Lundby Manor furniture - an overview

In 1981 Lundby made one of their rarer dollhouse models: the Manor. It's a big house with 10 rooms. There was also some furniture made especially for the Manor house. What are these pieces of furniture? The honest answer is that we don't know all of it for sure. Lundbys history is not easy to sort out. This is just an attempt to show what we do know and how we know it. 

So where do we start? A great starting point is all kinds of printed catalogues and ads. They are not totally reliable, but they are a good start. 

The Manor house is only featured in two catalogues: the first one being the fall 1981/spring 1982 catalogue. The house is included on the cover, and there is one additional photo of the interior of the house. There's also a close-up of the living room... and that's about it.

The only other trace of the Manor in a catalogue is this photo from the 1982-83 catalogue:

So let's turn our attention to another source: Ads! The most helpful one, without competition, is this one from Jester toys. Not all items here are made especially for Manor, but it shows us some of the items that indeed were. We'll look more closely at this one in just a minute.

Here's another helpful ad:

 Other ads I have: 

Finally, we can perhaps also find clues on the box.

After looking at the catalogues and the ads, and a few other sources that I'll write more about later, I think we can sort out the following categories:

1. Furniture made exclusively for the Manor range, shown in ads/catalogues. 

2. Furniture made exclusively for the Manor range, not shown in ads/catalogues. 

3. Furniture sold as Manor, but also sold as regular Lundby furniture. 

4. Furniture shown in ads/catalogues for Manor, but sold as regular Lundby furniture.

I've chosen to use the Jester Toys ad as my starting point, simply because it's currently the best source we have for Manor items. I will also use other ads, catalogues and original boxes as sources to get the best overview. I'll include both cropped pictures from the sources as well as photos of the actual furniture. 

So let's start to go through the items from the Jester toys ad. Here is the first one: 

We have five pieces in this set. The white bedframes are regular ones, but the bedding is not something we've seen before in a twin bed set. It's the same as the Scandinavia double bed, but the single/twin bed is unique to the Manor. Here's a closer look at them: 

There is also a piano, a piano stool and a childrens chalkboard. The chalkboard and stool are regular ones shown in catalogues. But the piano is unique. Not the piano itself, but the print on the side of the piano. Here is the Manor piano. There is also another version with more elaborate print on the side and the piano stool, and a plain version of the piano, with no print at all. 

So out of the four different pieces in this set, two - the piano and the bedding are unique to the Manor range, and category 1 (see above). The bedframes, piano chair and chalkboard are category 3.

Now let's take a look at the brown bedroom set. This is actually a sneaky one. 

The Manor bedroom set has thee pieces: the bed, make-up table and chair. They all have the same flower pattern on the fabric/paper. 

We can compare this to the regular brown bedroom from the same time. This one has five parts - a nightstand and a wardrobe is also included. It has another pattern on the fabric, and a round stool instead of a chair. 

The sneaky thing? Take a look at this box. It shows the manor pieces, but the bed included is not the Manor bed. I have no idea why Lundby did this. 

Conclusion? The flower pattern bedding, make-up table and chair are Manor exclusives.  The regular Lundby bedding for this set is Lundby, but sold here as Manor. 

Next up: The Lounge set. This would fall in category 4: Furniture shown in ads/catalogues for Manor, but sold as regular Lundby furniture. All of these items were, as far as I can tell, sold as regular Lundby. They do however fit will with all the other Manor furniture. 

Here's the sofa and armchair (shown with another table).

Let's turn out attention to the set made for the den. This is an interesting one. It has three main features: the TV-set, the stereo bench with the stereo and speakers, and the swivel chair. 

The TV is a regular TV - nothing special there. But the swivel chair is unique to Manor. It's the same chair as the Brasilia set, but with light wood and no footstool. There is also a couch in the same version, but that is not shown in any known ad or catalogue. Since it's similar to the swivel chair, we can assume that it was made for the Manor range. 

The stereo bench with the stereo and two speakers are unique to Manor. Not their design, but the colour! The regular set is a lighter wood version.  The stereo also has "Manor" written on it - the regular one has "Lundby". 

Next up: The Manor dining room set. 

The corner cupboard is regular Lundby. The dining room set is a Manor exclusive... at least I thought so until recently. The design of the chairs are used in other sets, but the pink cushion seats and the table are only seen here. Here it is. I have two versions: one with dark pink seats, one with light pink. Are they different sets or is one version just paler due to sun exposure? I don't know. 

As I said, I thought this was a Manor exclusive. But then I saw this: 

And this: 

It is possible that these are two versions. You can see the dark pink seats in the Manor box. But I can't tell if the regular Lundby set has dark or light seats. So we have to leave it there for now. 

Let's turn to the next thing from the Jester Toys ad: the dolls. 

This is something I know very little of. I've seen the mother doll (Mona) before, but I have no idea if the other three are Manor exclusives or just regular Lundby dolls. Hopefully someone who reads this can help me learn more about them. 

Next up: The kitchen. 

This is another fascinating branch of the Manor furniture. Let's start with the table and chairs. In the photo the table looks like it's beige with brown table cloth, and the chairs dark red or reddish brown. But the actual set sold has chairs that matches the table. 

The kitchen parts are interesting. They are similar to the regular Lundby ones, but have Manor written on them instead of Lundby. Here are a few examples: 

There is also a special Lundby Manor bathroom - one of my personal favourites. 

Just as many previous parts it's the colour and pattern that are unique - not the shape or form of the bathroom pieces. I've always found quite strange that there was no bathtub made for the Manor. You would expect that the Manor inhabitants would like to take a bath now and then. 

The final items from the Jester toy ad are the lights. These are all category 3: Furniture sold as Manor, but also sold as regular Lundby furniture. 

Before I let you go, I would like to add a few  more pieces of furniture to this article. It's the ones that are shown in the catalogues with the Manor house. They are not Manor exclusives, but they are the right style and time and fits well with the others. Here's a cropped catalogue photo: 

And here are some of the furniture shown in the catalogue above: 

Is this a complete list of Manor furniture? No. 

Is it possible that we find more souces so that we know more in 10 years? Yes!

But even if this is just a work in progress, I hope that it can shead some light on what the Lundby Manor furniture is, and what it isn't. 

A history of Lundby curtains

 

I've previosly written blog posts about bathrooms, paintings and bedroom furniture. They were are lot of work, especially since new items are constantly found, so I didn't have any plans on covering another range. But then I realized that I already had almost 2/3 of the Lundby curtains, and I just couldn't help myself :) So here's another Lundby furniture story - this time about curtains. 

Lundby started producing curtains in 1971. The earlier dollhouses didn't have window frames, so there was nothing to attach curtains to. But this changed in the early 1970's. 

Between (about= 1971-98 the curtains had quite consistant item numbers,starting with 63. So for that period in time I'm mainly using those numbers when I list the curtains. After 1999 this changed, so the item numbers are not an indication of what curtain that replaces another one.

But let's start with the first two curtains! These can be found in the 1971 catalogue. The first one is a kitchen curtain (with accessories), item 6320. You can find this version for five years: 1971-73 in an older layout package, and 1974-75 in the newer version with a yellow frame. 

But there are at least two other parallell versions of this set. In the 1974 catalogue, there is a dark pink version. This is the only year that this version shows up - it's back to red in 1975. 

There is also another version that doesn't show up in any of the know catalogues. This light pink version was obviously produced between 1971-73 (it has an older package). That's about all I know :) 

I mentioned before that there were only two curtains in the 1971 catalogue. This living room set is the other one. It has item number 6350. 

Before we move forward, we need to move back to 1973 for the introduction of two new sets. The catalogue from that year shows early prototypes of the curtains - they didn't look this way when they were produced. First there's set 6330, "Gille" (which means "den" in Swedish). 

This one looks very much like a later kichen curtain - we'll get to that one in a minute - but you can clearly see from the name and set number that it's not a kitchen curtain. The next year you have a much more well known photo in the catalogue. This means that we have the first 6330-version between 1973-75.

The other new curtain in 1973 is the 6340 "Empire" set. This is also just a catalogue prototype. 

In 1974 the catalogue photo of the same set looks like this. So I think that this set was produced 1973-74. 

There is an additional version of this set. In 1975 it's produced in orange/lace: 

I have seen this curtain several times in blue, and also in yellow. They are not shown in catalogues, but at least the blue one is original from the 1970's:

There is also another curtain which I think fits in somewhere here. It has a different lace than the previous versions. I don't know if it's older or newer, but it's definitely a sibling. 

So now we have four different curtain ranges: 6320 for kitchens, 6330 for a den, 6340 (the "Empire" set) for bedrooms, and 6450 for living rooms. All of these four get an update in 1976. The last digit the set number is also changed from 0 to 1. Let's have a look at them. First up: the kitchen set. This one is familiar to most Lundby fans simply because it stayed in production for a very long time. And I mean long. The last version of this set is in the catalogue from 1988, giving it a production run for at least 12 years. This also means that it's found in several different packages. 

The next one up is 6330, which in 1976 becomes 6331 and looks like this. It's produced between 1976-78.  

A bit blurry, but here's a better photo: 

The third one is 6340, now 6341. This is it. Just like the previous curtain, it's made between 1976-78. The poster included is just a catalogue version, as you can see from the actual package.

The fourth one is the 6350, now 6351. This set was sold both with and without accessories, and it has a bit longer life span than the two previous ones: 1976-81. 

This curtain is replaced in 1981 or 1982 by a blue version. This blue curtain is only in production for about a year or so, so quite a short life span. It's 6353- so what happened to 6352? No idea. 

This means that 1979 is another year of big change in the Lundby curtain department. The kitchen and living room curtain lives on, but the other two are replaced. First up: 6332. 

Here it is - a real Lundby Classic in every way. This one also stays in production for a long time, but it changes a bit along the way. The earlier versions had a fuller, thicker pattern. 

You can compare the pattern in these two versions - the blue is earlier than the red. 

This one stays on, in the later version, as long as 1997. The second new curtain in 1979 is this one: 

This one is in production just for a few years, 1979-1982. These two are also the first ones in this model - one that will be very popular for years to come. 

In 1983 there are big changes in the curtain department again. This is the first year that we can clearly see that the curtains are matching other furniture: sofas, bedding and other items with textile. The first one we're taking a look at is a prime example of that. They are three curtains in the 634* range, so they are all three replacing the last one we looked at. First up: 6343.

This curtain is part of a complete bedroom set. It was produced between 1983-1986.

The second one is 6344. This is not part of a bedroom set - it comes with matching sofa and armchairs. This means that Lundby is giving up their habit of using 634* for bedrooms. This curtain is, as far as I can tell, only made in 1983. Very short lifespan. 

And next up: 6345. This is also part of a bedroom set and was produced 1983-86, just like the other red and white bedroom curtain from this year. 

The blue living room curtain with numer 6344 was replaced the next year, 1984, with another living room curtain. This one is produced between 1984-86, so it follows along the lines of the red/white curtains.

Before we leave this type of curtain, there's another one. This curtain is introduced in 1986, and it's also the only year I can find it in the catalogues. 

 

We also got another new curtain in 1984, very similar to the kitchen curtains. This one was only produced for a year. You can also see that the catalogue version has the blue and green stripes the other way compared to the one that was actually produced. 

This curtain was replaced the next year, 1985, by a very similar one. This version lived on quite a bit longer, from 1985-1992.  And this time the stripes actually goes both ways, as you can see in the photo of the original package and the one I own. 

There is also a white/green version of this curtain that I can't find in the catalogues, but since it's so similar to these two, I assume that it belongs here. 

The next version of this curtain shows up in 1990. The spotted pink fabric matches lots of items produced in the late 1980's and early 1990's. 

It's replaced in 1993 by a more boring version in plain pink, or perhaps earth toned pink. 

And another version also shows up in 1993. They clearly can't get enough of this curtain design that year. 

This is produced until 1997, as far as I can tell. 

It's time again to move back in time to track another new version of curtains: The long ones. Our first encounter with this is in 1984, and it's this light pink version that comes first. It's on the market for two years, 1984-85. 

It's replaced by a dark pink version in 1986. Probably only produced for a year. 

The next long curtain is this one, from 1985. The first catalogue photo is a bit different than the one actually produced. It was on the market only in 1985-86, or perhaps another year or so. 

Two new long curtains joins them in 1986. This is the first one - also slightly different when it came on the market. 

Here is the second one. Seems like this one was also only produced in 1986, perhaps 1987.

The year after, in 1987, the popular long lace curtain is introduced. It had a longer shelf life - it's last seen in the 1992 catalouge.

Are we missing something? Yes - the short curtains! We jump back in time to 1985 to catch up with that range. First up: the matching curtain to the Lundby Rose bedroom. This one has lots of different lace versions, not just the one shown here. It's also produced in other versions later on. We'll get back to them in just a minute. This particular version is produced between 1985-1992. 

The other short curtain from 1985 is this one. This will also show up in slightly different versions during the following years, until 1997. I'll give you a few examples of that later. The fabric on this earlier version looks a bit thicker than the later ones. My guess is that the photo below shows the two versions released in 1985. 

The first other two catalogue versions we have of the short curtain doesn't show up until 1993. Then we get these two, on the market between 1993-1997. 

This version of the white curtain can be found in the 1997 catalogue: 

The 1990's is a period of financial problems for Lundby. It also means that we don't have as much documentation from this decade, and that there are items produced that aren't shown in the existing catalogues. There are several examples of this in this short curtain range. I'll give you a few examples: 

In 1998 Lundby introduces the "Home, sweet home"-range. They redesign their packaging and launches lots of new furniture. That includes the curtains. But one favourite makes the cut: The lace curtain. It's seen in the catalogues up until 2004. 

But we get as many as five new curtains in 1999. I think that's some kind of record. We'll take a look at them now. First this one. It has a matching pine bed so i'ts a bedroom curtain, and was produced until ca 2002. 

This is probably replaced in 2002/3-04 by another bedroom curtain that has a matching pine bed. I've only seen it on this photo: 

The third one is a kitchen curtain, also produced until ca 2002. 

This one is replaced in 2002/03 by a yellow version: 

Fourth one. Another bedroom curtain. This one was only made in 1999, so it's a bit more rare. 

This is replaced by another bedroom curtain in 2000 - produced until 2002/03.

The fifth one is also a bedroom curtain, and produced the same three years, until 2002. 

And then the last one: a curtain for the childrens bedroom. Also 1999-2002. 

In 2000 we have a new addition that doesn't seem to replace an old version - it's just a new one. It's produced until 2004.

We don't have that much documentation from 2002, but the 2003 catalogue gives us several curtain updates. 

And this one. This is the only curtain that survives the cut when the new Stockholm/Småland range is launched in 2005. 

This is a new kitchen curtain that was only produced in this version in 2003. 

The replacement to the orange kitchen curtain came in 2004: 

There is just one more curtain in the Home sweet Lundby-range, only produced in 2004: 

In 2005/06, Lundby launches the new Småland/Stockholm range. Only one curtain survives, and it's now sold with two other curtains in the new Lundby Småland range until 2010. 

There is also another pack of curtains - this one. It's also sold 2006-2010. 

They were replaced in 2011 - 2014 with these: 

When they were retired in 2015, this was the last pack of curtains that Lundby made: