miniature bric-a-brac: Miniature Wall/Room Decorations

Dollhouses have been a favorite plaything of American girls throughout the centuries. This toy form helped girls learn about interior design and household management, and it invited girls to use their imaginations to create narratives about the occupants of their dollhouses. But adults rediscovered the appeal of miniatures too. By the middle of the twentieth century, legions of grownups made a hobby of fabricating their own miniature rooms and houses. The appeal for adults was less about playing with the small houses and furnishings and more about the process of fabricating them. Today, miniatures hobbyists number in the tens thousands, and they support many annual shows and sales events, national organizations, regional groups, and local chapters. It is a thriving industry worth millions of dollars and thousands of pleasurable hours.