When I was 10 years old, my dad, a linguistics professor, had traveled to Phoenix, AZ, to do research for his life’s work, a dictionary of the Cocopa Indian language. During winter break, my mom and I took an Amtrak train across the country to meet him there. I only have a few memories of that trip: learning to play ping-pong with my dad, swimming in his apartment’s pool, and most notably, visiting my first dollhouse miniatures store.
At that store, I picked out a few souvenirs, including some miniature candy canes and a lemonade pitcher with two glasses. As I browsed, my dad focused his attention on the dollhouses displayed on a high shelf encircling the shop. He was pretty skilled for an amateur carpenter, so when we returned home, he built a Sweet Shop for me, which my mom then helped me decorate.
The bottom level of the shop was a bakery/candy store. Upstairs (at the top of a faulty staircase that, through lack of planning, led directly into a wall) was a storeroom/office and kitchen. The photos on this page show the exterior of the shop, missing shingles and all, as well as a full view of the interior. Both the ground floor facade and the roof hinge open.
I worked on my Sweet Shop on and off throughout my early teen years. When I was in my late 20s and we were clearing things out of storage, I had the dollhouse moved to my San Francisco apartment. I then went through another brief period of obsession, buying a few accessories and creating some mini sweets out of polymer clay. My skills were pretty basic, but I was having fun!
