Deb Hayes – Paul’s Tailor Shop

A Tribute to a Father

by Pam North

Deb Hayes first became interested in miniatures when her father built a dollhouse for her when she was a child. They lived in Indiana, close to Chicago, Illinois, so they went to see Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle in Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, and she was hooked. 
Career-wise, she has been an optician, but combining miniatures and home life has gotten easier. “My kids are all grown and out of the house, so I can work on minis anytime,” she explained. “My husband is a golfer so he enjoys his hobby, and I enjoy mine.”
Her latest project is an ambitious one, called Paul’s Tailor Shop. “My dad grew up in an apartment behind his father’s tailor shop. I never met my grandfather, but I loved to hear the stories of his shop, and life during the 1920s and 1930s. My dad said that his father made his own alcohol in the basement of the shop during Prohibition. Dad would tell me tales of gangsters, stick ball in the streets, and only the radio for entertainment. I thought it would be fun to create a speakeasy, and use the tailor shop as a front. Researching Prohibition was both fun and interesting. My grandfather didn’t really have a speakeasy, but he does now! When my Dad found out about my plans, he drew up a schematic of the layout of the shop. He was very happy to help me with my vision. In actuality the family lived in the back of the shop, but I put the apartment upstairs. The shop was located at 7th and Broadway in Gary, Indiana, back in a time when Gary was sort of a little Chicago.” 
Deb didn’t have a kit to make the building, so she basically created a big box out of 1/8th inch plywood. “It’s just a building that one would see in any big city. I wanted it to be big enough for the speakeasy, complete with a ballroom. I made it a tad too deep, and it was hard to reach the back wall to wallpaper it. The top of the apartment above the shop swings open to reveal the inside. The windows pull out of the front display of the shop. On the side of the building, I painted an advertisement of “Black Cat Stove Polish” like you would see on buildings in this era. I used the stencil bricks for the entire building, first painting it black, then stencil, then brick. On the very top of the building I placed a large piece of sandpaper from a belt sander to make it look like a tar roof. I looked at many pictures from that era of buildings to get ideas for the façade. I love the patriotic theme that I saw in many of the pictures, so that’s why I put the flag banners under the window. I noted that many, if not most, of the buildings had awnings, so I included an awning across the façade. The project was about half handmade, half bought or collected. My table saw was the main tool.”
“My display windows are kits by Lisa Engler that I completed,” she continued. “I also have many picture frames by Goliath Miniatures throughout the building. Inside the shop, the cash register is on top of the safe, just as my dad said it was. In the far rear of the shop, there is a 3-way mirror that is very important to the piece, and I have the actual life-size mirror from the shop here in my home. My sister told me that when she was a child she would stand in front of that mirror and pretend she was in the Ziegfeld Follies because her reflection would go on forever from all sides of the mirrors.  I have many family pictures in the apartment. There are pictures of the man himself, Paul, with my grandmother, Anna; my dad, Ray; and his brother, Jim. I also have a family portrait of my great-great grandparents from Ireland, the Maloney family. Bathtub gin is truly in the bathtub in the kitchen, complete with a still. On the couch there are crocheted afghans, which remind me of my mom because they look just like the life-size afghans that she crocheted for me. I also have a newspaper, displayed on the rocking chair, that reads, “US GOES DRY”. Downstairs, the shelf in the back of the shop slides open to reveal the speakeasy when the password, “Spatter dash” is whispered. You will see a picture of myself and my husband, Scott, immortalized in our gangster attire next to the door on the inside of the speakeasy. The ballroom has a bar, and there in the back is the corner booth and table that we made for NAME day a couple of years ago. The piano is a music box that plays the, “Entertainer”. I just painted it and added some trim and photos. Upstairs, one can look down over the ball room; there is another bar, and a fountain complete with coins. I painted the Venetian scene on the back wall, echoing a Greco-Roman theme. Downstairs there is a bathroom, with a bathroom stall bearing graffiti saying, “Kilroy was here”!
“The fun of this project for me was the research that went into it. I love history, so when I decide to do a project, I like to study everything about it. I only wish my dad could have seen it completed. It  probably never will be officially finished, however, because I still have plans for gaming devices like a roulette wheel, more slots, and maybe even a few gangsters enjoying the place! It has been a labor of love for me, and I have my Dad to thank for that! 
What a Father;s Day gift Deb’s project would have made for her dad. 

Contact Information:
Name: Deb Hayes
Email: debfrogger@yahoo.com
Address: 1110 N. Hiawatha Dr., Syracuse, IN 46567
Telephone: (574) 264-1898
Website: Etsy-Deb’s Dollhouse
Business Name: Diamond Den’s Dollhouse Miniatures