kemerer

The Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites invites guests to experience an intimate, backstage look at one of the largest dollhouse collections in the nation Jan. 17, 2016 to June 26, 2016.

The Elizabeth Johnston Prime Dollhouse Collection boasts 44 antique buildings, including dollhouse, stores, stables, mansions and verandas and over 6,000 tiny pieces of dolls, furniture, paintings, animals, rugs, dishes, chandeliers and more, which Elizabeth Johnston Prime donated in 2007.

Prime’s family roots trace back to the Moravian founders of Bethlehem in the mid-18th century as well as the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, where her grandfather served as a senior vice-president and later as mayor.

Prime once said, “The dollhouses, furniture and dolls I have acquired have survived for generations because they are loved. I feel this tug from the generations: from the talented hands of the artisans who have created the pieces, to the excited hands of the children opening the packages containing the pieces. I am the next set of hands to touch, care and love these pieces.”

Before she died, Prime asked the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts and Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites to be the next set of loving hands to care for this collection.

The Elizabeth Johnston Prime Dollhouse Collection will showcase architecture, clothing and furniture styles spanning across 100 years, from the 1830s to the 1930s, as well as creations from such notable dollhouse designers as Moritz Gottschalk and Christian Hacker.

To top it off, visitors who opt for this tour will receive a chance to see inside the Collection Resource Center, an offer no other tour currently provides.

This collection will be displayed 2 p.m. every third Sunday, starting Jan. 17, 2016. Dates are as follows: Jan. 17, 2016, Feb. 21, 2016, March 20, 2016, April 17, 2016, May 15, 2016 and June 19, 2016.

A special tour will be held Feb. 12, 2016, where guests will not only see the inside of the Collection Resource Center but have an exclusive visit with the curator of the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, Lindsey Jancay. There is an admission charge and visitors must RSVP with Jancay.

For more information or questions regarding the tour, contact Jancay at ljancay@historicbethlehem.org or call 610-868-6868, ext. 63. The Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts is located at 427 N. New St., Bethlehem.

All proceeds from this event help Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites to maintain 20 historic landmarks in Bethlehem.