Small World
Very big...
The origin of the chrämerladen and the doll's kitchen can be found in the early 17th/18th century when the trade with colonial goods like coffee/tobacco started. Rich patrician families showed their wealth in miniature size. First by order, later as offers in catalogs, the "toys" were industrially produced in the most famous manufactories in Germany like Christian Hacker, Moritz Gottschalk and Albin Schönherr around 1900 and distributed internationally.
Equipped true to nature with all the merchandise and kitchen utensils, the little merchant or cook was playfully introduced and familiarized with the life and customs of the time. Even in those days, chrämerladen stores and doll's kitchens were regarded as high-quality, expensive toys that had to be handled with care. So the children were usually only allowed to play with them at Christmas on Christmas Eve until Epiphany at the latest. Afterwards everything was carefully stowed away again in the box in the attic.
Yes, until...in some cases almost 1 century later, when a "find in the attic", a used, beloved and over decades forgotten "jewel" finds its way back into the light and into society.
