- 2002 -
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JANUARY,2002:
Let us all pray for a better, safer year than 2001.
This is a fine, full COCO, about medium size. For some reason, it's one of my top personal favorites. The persctive is not raked, but the small, slit windows give it the appearance of being a much larger house. And the balcony and it's other features just add up to terrific.
Ca.1932-1934
Papa Ted collection.
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FEBRUARY,2002:
This fine, full COCO is one of those houses that can be found in just about any finish and color combination - beginning as a full PRINTIE in the late '20s. I have even seen it in corrugated cardboard as a LOGGIE and as a LAQUER. I think the full coco in this yellow and blue is my favorite, however. Note that even though this piece is somwhat larger than the January,2002 house, it seems smaller, more "cottagey." There is no raked perspective, but mainly it's because of having all large windows! (And maybe that 12-foot Santa in the front yard has a little to do with the illusion, too.....)
Ca.1932-34.
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MARCH,2002:
Since Easter occurs this month, I thought a church would be appropriate. This fine, large full COCONUT is a design oft repeated and closely repeated in many finishes and color schemes, too - but this one is early. It may be the debut of the design. The rafia fence and darker base are the prime indicators. Also the forked tree trunk. Should be about 1931-33.
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APRIL,2002:
Large apartment, or "high-rise" in full COCONUT. There have been variations of the apartment complex style building down through all the decades of the cardboard house, but this may well be the first. This is 1932 - give or take a year - by the rafia fence/hedge -wooden posts - full coconut, berry-on-luffah (even though the berry is at half-mast. I never saw that before, either.) It's big, too: 7 5/8" by 4 3/4" by 5 1/2" high. It has 18 windows, unusual in that they are paper framed, but the frames are covered with the pink coco-floss. One must,therefore, conclude that paper window frames were glued in place - then the coco-floss applied - then the red cellophane glued behind them later. It's the one-and-only case of this sort I have ever encountered. I makes me feel that this piece came from a time when experimentation was still going strong in the direction of making these things better, rather than cheaper. It's a feeling I have about the early coconut period that the Japanese were seeking our delight and approval - perhaps unsure that Americans would go for these trivial things - (I know it couldn't have made much sense to them. whose lives = 1 bowl of rice at end of day. ) - and putting as much into these early elaborates as they possibly could. It's part what makes this brief vintage so wonderful. Just a couple of years later - after they had us hooked - the cheapening began.
It's unusual that we have windows on one end, but not the other. And no coco on the blank end. And note the size of that hole! 2 3/8" diameter! No telltale evidence of a closure hatch or hole plug, so I put it on the upside of 1932.
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MAY,2002:
Very Large and ornate COCONUT: Please forgive the photography. I didn't take these pictures. I had to capture them from an EBAY auction. I didn't capture the house, either. It seems that house-hunters on eBay are "cuckoo for coconuts," this one piece having gone for what I think is the record to date: $261! All other categories can be had much cheaper, even though an item may be extremely unusual and rare. Why the Japanese faded away from this style was probably an economic decision, but the "coconuts" have proven to be the best investment overall - with "hindsight" being 20-20. But in the Woolworth's mentality of 1930-'32 - who had a clue that these would be set out next year, let alone fought over for whatever price by persons yet unborn? While I regret not getting this beauty, I am comforted by the fact that someone who paid $261 for it isn't going to leave it outside in the rain....It's going to wear on him. He will apportion much of his conscious energies to it's safety and preservation,
JUNE,2002:
LARGE CATHEDRAL or MISSION: There are four or five of these 14" high central cathedrals in several color schemes. They all have the little bisque "padre" figure, but come in several colors and styles. This one one is a "Cotton-Topper," which I had tentatively assigned to the early postwar era, but now am not so sure. A website friend send a picture of this one from his own putz. I hadn't seen this exact variation. Very nice. Could be 1938 to 1948. WHO KNOWS? But a perfect centerpiece for any putz, all the same...
JULY,2002
NEW CLOCK HOUSE FOUND?
A fourth type of house with a CLOCK WINDOW just recently turned up in an eBay auction. There was some dispute of it's authenticity and a lot of debate among collectors, but I am inclined to accept it as legit. It's an early hybrid HACIENDA ,mixture with coco and other textures and a pre-hacienda base - a real mongrel - but the building face is Hacienda, and anyone who's ever tried to modify or even just repair a Hacienda knows how difficult it is to get away with anything and not have it show. The light stucco finish and watercolor wash techniques employed give them a very delicate complexion. Cutting a hole that size after the painting would have taken a special die punch and would surely have left chipped stucco around the edges. So, now we know of 4 varieties of "Clock House." But note the clock itself. This is not the same Merry Christmas Clock we see in the others. It is smaller, does not say "Merry Christmas" and reads about 15 to 12 and not the oddball time of '3:38' that the better known clock shows.
AUGUST,2002:
Charming Beaded Pair
The stucco finish sprinkled with glass indian beads is a special little family of it's own. While not found in the larger sizes - mainly medium to medium small, they can be utterly charming with balconies and porches that put them in a very special place.(See also: OCTOBER,2001) This little brother-sister pair could not be separated over 60 years of time.
SEPTEMBER,2002:
Red Coco Victorian Tower House or Church:
Another nice item from the charming putz of June, 2002, this looks as if it could be from the same set as the red clock tower of December, 2001. The fences need repair and it's probably missing a tree, but the house itself is in remarkable condition
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OCTOBER,2002:
These are from the collection of Antoinette Stockenberg
who quite successfully writes romance novels, just so that she can collect these
really exceptional Christmas houses. This church is a fine example of what you
"coconuts" are missing. This is a "partial" coco with sandy stucco sides and
coco roofs, and a fine little church in wonderful condition. Lovely prewar color
richness ( that marvelous early '30s royal blue!) Contrasting textures. Wonderful
raked persepective. "Padre" standing forth against all Christmas evils. You
can snuggle down and just be safe and warm ....An excellent early piece, rich
in that inimitable pre-War Christmas artistry. *** How could your Christmas
possibly have any meaning without this lovely church? 
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November,2002:
LARGE "COCONUT," Ca 1932:
It's big and it's gorgeous! 7 1/4" wide, 4 3/8" deep, and 6" high. How these things manage to survive 70 years or more is such marvelous condition is rather a miracle, I think. The "coconut" floss is thick and full and rich in color, but more than that, the "gingerbread" detal around the roof, eaves and balconey is exceptionally lavish. A feature ne'er seen before is the window or door above the balconey: it's not a shine-through window, but rather a surface "stick-on" - reminiscent of those applied to the candy/surprise-boxes and ornament-size miniatures. And further, it is one we've never seen before - very simple orange and brown.
(From the TUCSON Collection)
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December,2002
LARGE EARLY COCO, Ca. 1930-31:
The owner calls this one her "Riviera Hotel." It's large (7 1/8" by 4 1/4" by 5 1/2" high) and seems even more so because of those wonderful, early slot style widows (over 20 of them, here!) which impart the illusion of a much larger structure. Generally speaking, when you see these, you have something from the very earliest of styles before you. And there are other things about this piece that make it an absolute standout. The "grand staircase," for example, coming down from either side of the door rather than straight out as is most usual. The very high balconey. The dual trees - shorter than building. And look at the Santa! Though rather destroying the illusion of immensity all the other details strive so well to impart, he is nonetheless original and of an early highly detailed type that is very very rare. This one had to be our Christmas Star for 2002.
(TUCSON COLLECTION again ...)
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E-MAIL ME - if you have something exceptional that you would like to share with us on this page -we are always on the search for that which has not been seen before!
thedo64@nb.net
