Now there's so much to look at when decorating and using Miniatures for War periods. Style of furnishings of course is important to portray the right era, as are accessories. But how about the setting? Are you looking to furnish your whole house this way, or are you looking for a side-line project?
In British culture, children are taught about the World Wars from a young age in school-
History is important in our education. I recall when I was of Junior
School age (somewhere between 7 and 11) learning all about air-raid
shelters, or Anderson shelters. I also vaguely recall making a scale
model of an Anderson shelter using corrugated cardboard and
papier-mache. While reminiscing, and scouring Google at the same time, I
came across this website: Collectors Club of Great Britain
which has step by step instructions on how to create an Anderson
shelter from .... (I love this)... a Baked Beans Can! How fantastic!
Much better than the model we made back in school, and I'd love the
opportunity to be able to decorate it with dolls house accessories to really make it come to life.Let's have a little look at some of the War Years accessories we stock here at Magpies Miniatures.
Rationing was an important part of War Time life, not only in the UK, but across other countries too. My historical knowledge is somewhat limited to British history, and you may like to verify information with other sources if your dolls houses are based on another cultural background. I believe it would be advantageous to look up information about rationing, as it will tell you a lot about the foods that were and were not available, and same applies for materials- so may change your opinion on what fabrics and clothes you were going to use in your scene. Wikipedia has some really useful information, and much more than I can write here: Wikipedia on British War Time Rationing .
You may note in Wikipedia's article, that it wasn't just food that was rationed in the War Years, but clothing too. Clothes became much more basic, no laces and frills, because this meant they used more material. If you find it difficult to find dolls which fit this description, and don't come with detailed clothing- did you know here at Magpies Miniatures we stock a range of 'Undressed Dolls' for your Dolls' Houses, so you can find, or even make clothes to suit your particular style or era.
War Gardens, or Victory gardens were also commonplace in War Time Britain. These were plots of land where vegetables were grown to ease the pressure on the food supplies. They were created in any free space, public and private, to keep supplies up. Families often used the land surrounding their Anderson shelters to make their victory Garden, so if you like the idea of creating one of these shelters, think how you could use the space above and below.
Don't forget we have a wonderful range of scale garden miniatures here, including plants, vegetables, garden tools and watering cans, even wellington boots. Plenty of supplies to create a wonderful Victory garden in miniature!
If you'd like your Anderson shelter to have a worn and weathered look, have a look at our 'Scenic Rust' product. It makes the new look old, and is easy to apply to any surface which is considered 'paintable'. Opens up a new window of opportunities and special effects to the miniatures we stock here.
Hope
this has provoke a couple of thoughts and helped to inspired you. There
is much more I could go in to, but the best way to learn is to read,
and have a browse of the website to see what wonders we have to help
your scenes come along.
Come back soon for more blog updates
- Mandy & Niccy @ www.magpies-miniatures.net
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