America's Doll House: The Miniature World of Faith Bradford by William J. Bird collections

Product Name: America's Doll House: The Miniature World of Faith Bradford by William J. Bird collections
EAN：9781568989747 UPC：9781568989747 ISBN：9781568989747 MPN：N/A collections Format：Paperback, 127 pages Recommended Age Range：12+ years
From the Star-Spangled Banner flag to Dorothys Ruby Slippers, the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of American History is home to some fascinating objects. In fact, one of the most fascinating of these, and one of the most popular, is itself a home. On the museums third floor sits a five-story dollhouse donated to the museum by Faith Bradford, a Washington D.C. librarian, who spent more than a half-century accumulating and constructing the 1,354 miniatures that fill its 23 intricately detailed rooms. When Bradford donated them to the museum in 1951, she wrote a lengthy manuscript describing the lives of its residents: Mr. and Mrs. Peter Doll and their ten children, two visiting grandparents, twenty pets, and household staff. Bradford cataloged the Dolls tastes, habits, and preferences in neatly typed household inventories, which she then bound, along with photographs and fabric samples, in a scrapbook. She even sent museum curators holiday cards written by the Dolls. In Americas Doll House, Smithsonian Institution curator William L. Bird, Jr. weaves this visual material and back-story into the rich tapestry of Faith Bradfords miniature world. Featuring vibrant photography that brings every narrative detail to life, Americas Doll House is both an incisive portrait of a sentimental pastime and a celebration of Bradfords remarkable and painstaking accomplishment..