Miniature Kitchen Dresser with a Collection of Accessories

Depression Era

Circa 1930s | Australia

A Depression era child’s kitchen dresser with an extensive collection of assembled miniature tin and copper accessories from the 1930s. This is a charming example of a coveted and popular children’s toy made during the difficult depression years. It exemplifies the ‘make-do’ ethos and the ingenuity of Australia’s homegrown toy-makers (see The Gen). This is an exceptional and rare example of Australian folk craft.

The pine kitchen dresser is varnished, has a whitewashed interior and the trim is accented in a decorative green. The two doors retain all original latches that open to reveal a cupboard with an internal shelf. There are two waterfall shelves with plate stay rods, a sideboard and nail hooks for hanging items. This exceptional dresser includes what can only be assumed was a lovingly assembled and cherished collection of twenty-five miniature accessories. The accessories include pots, plates, jugs and tankard, cookie cutters, jelly moulds, a toy toaster and dustpan. The dustpan has the remnants of a label for “Mitchells the Brush People” that places this accessory contemporaneously with the dresser (see The Gen).

A wonderful and simply delightful piece. A truly exceptional collector’s piece of Australian history.

DIMENSIONS: Height 66 cm, width 41 cm, and depth 13 cm.

CONDITION: The dresser is in excellent condition, with wear commensurate with antique age and use of such a piece. It has been very lovingly preserved and cared for. It is structurally sound with some loss and wear consistent with the age of such an object. The accessories are in very good condition.

REFERENCES: For examples of similar children’s dressers see The Kitchen Dresser, In Praise of a Furniture Icon, Simon Griffiths, Thames & Hudson, 2022, pp 11, 160.

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THE GEN

“Many of the toys sold in Australia at Christmas time are not made in any recognised factory. They are made in sheds, in backyards, and on the verandas of private homes. Three months before Christmas the backyard toy-makers start to make toys from scrap metal so that they will have a good supply to cope with the rush that sets in. Any sort of timber can be used for making wooden toys. After they are painted, they look just as good or similar to toys made from the best timber. A man who can design and make a novel toy that has not appeared on the market will find a ready sale for it. I knew a man who spent most of his spare time experimenting with toys. He designed some very novel articles and made good money as a result. Wooden toys need to be strong these days. Parents will not buy toys that do not stand up to a lot of rough usage. Three-ply is used extensively in the manufacture of toys. It is cheap, easily worked and makes a good strong article. A tinsmith I know out of work fashions toys from tin. He gathers tins from rubbish tips and quickly makes little trains, motor-cars and various other toys from it. Paint covers up all the blemishes.” (The Australian Woman’s Mirror, Vol. 14 No. 3, 14 December 1937, pp 7, 44)

In 1931, in a weekly newspaper column Around the Shops, Aunt Merrythought includes a dresser in A Continued List of Special Toys and Christmas Gifts for the Family: “Another much coveted toy for small girls is the dresser ‘like mother has in the kitchen’, and the illustration shows one that would give much pleasure. It is well constructed of white pine with decorations on the two doors and plenty of cupboard and crockery space. It stands 17-in. high and is 13-in. long, and the price is 4/6. Other dressers may be had for 3/6 and 6/3 each.” (The Farmer and Settler, 12 December 1931, p. 14)

Thomas Mitchell & Co was a brush manufacturer who commenced business in the nineteenth century and was so successful that in 1937 they built the 10-storey office building in Melbourne called Mitchell House designed by the architect Harry Norris.

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