Duluth libraries' miniature dollhouses an all

DULUTH — Nancy Eliason and Andrea Bauer wheeled a book cart into the main thoroughfare of the Duluth Public Library's West Duluth branch. From labeled bins, they unpacked tiny plated hamburgers and bags of miniature kitty litter.

Eliason peeled plastic from a palm-sized garden bed, where the tomatoes were red and ripe and the pumpkin was plump and ready for picking. Nearby, a minute croquet set, a pair of sleeping bags and a thumb-sized dog stood tall outside the teeny mansion planted in the library hallway.

Culkin Banning House is among the “look, but don’t touch” mini marvels at the city's three libraries.

Beta Rose Manor was the first to land at the main library in 2004. The house at West Duluth’s branch followed in 2006, and Founders House was planted at the Mount Royal branch in 2008.

Each dollhouse was donated and is maintained by the city’s now-dissolved Beta chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma , an international educators foundation.

“Small kids cannot control their worlds, but this is a world they can control,” Delta Kappa Gamma member Andrea Bauer told the News Tribune in 2004. “It is intended to allow kids to look into it and imagine themselves inside.”

The dollhouse donations are the brainchild of Carol Dyson, a talented Duluth miniaturist, Midwest Miniature Guild member and former Beta chapter member. (Delta Kappa Gamma's regional Kappa chapter is not involved in the dollhouses.)

And while Duluth’s chapter dissolved in 2011 due to a decline in numbers, former members and local miniaturists make up the six volunteers to maintain the dollhouses year-round, rotating decor with the seasons and making appropriate fixes when necessary.

Dyson died in 2021, and her legacy of creativity and kindness is still going strong in this project.

“I do it in Carol's name. I do it for her,” Bauer said.

In July, Bauer and Eliason finished updating Culkin Banning House.

A toy chest, a rocking horse and a green Tyrannosaurus rex were among the staged toys in the safari-wallpapered, attic playroom.

A floor below, a tiny lamp illuminated a neutral comforter and matching pillows on a palm-sized bed. Flowers and a near-microscopic box of tissues rested on the nightstand.

A Minnesota Twins jersey was strewn on the bed and a pair of sandals lay grouped on the floor, as if the home’s miniature inhabitant left in a hurry.

In the kitchen, colorful veggie scraps rested on a cutting board atop an island carrying Wonder Bread and petite jars of peanut butter and jelly.

Outside the dollhouse, Danita Tremain stopped in the hallway to take in the ladies’ work.

A friend of hers died, leaving behind a treasured collection of miniature items that Tremain couldn’t bring herself to sort through.

“Ladies, you do wonderful work,” she said. “Now, I have a reason to look for the box. You give me hope.”

It’s common for folks of all ages to stop and engage when they update the display, said Bauer, and the delight of passersby mirrors their own.

“I’ve always loved miniatures, since I was a wee girl,” said Eliason. “I enjoy playing with this and pretending what’s happening. I’m still a child in many ways.”

“That’s what happens when you spend your life in kindergarten and first grade,” said Bauer, who taught first grade. Eliason taught kindergarten.

Engaging youth and encouraging children to read were driving factors behind the dollhouse, Bauer said in July — and kids are tuned in.

“We are constantly getting asked by kids to get into that locked case,” said Heidi Harrison, senior library technician at the main branch. “They want to get in and play, which, of course, we can't let them.”

Harrison has been at the main library downtown for about 11 years, and the dollhouse is a great way of engaging youth who may not be interested in reading.

Children often seek it to see what’s changed, and library staff often tape scavenger hunt items to the Beta Rose Manor case as a way of inviting kids to explore youth services, she said.

It's important the space has a variety of offerings for different abilities, and the dollhouse helps fill that.

“We’re here for everybody,” she said.

The story was updated at 1:40 p.m. Aug. 4 to correct the location of the Delta Kappa Gamma Kappa chapter; and to correct the grades Andrea Bauer and Nancy Eliason taught before retirement. It was originally posted at 6 a.m. Aug. 4. The News Tribune regrets the error.