From time to time International Freight Solutions receive some interesting enquiries. One such request was to have a very old dolls house shipped door-to-door from Doncaster, South Yorkshire to Illinois, USA.

Our customer, Ann, was not sure if it would be cost effective or even viable to send such a delicate item around the world. After researching her options via Google Ann came across IFS and decided to use our services to handle the shipment.

The journey of the dolls house began as we arrived at Ann’s house to temporarily wrap up the fragile item and transport it to our packing department.

The next step was to build a bespoke Wooden Case complete with soft internal packing materials. From here the package was loaded and sealed before the shipment continued its journey by road and air freight over the Atlantic.

On arriving in the USA all paperwork was approved and customs clearances were successful, enabling the shipment to complete its journey to Ann’s cousin Alison in Northfield, Illinois.

The Origins of the Dolls House

The dolls house was made for Ann Elizabeth daughter of Harry and Audrey Woodruff, sister to Brenda Harrington, mother of Alison Matthews.

The first photo of the dolls’ house is dated 1964 on Anns’ third birthday. The house was made by Anns’ godfather Harry Kinnear.

The house was supplied in kit form and made by a British company Triang. It is likely to have been made from Birch plywood. The electric lighting was part of the kit and runs using a transformer.

Ann was always told to play with it carefully. Some furniture came with the house and Ann received more as gifts. All the furniture was manufactured in Great Britain though it would not pass the required standards for toys today.

Ann retained ownership and when she married it went with her. It was stored in the loft for several years and due to changes in temperature the condition deteriorated. Ann located a specialist restorer in the early 2000’s. The buckled windows were fixed and painted, carpet put down in the bedrooms and the corroded electric cable replaced.

Alison remembered the dolls’ house from her childhood visit to Ann and her parents. When Alison visited Ann in October 2021 they agreed that Alison would take ownership of the dolls’ house for her family. The challenge was how to get it to Alison due to its age, history, size and weight. It needed to be a door to door service.

Ann located a firm based in Sheffield, International Freight Solutions Ltd. Due to the bespoke nature; “the company went ‘the extra mile’ to ensure that it was well looked after during its journey to its new home.”


Thinking of using a freight service?
 IFS would be happy to help.

I would like to give a special positive review to Catherine Gibson our account manager. Catherine's communication is great along with her speedy competitive quotes. Her communication and updates with our air / sea imports are always up to date and accurate. We have been using International Freight Solutions for well over 12 months now and look forward to many more years working together.

Keep up the good work !!!!

Dan Willerton

Healthy Step (Sensograph) Ltd
Unit E209 Warmco Industrial Park,
Manchester Road, Mossley,
Ashton-under-Lyne,
Lancashire
OL5 9AY
Response from the owner:Many thanks for your great review Dan, it really means a lot to us and especially Cath as she’s bouncing along the clouds now!!
Amazing service from Paul - super helpful, informative and really has a wealth of knowledge. It is a pleasure working with him for our business needs.
Response from the owner:Sam, thanks so much for the kind words and taking the time out to leave such a fantastic review! Looking forward to assisting you again.
Perfect to deal with and nothing is too much trouble.
Response from the owner:We really appreciate you taking time to leave your kind review - many thanks Joanne!
I used IFS and was genuinely impressed with their pricing, booking process, and customer service. Catherine and Paul went above and beyond to ensure everything was handled professionally and personally 🙂
Response from the owner:Many thanks for the great review Clark, it really is appreciated!
Quick quotes, helpful team, and a great service all round. Paul is very knowledgable and his experience is very reassuring
Response from the owner:Your great review is very much appreciated Jonny - Paul will be chuffed with the mention too!
Paul and his team have been super helpful in arranging import and export of goods for my business. I would recommend them to anyone looking for efficient freight forwarding services
Response from the owner:Really appreciate the great review Sam, it means a lot to us - thank you
Great service and best prices from this company for door to door global freight. We deal with Catherine who is very helpful and efficient from quote to delivery of the goods.
Response from the owner:Really appreciate your kind words Mick and I’m sure Catherine will be pleased she got a mention too! We look forward to assisting you again!
I can't rate International Freight Solutions highly enough, they were a customer service dream. They were knowledgeable, helpful, speedy in their responses and kept us updated. I will be using them in future for all of our global parcel requirements.
I can’t recommend this company highly enough.
I had no idea what was involved in shipping large items internationally but Jamie led me through the whole process going above and beyond to help me from collection to delivery.
Great service throughout.
Thank you so much Jamie.
Response from the owner:Thanks so much for the great review Sharon, it means a lot to us and Jamie will be buzzing with your kind words!

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