The Mini Time Machine

By Eilene Lyon

While on vacation in southern Arizona earlier this month, I headed into Tucson to visit a museum. The one I selected was The Mini Time Machine: Museum of Miniatures. Probably what immediately comes to mind are dollhouses. And yes, there are quite a few of those here, but much, much more.

In addition to the kitchen shown in the header image, A couple additional rooms from this piece are shown below. I love the detail of the rifles hidden under the floorboards.

I spent over two hours marveling at these incredible works, some of recent vintage and others historic. I learned that dollhouses were not originally conceived as toys, but as instructional models. And some of the earliest miniature collectibles were silver replicas. These were prized by adults, not children.

When it comes to the dollhouses in the collection, the exteriors are crafted with the same exquisite detail as the interiors.

Other rooms are presented more as dioramas, built into the walls and framed. Most of the houses and rooms on display are constructed in the 1:12 scale. That is, one inch represents a foot. Therefore each room you’ll see in my photographs is roughly 8 to 9 inches tall. Everything in the room is proportional to that.

The museum is quite extensive and you can circulate from the entry lobby in either direction (see map, below). There is also a traveling exhibit included in the entry fee. The first room to the left is where imagination reigns. Most of the remainder of the spaces are more realistic representations.

Here are some rooms in the adobe structure seen above, “Southwest House, Casita Bonita” by Pat Arnell, 1992. Arnell was a major inspiration and instigator in creating this museum. There are many of her works on display.

For a bit of contrast, here is “Barrio Kitchen” by Mario Patino, 2019.

A delightful feature of the wall-installed dioramas is the scenery beyond the windows. This one is a sea captain’s study on the shores of Lake Tahoe.

A large European chateau had a different chandelier and wall/ceiling treatments in every room.

Here is a sampling of the non-dollhouse/diorama items on display. There are three of Salavat Fidai’s pencil-tip carvings. Though larger in diameter, the length of the pencil is standard. This one is a bird in a cage. There is a video showing him working on this piece (in fast-motion).

There is a group of model ships that commemorate the burning of the Gosport Navy Yard during the Civil War. This model is the USS Pennsylvania.

Jim Roark’s collection on display he calls “metal monsters.” He takes model cars and trucks and turns them into neglected wrecks on the landscape. This one is “Skeleton in the Desert.”

This looks like a dollhouse, but is a historic automaton, a model with moving parts.

Another example of hand-made miniatures. In this photo, the engineer’s toolbox is about an inch wide (2.54 cm).

Finally, the traveling exhibit features a video and displays related to the design and creation of stage sets for Broadway musicals, including the models created in the process. For this feature, they used “Hamilton” and “Beetlejuice.” Just before you leave the room, you see the actual stage prop of the sofa in “Beetlejuice.”

I would love to visit this collection again. There is so much almost magical detail in each model. Too much to take in on just one visit.

Feature image: The kitchen of “Lagniappe,” a Revolutionary-era model by Madelyn Cook, 1978.