VINTAGE—1958—Strombecker BETSY MCCALL CANOPY BED —COMPLETE!

Description

*5 day auction--
In the 1950s, the Strombecker Company began producing wooden furniture, sized just right for the popular 8” child dolls sold during that period.  An exclusive edition of bedroom, patio and kitchen furniture, all with bluebird decals or blue and pink flowers, was made in 1958 for the 8” Betsy McCall doll.  The canopy bed measures 9 1/4'” high x 11” wide x 5 5/8” wide.   The bottom is stamped, (with a c in a circle) ‘Strombecker/ Moline, ILL. U.S.A.’
This set is
complete
.  For its age, it is in Very Nice condition.  The bed is made of wood and the blue bird decal is intact and complete, though the ‘clear’ area of the decal that connects the birds has darkened a lot with age.  I hesitate to mention the following wear because these are not obvious or disfiguring considering the item is 63 years old.  The 2 posts at the foot board end have a few very narrow cracks where two parts of the spindles were put together at the factory.  There is very little paint loss—small places of missing paint on the top of each spindle/post; small places of missing paint and wear on the legs and spindles of the 2 posts at the foot of the bed; and one of the headboard posts has small places of missing paint on its leg.  The metal wire support for the canopy has Not rusted nor has it been bent out of its original curves.
The plastic mattress pad has pink on one side and blue on the other—quite often, this piece is missing from the set.  The plastic is still pliable and there are no holes or tears.  The sheer, dotted-Swiss fabric is still crisp (is not limp) and
The coverlet has two, faint brownish areas that are not easy to find.  I found only a few teeeeny holes in the ruffle of the canopy, also not easy to see.  There are no tears, holes or missing stitches that I can find.  All 3 fabric pieces are from the same set.  They are a cream or ivory color and I don’t know if they were whiter when they were new.  The sheer fabric coordinates in hue with the cotton underside of the pillow and the canopy—would the two different fabrics have changed colors in the same way, or were they always this cream/ivory color?  I leave that mystery with you.
The following is what I considered when deciding on the beginning bid price:  Recently a couple of Betsy McCall Strombecker canopy beds have been listed on ebay.  One bed, selling for the Buy-It-Now price of , was still in its original box, but was missing its mattress (you could see the bed rails through the coverlet)—would that cut the value by one-third?   Like the bed in this auction the other bed had no box, but was missing its pillow, coverlet and canopy and sold for .
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I have a smoke free home and I do not smell unpleasant odors on it.  In my opinion, this vintage piece of Betsy McCall furniture will make an excellent addition to your collection.
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I do combine shipment on multiple wins of my other auctions to save on shipping. Please e-mail any questions before you bid.
Cost of purchase less shipping
will be refunded if item is shown to be not as described.  Buyer must contact seller within 2 days of receiving item and before item is shipped back.  Selling price refund AFTER item has been received in the same condition it was sent.
No refunds on shipping. Please keep this in mind when bidding
.
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The U.S. buyer pays for Parcel Select postage--see ‘Postage Calculator’ in this ad.
I do not  add a handling fee
and want to state that I recycle my mailing materials.  I will
try
to mail USA packages within 1 working day.
NOTE:
In order to have room for plenty of protection for this bed, the box will most likely qualify for ‘large package’ status which will mean higher postage costs.
2
nd
NOTE:
Depending on what state you live in, eBay may be required to collect sales tax in addition to the auction price and shipping price.
Payment is due within THREE days of auction end.
Thanks for looking--and bidding!
:-)