 2012 Page 5

The Evolution of the Lundby Logo

OF SWEDEN

1970

1966

1974

1984

1999

2005

A Funny Thing Happened in my Lundby Dollhouse

By Sue Morse

AN ACTUAL NATURAL DISASTER hit my dollhouse collection last August.The earthquake on the East coast of 5.8 intensity seemed to be about 8.0 in mydollhouses! Furniture was strewn all over, dolls were knocked face down on thefloor (there must have been some casualties!). But all has been recovered andthere was no damage of any consequences to report!

Please send stories and photos of funny things or tiny disasters that have hap-pened in your Lundby dollhouse. ♥

Earthquake damage in Sue’s Gothenburg and Stock-holm houses. Thankfully, all survived their injuries!

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Where in the World are our Members? OOF OUR 65 TOTAL MEMBERS living in

12 countries around the world, 20reside in 11 countries. The remaining 45members live in the USA in 18 differentstates. The We Love Lundby Club is trulyan international group because Lundbywas exported all over the world.

Lundby of Sweden has brought ourworld closer together!

AUSTRALIA ......................... 1CANADA .............................. 1FINLAND ............................ 1GERMANY........................... 3ISRAEL ................................. 1THE NETHERLANDS .......... 2SAUDI ARABIA ................... 1SPAIN ................................... 1SWEDEN .............................. 4SWITZERLAND................... 1UNITED KINGDOM ............ 4

Total members outside USA–20Total members in the USA–45 in 18 states

Arizona ................................ 1California .............................. 7Florida ................................... 5Georgia ................................. 3Illinois .................................. 2Kansas ................................... 1Maryland ............................... 5Michigan .............................. 1Minnesota .............................. 2Nevada .................................. 1New York ...............................3North Carolina ..................... 1Ohio ..................................... 2Pennsylvania .......................... 1Tennessee............................... 1Texas ..................................... 1Utah ...................................... 1Virginia ................................ 7

Page 6 THE LUNDBY LETTER

Children’s Birthdays Keep

Adding UpBy Sue Morse

Second in a Series:

Caitlin Butchart, daughter of Lis Garner, UK

Born December 20, 1994 (17 years old)

WE REMEMBER Caitlin Butchart byher charming messages to the membershipfrom “The Children’s Corner.” Caitlinsums up her writing activities for TheLundby Letter as a great opportunity to addanother type of creative writing to herother experiences with writing poems,songs, and stories.

Since writing for The Children’s Cor-ner, Caitlin has concentrated on studyingfor her exams, which she’s happy to reportthat she passed. She has also been produc-ing, writing, singing, and acting in variousproductions by an amateur dramaticgroup. She now is studying for A levelswith a view to University. Once heradvanced study is over, she aspires to beingan author or a university lecturer in finearts or English literature.

In her younger days, Caitlin used to playhistorical games in her Lundby dollhousesby pretending they were fortresses withtrapped princesses and giant action men(knights) would come to rescue them!Caitlin loves the Lundby white rococogrand piano, and all of the really oldLerro/Lundby.

Caitlin admits, “I may not collect doll-shouses in the future, but I will definitelygive my daughter (if I have one) a doll-shouse though, as I remember them withlove.”

Our “Children’s Corner” has grown up!

The Butchart sisters, Brodie, left and Caitlin, right.

Brodie Butchart, daughter of Lis Garner, UK

Born Sept. 24, 2000 (11½ years old)

YOUNGER SISTER, Brodie, keeps verybusy and happy by studying hard and pass-ing her 11+ year-old exams. She earned aplace at Plymouth High School for Girls (avery good grammar school) and willmatriculate there in September.

Brodie adds, “In Devon, we live veryclose to both the Moors and the sea so wespend a lot of time there. We are planninga fishing trip by boat this summer, and Ihave just learned to gut and cook fish. Ilove reading and am currently obsessedwith “Warrior Cats,” a massive series ofbooks about cats living in the wild.”

Brodie wants to collect Lundby doll-houses when she is older because sheremembers always having dollhousesaround since her Mum loves Lundby. Herearliest memories are of making houses

Editor’s Note: Mum Lis Garner explains thatthe school system in England may be differentfrom other countries. After primary school startsat 5 years, children progress at 11 years to sec-ondary school, where they stay until age 16.Testing is required to stay on until age 18 for Alevels, after which they can go on to universitycourses.

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for fairies out in the garden. She still haseight dollshouses, including a Toyworks,Caroline’s Home Claremont chalet withextension, as well as a Lundby Gothenburgwith extension.

Brodie’s favorite Lundby pieces are thebalcony that clips onto the Gothenburgand all of the little accessories that makethe houses so real. Her very favorite bithas to be the exercise room furniture(#9440). That favorite piece of dollhousefurniture must explain why she loves theout of doors and to exercise with her bike!

♥

Can You Spot the Problem?Take a look at page 20 of the Leksakslandet catalog (Sweden,, 1960–1970) at

http://www.peppesdollhousepage.com and tell us what’s wrong.

Queen for a Day? Try 60 Years!

By Sue Morse

TEN YEARS AGO I wrote a piece for the Dollhouse Toys n’ Us newsletter to mark QueenElizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee of her accession to the throne in 1952. This year in 2012,

I’m reprising that article to note the Dia-mond Jubilee, the 60th anniversary of theQueen’s reign, to be celebrated in earlyJune.

The purpose of the article was to high-light an exquisite Lundby creation, the1977 Silver Jubilee set, which honored the25th anniversary of the Queen’s corona-tion. This beautiful commemorative, anexclusive item that must have been pro-duced only that year, was a version of thepopular Royal lounge set. The pieces con-sisted of a settee, two arm chairs, andcocktail table, all embellished with theBritish Royal Crest, and a gold-framedpicture of the Queen and Prince Philip.

I was very fortunate to find this ultrarare set at an Atlantique City show in2001. At the time, I was very excited toacquire the set, even though the picturewasn’t included. However, I was thrilled tolater find the picture on eBay.

Lundby realized back in 1977 that theirdollhouses and furniture were as ageless asthe Royal family. ♥

April 2012 Page 7

April 2012Membership Update

WELCOME to our seven new clubmembers, Lisa Sturm, MI; MarikenKoning, The Netherlands; JessieOng, CA; Vicki Nelson, TX; Tarjiand Maliya Martin, NY; Christinaand Grace Taylor, CA, and DeAnnShaffer, VA. A 2012 MembershipDirectory will be emailed or mailedto all members.

Annual dues for an electronicnewsletter membership are $15.00USD. Annual dues for a printed andmailed newsletter membership are$25.00 USD in the U.S.; $28.00 USDin Canada; and $30.00 USD in allother countries. Email Sue Morse attoysmiles@aol.com for further detailsabout paying dues. ♥

DEXTER CHOW, our contact at CheekyMonkey Toys, http://www.cheeky

monkeytoys.com, reports that the Lundbyshipment expected in February arrived inlate March. Good news! Included in thatshipment were some Australian transform-ers for Lundby with the US converter.Cheeky Monkey Toys has the enviableposition as the sole Lundby seller in theUSA.

♥Amy Waddell, IL, wants to share her blogwith WLLC members at http://amysminiaturesandsmalls.blogspot.com/. Welcome toAmy’s Lundby Lane which chronicles thelife and times on Lundby Lane.

♥Are you a member of Face Book? Mem-ber Mervi Pirinen, Finland, has sent theURL for a Lundby Group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/33596892200/. Tryit out!

♥LOOK INTO the dollhouse world ofMaggie Martos, CA, on her website, http://web.me.com/inkwellpro. Be sure to visither fascinating blog.

♥

Lundby Connections

A Mystery Kitchen–Can You Identify?

MINIATURE KITCHENS are always fas-cinating to dollhouse collectors. Since weseem to be concentrating this issue onitems in kitchens, we’re wondering if anyof our members can identify the maker ofthis kitchen that was pictured on eBayrecently? ♥

Mystery kitchen on eBay.

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The gold-framed picture of the Queen andPrince Philip. Lis Garner’s father was inLondon that summer in 1977 and he pre-sented the Lundby picture to Lis as a gifton his return.

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Lundby’s ultra rare Queen’s Silver Jubilee set from 1977,which honored the 25th anniversary of the Queen’s coro-nation in 1952.

Page 8 THE LUNDBY LETTER

Coming Up in theJuly 2012 Issue

� Discoveries about Axel andGrete Thomsen

� Children’s Birthdays KeepAdding Up

� Our Advisory Members� Member Profile

IT CANNOT BE DENIED THAT Claudia Kreda, New York City, holds asmuch devotion for B. Altman & Co. Department Store, as she does for Lund-

by. No wonder, because B. Altman was the place where her parents, first gen-eration Italian Americans and owners of a neighborhood delicatessen, pur-chased her first Lundby Gothenburg dollhouse circa 1973-1974, when Claudiawas 9 or 10.

Well known for its high quality and excellent customer service, B. Altmanwas located across the street from the Empire State Building on 34th Street and5th Avenue. Unfortunately, Claudia’s revered store went out of business in 1989,only a few years before Lundby faced its final bankruptcy in the early 1990s.Thankfully, the building, erected in 1906, was designated a NYC Landmark in1985 and is now used by the Graduate Center of the City University of NewYork (CUNY), the NY Public Library and Oxford University Press.

Members in Focus TWENTY-EIGHTH IN A SERIES OF ARTICLES

By Sue Morse

And equally as thankfully, the admiredLundby name was acquired and preservedby the Micki Toy Company in 1996,enabling all of us to celebrate its 65th

anniversary this year. On one of her shopping trips to B. Alt-

man’s, Claudia’s mom told the clerk thatshe wanted a Lundby dollhouse for aChristmas gift for Claudia. They had onlythe floor model which was not for sale, sothe store placed an order and had it deliv-ered to their house in Manhattan. The boxarrived the day before Christmas allwrapped in red paper. Claudia remembers

for Pope John Paul II’s visit to MadisonSquare Garden in 1979. She went on tostudy voice, piano and music education atManhattanville College in Purchase, NY,where she earned a Bachelor of Musicdegree, after which she received an M.A.in musical theatre performance at NewYork University.

With dreams of becoming a singer/actress on Broadway, she found that lifewas leading her down a different path. Shehas worked for the Disney/ABC TelevisionGroup for the past 17 years as a businessanalyst in the IT support area, where sheputs her teaching skills into practice bytraining new users on the various schedul-ing and tracking systems she supports.

While Claudia was photographing herLundby items for this article, she foundthat it brought back so many happy child-hood memories and a renewed interest inall things Lundby. She was so inspired thatshe went online to Cheeky Monkey Toysrecently and bought the 2010 StockholmHouse!

Times have changed! No longer doesClaudia purchase Lundby from B. Altman,but how lucky she is to be able still to pur-chase new Lundby items from CheekyMonkey Toys in California. ♥

The Lundby Letter is pub-lished quarterly for members ofthe We Love Lundby Club.If you have any inquiries aboutan article, or if you are inter-

ested in submitting a story or project of your own,please do not hesitate to write or email us.

THE LUNDBY LETTERWe Love Lundby Club

6347 Waterway DriveFalls Church, VA 22044

www.toysmiles.com Email: toysmiles@aol.comEditor: Sue MorseAdvisory Members: Kristina Aronsson

Carolyn FrankSue KoppermanElisabeth LantzMarion OsbornePeter PehrssonYvette Wadsted

Design: Don ChristianWebsite Design: Cheryl Miller Web Design

© 2012, We Love Lundby Club. All rights reserved.Permission has been granted to use the Lundby logo.

OF SWEDEN

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that none of her little friends owned aLundby dollhouse so she felt very special.

Claudia’s sad story of “losing” her original Gothenburg Dollhouse

Years later, after Claudia was married toher husband Allan, her mom begged her toclean up some of her old toys that werestored at her house. Claudia tells the storylike this: “My original Gothenburg was insad shape. The extension and garage levelswere falling apart, and the floors and bor-ders were all coming unglued. The two-floor original house was still in prettygood condition but some wallpaper spotswere torn from previous picture-hangings,the door handles were all broken off, andthe roof was loose at the corners fromyears of lifting it by the eaves.”

“Trying to be an adult, I decided tofinally part with my old toys in really badcondition. Sadly, not realizing what a mis-take I was making, I tore up the bottomfloors, keeping the etched window fromthe extension level and the garage partsfrom the ground level, and threw thehouse out.”

“Soon after, I discovered that the Lund-by company was no longer producinghouses and my heart sank. It wasn’t until Idiscovered eBay and began searching fororiginal Lundby items that my hopes wereraised that I could find another Lundbydollhouse.”

Yes, Claudia did find a replacement forthe original Gothenburg doll house thatshe had as a child. Over the years she hasalso purchased many other Lundby doll-houses and items.

Claudia, who was educated in NewYork parochial schools grades K-12, sang

Claudia found her childhood Stockholm house from 1976 in excellentcondition, stored in a closet in her mom’s house in the same boxes thatwere shipped to B. Altman.