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1950s Valentines and Dolls to warm your hearts Saturday


It looks like it is going to be another snowy weekend. Saturday from 1-3 p.m. will be a great time for a “staycation” visit to the 1950s Park Forest House Museum to add a little color to your day! The Forest Boulevard School classroom is decorated for a 1950s Valentines Day party, and vintage Valentines are on display throughout the house, including honeycomb, “puffy” hearts, and handmade “mailboxes” hanging from every desk. There are only 2 more Saturdays to see the Valentines!

The exhibit, “Dolls of the 1950s” is on display. We have a large collection of 8 inch hard plastic dolls, and of 8 inch vinyl baby dolls, their clothes and accessories. Tiny Tears, Dy Dee Baby, Toni, Mary Hoyer, Barbie, Dollikins and a number of other baby dolls are waiting to warm your hearts with memories. Doll ads from magazines and catalogs, along with doll company brochure pages are also on display.

When is the last time you said “Hello” to Howdy Doody? He is there, too, along with children’s books, metal cars and trucks, and Fisher Price toys. We have Lincoln Logs, the Marx tin farm with animals, and American Plastic Bricks and two dollhouses.

Come out and “play” at our house this Saturday. Bring your kids and grandkids, sisters and brothers and show them the toys you used to love.

The 1950s Park Forest House Museum is at 141 Forest at the corner of Forest and Fir. Parking is available on the street and at the Park Forest Police lot. Admission is $5 for adults; children 12 and under are free with a paying adult. In this 60th Anniversary month, come see how the pioneer families lived, and look at pictures of Park Forest under construction. Read original leases, and see the sales brochures and earliest phone books.


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