The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-12-12
BY WILLIAM c. UTLET

~ "l--iCN" ~ ~ -
TOUR hundred and thirty-ive thou
- sand dollars for a doll house!
Think of it! No Santa Claus
could ever have imagined it. No
child ever could have dreamed of such
a toy. But Colleen Moore did!
Colleen, she of the banged red hair
and the saucy little nose, who became
the highest paid moving picture star
in Hollywood, dreamed of having the
most glorious doll house in the world
when she was only two years old and
her father made her first doll house of
an old cigar box. She never lost sight
of that dream. Rather, it grew up
with her, became part of her, and to-
day that dream is a beautiful, perfect
realization.
For Colleen Moore's doll house is a
castle fit to be the dwelling place of
any fairy prince and princess who ever
were born in the fancies of Grimm
or an Andersen. That is not just a
pretty phrase. II is a fact. Her doll
house is fit to be the dwelling place
OF ANY fairy prince and princess.
Better than that, it is a toy whose
charm and romance are being shared by
its owner with boys and girls (little or
grown-up) everywhere, for Miss Moore
has it on a permanent tour of exhibit
ton. And still better, it is the means
for bringing into countless young lives
a happiness that no ordinary toy could
create-the happiness that goes with
good health and strong body.
Wherever ii is shown there Is
small charge for seeing it. The rev.
enue is turned over to hospitals for
crippled children and 10 similar char
liable institutions in the communities
where ii goes. Special provisions are
made so that underprivileged young
sters may enjoy it, too. without cost.
So far it has earned an average Of
5000 week for these charities. And
there are four years of solid bookings
ahead of ii, taking 1t even to South
America.
Despite its tremendous cost, the
fairy castle is only nine feet long, nine
feet wide and fourteen feet tall 1t
can be knocked down" into about
100000 pieces. not counting the rivets
which fabricate it. Everything in it
is made perfectly to scale. one inch to
the foot. In fact, ii is the diminutive
size of many parts Of it which have
made it so expensive. Imagine produc-
ing electric lamps no bigger than a
grain of wheat which will work!
100000 for Labor.
More than 700 workmen, artists and
master craftsmen of every character
have at some time during the last ten
years contributed to the work of car
rying out the screen stars ideas, under
the supervision of her father, Charles
Morrison, who is an engineer of wide
reputation. More than 100000 has
been spent in labor alone. The list of
persons who have lent a helping hand
reads like a Who's Who of the art
world
knew a house like this, and for that
give credit to Horace Jackson, studio
architect at First National. where Miss
Moore began the doll house between
pictures. and where every one on her
sets was soon anXiouslv aiding.
From the outside ii is mass of tur-
rets and angles. fantastic and lovely.
seeming to be made OF dream stuff
rather than of prosaic aluminium and
copper There are eleven magnificent
rooms, a great hall that fairly takes
your breath away, and garden so en-
chanting you'll say it isn't so. Every
bit of the castle is practical working
model and absolutely true to scale.
On a tour Of her doll house, Miss
Moore likes you TO imagine that you
are about six inches high-fairly tall
for this house. You would start in the
great hall. You walk on a floor of
black onyx carved with little rose
vines. and are awed to see the motif
carried to the vast vaulted ceiling far
overhead by tall golden pillars. Paint
ed in the domes are the figures of your
most beloved fairy tales. and on the
walls are more characters ont of fable
and story There are exquisite ivory
tables and chairs with filigree too deli