When Googling ” dollhouse furniture ” or even just ” dollhouses “, I can’t deny the presence of this toys- and a dollhouse-selling company called Melissa and Doug, so I got curious.
At first, I was doubting to write about this on my website, but then I thought: as this brand is so popular, I needed to research this couple’s story and the reasons why they are so popular, no?
And I must say: there was more to it than I thought beforehand, so let’s share!
Update on 08/12/23 and our latest information: Melissa & Doug’s net income has decreased from $88.1 million to $28 million!
As an Amazon and Etsy associate, I earn a small commission from your purchase, with no extra charges for you.
Who owns Melissa and Doug? A little history.
Melissa & Doug Bernstein started off in a basement in America in 1988, where they invented all kinds of wooden children’s toys.
The brand “Melissa and Doug” is nowadays mainly known for its wooden puzzles, wooden doll houses, and lots of other wooden toys.
While this amazing couple started out as a humble company, nowadays it is a thriving and billion-dollar cooperation.
The company and brand clearly have made the couple quite rich beyond their wildest dreams, by owning a lot of homes and other material stuff that makes this world go round;-)
It looks like the company has been having steady growth for over 33 years now!
While being financially successful, Melissa has always struggled with mental health and she even wrote a book on it.
What kind of products are made by Melissa and Doug?
Melissa has designed all 5,000 of its products, all of them low-tech.
The Melissa & Doug company’s philosophy is striving for all screen-free toys, to try and limit screen time for young children, which is a terrific idea, in my opinion.
One of the first products was the Fuzzy Farm Puzzle, which was a wooden puzzle that had texture. Later, lots of wooden puzzles were added.
It wasn’t until the 1990s, that the company expanded its choice in wooden toys, plush toys, dollhouses, etc.
Let’s dive a little further into all the lists of products that I have seen on Amazon.
But as this is really quite an expanded list, I will more likely go into more detail on the dollhouses than on the rest of the toys, obviously 😉
Building toys, collectibletoys, and educational toys.
Melissa and Doug have a big collection of wooden building toys and collectibles.
I have even seen huge building blocks made from extra thick cardboard and I haven’t seen these elsewhere. Aren’t these amazing, talk about eco-friendly!
The art and craft supplies from Melissa and Doug contain things like reusable sticker pads, wooden handle stamps, primary lacing beads, DIY jewelry designs, and so much more.
Kids’ dress-up and pretend play.
While dressing up as a firefighter, nurse, etc, kids can learn about all the different professions in the world while pretending to be someone else.
Melissa and Doug have all kinds of uniforms, play kitchens, ‘food’ sets, etc..
How about this cute little bake wooden pizza counter play set, for example?
Outdoor toys for toddlers are also sold by Melissa and Doug and consist of things like a terrific camp stove play set.
Stuffed animals and plush toys.
Stuffed animals, plush puppets and plush purses, stuffed animal clothing and accessories, and so much more. You can get it all at Melissa’s and Doug’s.
Last but not least: dolls and dollhouses from Melissa and Doug!
Melissa and Doug sell about 14 different dollhouses, a few details:
There are about 10 fold-and-go/take-along small dollhouses and they are lovely!
Like this one below, made from wood, with 2 play figures and 11 pieces of dollhouse furniture.
What this means is that you can fold it together like a suitcase and that it has sturdy carrying handles. Ready and easy to take along on a holiday 🙂
These are also considered “the gold standard in early childhood play” and are suitable for toddlers of the age of 3 years and up
Melissa and Doug sell about 3 large wooden dollhouses.
There seems to be 1 modern multi-level wooden dollhouse with 19 pieces of handpainted dollhouse furniture, 1 Heirloom Victorian wooden dollhouse (no furniture included), and 1 “hi-rise” wooden dollhouse with 15 pieces of furniture – a garage and a working Elevator!
A List of FAQs on Melissa and Doug selected for you
Are melissa and doug still together?
I would assume that Melissa and Doug are still together, as the couple has been together for 32 years and Doug still seems to adore his wife: "She is the most selfless person that I've ever met in my life," he said.
Are the Melissa and Doug products made in China?
The answer to that question is quite simple: yes the products from Melissa and Doug are mostly made in China. About 85 to 90% of them.
Their intention was not to manufacture overseas in the first place, but Bernstein tried to bring prototypes to factories across the USA, but nobody apparently wanted the job.
Are Melissa And Doug bought out?
I was a bit confused by this question, as in the article above it was mentioned that the company was now owned by the couple's children, but it seems to have been taken over by AEA investors in 2017.
What is Melissa and Doug’s net worth?
Melissa and Doug Bernstein's net worth is estimated at $350 million.
Is Melissa and Doug a good compagny to work for?
That is a question that is difficult to answer for me personally because obviously, I haven't worked there, but you can try and find out with these reviews on Indeed.com. Good luck!
I hope that you are now well informed about the toys and dollhouses from Melissa and Doug.
If you have any more questions about this topic or would just like to have a chat with me on dollhouses and miniatures, feel free to ask down below in the comment section.
Or join me on my social media pages or my large Facebook group of about 4000 members at the moment.
6 thoughts on “Melissa And Doug – An Amazing Story Of Toys And Dollhouses”
Wow, thanks a lot for this valuable and informative post about Melissa And Doug toys. I actually asked about this today. But I have seen my sister’s kid playing with such things. But I did not see that it has such a past. It is really very interesting. Thank you very much for posting like this. I will definitely share this.
I was searching for Doll Houses and Doll House furniture for my granddaughters and that is when I came across your very informative article. The story of Melissa and Doug is very interesting and intriguing. It also looks like they out a lot of care, workmanship, and quality into their products.
Thank you for this article. Without this article, I probably would never have heard of Melissa who is such an inspiring soul as I concluded from the article about her and her mental health issues that you shared within this article.
I need to get to know the background of everything, starting from her childhood. Because people I know that are so deeply depressed carry their childhood traumas and I can’t imagine someone is depressed since their early childhood and without any trauma. Does she talk about that in her book?
Sorry if I have deviated too much from the topic of the post itself, but I am really interested in life stories such as Melissa’s.
Thank you for your comment and interest in Melissa and Doug. About your question: I honestly have no clue if she was already depressed since her childhood, as I haven’t read the book, sorry!
![Image of Melissa & Doug Classic Heirloom Victorian Wooden Dollhouse [White]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51cHYFVgO0L._SL500_.jpg)
Wow, thanks a lot for this valuable and informative post about Melissa And Doug toys. I actually asked about this today. But I have seen my sister’s kid playing with such things. But I did not see that it has such a past. It is really very interesting. Thank you very much for posting like this. I will definitely share this.
Hi Pasindu!
thank you very much for your positive comment and for sharing this article on Melissa and Doug’s toys!
Kind regards,
Lizzy
I was searching for Doll Houses and Doll House furniture for my granddaughters and that is when I came across your very informative article. The story of Melissa and Doug is very interesting and intriguing. It also looks like they out a lot of care, workmanship, and quality into their products.
Thank you for this informational article.
-Mike
Hi Mike,
Thank you for your positive comment and I hope that you have found a suitable dollhouse from Melissa and Doug for your granddaughters 😉
Kind regards,
Lizzy
Thank you for this article. Without this article, I probably would never have heard of Melissa who is such an inspiring soul as I concluded from the article about her and her mental health issues that you shared within this article.
I need to get to know the background of everything, starting from her childhood. Because people I know that are so deeply depressed carry their childhood traumas and I can’t imagine someone is depressed since their early childhood and without any trauma. Does she talk about that in her book?
Sorry if I have deviated too much from the topic of the post itself, but I am really interested in life stories such as Melissa’s.
Hi Alisa!
Thank you for your comment and interest in Melissa and Doug. About your question: I honestly have no clue if she was already depressed since her childhood, as I haven’t read the book, sorry!
Kind regards,
Lizzy