Marion's Merry Minis

Marion's Merry Minis Fine Handcrafted 1" Scale
Miniatures and Collectibles. When Marion was a child in the 1930’s, she wanted a doll house of her own.

She didn’t have one so she made doll houses from the cardboard that came from the laundry in her grandfather’s shirts. He always saved them for her so she would have plenty to work with. But it was her grandmother who sparked her interest in all things miniature. In High School, for a school project she made a stage, complete with scenery flats and later learned that it was a perfect half inch sca

le. Her interest continued so that in the 1950’s when her daughter was 6 years old she designed and built her a doll house from ¼” plywood with wallpapered walls and carpeted floors. That led to a second doll house and a church with pews. She wired the doll houses with Christmas tree lights. When she retired at 62, her daughter suggested going into business together to build and sell doll houses. Marion thought it sounded wonderful but too good to be true. Her daughter, to prove to her she could make any dream a reality if she believed in herself, helped her start her business. In 1992 Fantasy Craft sold their first doll house at a miniature show in California to a miniatures collector who ordered it from Priscilla’s drawing and description. During the next five years Fantasy Craft produced doll house kits for over a dozen different models including the popular Craftsman Bungalow, Hacienda, Pueblo, Phoenix Adobe, Country Victorian, California Contemporary and the Tudor Pub. They also developed several room boxes, starting trends in the industry. Marion and her daughter, Priscilla, taught themselves how to design, engineer, cut, and assemble the doll houses. Priscilla designed each model, wrote the kit instructions, photographed and marketed their products. Marion engineered each design, created the prototype and templates for each model, and managed production. They began in Priscilla’s garage and grew into a 2,000 square foot shop. In 1997 they sold their manufacturing business to a major miniatures wholesaler and downsized to a new business, Marion’s Merry Minis. Most of the doll house kits were discontinued by the wholesaler due to the complexity of manufacturing. All of the remaining houses and room boxes are available today through the Marion’s Merry Minis website. Marion and Priscilla developed a line of miniature linens, sewing accessories and camping equipment, furniture and more that mother and daughter sold at miniature shows in Seattle and Portland from 1997 through 2012. These are now only be available on the Marion’s Merry Minis website. Today, 23 years later, Marion is actually retired. Still very active at 86, she continues to handcraft most of the Marion’s Merry Minis miniatures products herself and has partnered with some of her friends to start a miniatures club in Florence, Oregon; The Central Coast Miniatures Club, where you are invited to visit as guests are always welcomed! Her daughter, Priscilla, has recently moved to Florence, Oregon as well.

10/31/2015
marionsmerryminis.com
04/15/2015

marionsmerryminis.com

marionsmerryminis.com
04/15/2015

marionsmerryminis.com

1"Scale Miniatures
04/15/2015

1"Scale Miniatures

marionsmerryminis.com
04/15/2015

marionsmerryminis.com

1" Scale Miniature Collectibles for sale at marionsmerryminis.com

Address

Florence, OR
97439

Telephone

(425)3875113

Website

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