I remember not one but TWO (and at one point three) Dolls Houses! There's one I still have, packed up in the loft, a Triang pretty basic one, with shoe-boxes of furniture, mostly bought in Wayfarers Arcade Toy shop in Southport, enough to furnish a couple of mansions!
I was given a really large late Victorian one, but it had woodworm, so was banished to the cellars. A somewhat smaller family one was passed on to another family, but I never really went for dolls - had some of those lead-footed pipecleaner ones, and made a couple more with barbola heads, along same lines, as I thought the bought ones looked pretty rubbish. Last time I saw those they too were nestling in a shoebox, under tiny quilts and propped up against tiny pillows! One whole shoebox was certainly full of red plastic kitchenware and tin kitchen things like sinks abd fridges!
I had one doll that actually had a name, still have her, depleted mohair wig and all.
Was given a Bayko building set when I was ill in bed for a short time. Added completion/conversion sets to it. Drew out my own plans - usually after I'd built a structure. Despite the fiddly rods and wonky windows, loved that - guess where the original, and at least two of the follow-up sets are? In the far corners of that same loft. Forgotten what a magpie I can be.
Think I've kept as many childhood books as possible, unfortunately my Mum gave most of them away when I was away at college!( She'd missed the ones in the bookcase behind the attic door in my room! Old favourites like "Wind in the Willows" and "Grimm's fairytales at least were saved) I pressured her to try to buy them back, but some gone for ever. A bookseller I knew went pale when I said she'd got rid of ALL the early "Chalet School" books by Elinor M Brent-Dyer, I'd been given them by an older lady, her daughter no longer wanted them, and I devoured them, adding more for birthdays and Christmas. Many were, I realised later, first editions!
- now, I wonder what else is up there? Must have a look....
TY