“Playing with Chester Waite’s doll house furniture” will be the subject of the Lynnfield Historical Society’s Tuesday, April 18 meeting at the Centre Congregational Church at 5 Summer St.
Abigail Chandler, associate professor of American History at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, will be the guest speaker. She will share her memories of playing with Waite’s doll furniture as a child before presenting 11 pieces of authentic Chester Waite dollhouse furniture, which she donated to the Historical Society.
Chandler’s mother grew up in Wilmington, Del. and shared a dollhouse with her sister. Their mother began buying furniture in the mid-1950s, some of it from Chester Waite.
“It was important to my mother as she was growing up,” Chandler said. “The dollhouse eventually was sold, but my mother hung on to the furniture and started to give it to me to furnish a dollhouse my father had built for me when I was 4.”
Chandler said at first, her mother gave her sturdier pieces that could withstand child’s play. But by the time she was 8 or 9 years old, her mother began giving her Chester Waite pieces.
“None of us knew it was Chester Waite furniture and we didn’t know it had any significance,” said Chandler.
All of that changed during a trip to Washington D.C. to visit Chandler’s grandparents.
On a visit to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Chandler realized that some of the furniture pieces in the Miniature World of Faith Bradford exhibit looked exactly like some of the pieces in her mother’s collection, including breakfronts and a desk in the library and Mr. Doll’s study.
“I said ‘That’s my furniture,’ so we then knew it had some significance,” Chandler said. “This is one of those cases of something that is a large part of your life since you were a young child but you don’t think to ask the questions that later you wished you had.”
Chandler said recently she began thinking about what will happen with the collection in the future. She said her mother’s dollhouse eventually went to her parents home in Maine, where it will likely be handed down to grandchildren.
“I’m in my late 40s and have no kids, so I was worried about that incredibly beautiful and delicate furniture, and wanted it preserved,” said Chandler, who grew up in Hamilton and North Andover, where she now lives.
Chandler started doing research on the museum’s website and conducted several image searches of furniture made in the 40s and 50s. She found a woman who has a dollhouse furnished entirely with Chester Waite furniture and learned that the furniture was made in Lynnfield.
“Once I found it was a Lynnfield company, I found the society and reached out to Helen Breen last year and asked if they would like to have the furniture. They were thrilled,” said Chandler.
Chester Waite was a master craftsman who made intricate doll furniture in South Lynnfield in the 1930s. He and his wife, Tillie, a teacher at the Center School, lived on Canterbury Road.
The website susanshouses.blogspot.com describes Waite’s furniture as “elegantly and finely made and (reflective of) several different periods of furniture design.”
Waite’s company changed hands several times over the years. Production ceased in the early 1980s. The furniture was marketed by Block House throughout its history and it is sometimes referred to as “Block House.” The period styles remained the same over the years, as did the nice quality. The furniture continued to be made of genuine solid mahogany and mahogany veneers, and assembled with tiny nails.
Waite’s pieces are still highly sought after by collectors.
The presentation begins at 7 p.m. Parking for the event is available at the rear of Centre Congregational Church. Light refreshments will be served, and all are welcome.
