# Wendy House (Peter Pan spoiler :) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy-house-peter-pan-spoiler/184274 "2003-06-25T12:27:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stigoftdump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@stigoftdump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stigoftdump)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy-house-peter-pan-spoiler/184274/1 "2003-06-25T12:27:12Z")
I’ve just been reading Peter Pan (not re-reading; I had a disadvantaged childhood) and I’ve just finished the part where they’ve built a little house around Wendy (spoiler: she gets shot, and the lost boys don’t want to move her, so they build a house to protect her). This is, of course, a Wendy house - seee? Now, is this where the expression for a dolls house comes from, or is the phrase older than 1911 (when the book was published) and Barrie simply worked it in as an amusing little aside that some kids would pick up on, other’s wouldn’t? Your wise help would be gratefully appreciated! ---
**Author:** ![dylan\_73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@dylan\_73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dylan_73)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy-house-peter-pan-spoiler/184274/2 "2003-06-25T12:39:16Z")
Well, [http://www.wendy.com/wendyweb/history.html](http://www.wendy.com/wendyweb/history.html) says that Barrie didn’t invent the name Wendy, which I’d always thought was true…but he certainly popularised it. Hmm…further reading suggests he _did_ kind of invent it as he wasn’t aware it was already a real name. Everything suggests the “Wendy house” came from Peter Pan though. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy-house-peter-pan-spoiler/184274/3 "2003-06-25T15:25:07Z")
THere’s a wonderful website called THE STRAIGHT DOPE, where you can find the answers to lots of interesting questions, especially in the section called “Archives”, like: [Straight Dope Staff Report: Was the name Wendy invented for the book " Peter Pan"?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpeterpanwendy.html) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy-house-peter-pan-spoiler/184274/4 "2003-06-25T19:15:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \* > \*\*THere’s a wonderful website called THE STRAIGHT DOPE, where you can find the answers to lots of interesting questions, especially in the section called “Archives”, like: [Straight Dope Staff Report: Was the name Wendy invented for the book " Peter Pan"?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpeterpanwendy.html) \*\* Well yeah C K, but the report in question doesn’t seem to answer the OP, which was really asking if the term Wendy House, meaning doll house, originated in the book, or if it was a sly joke. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy-house-peter-pan-spoiler/184274/5 "2003-06-25T19:30:58Z")
THe OED says > [@](#): > > Wendy house. > … > [Named after the small house built around Wendy in J. M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan (1904).] > A small house-like structure for children to play in. > 1949 M. Atkinson Junior School Community 11 Wendy house–made by a joiner: two large pieces of plywood hinged together. > … ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy-house-peter-pan-spoiler/184274/6 "2003-06-25T22:08:31Z")
I always wondered why two of my British co-workers called me Wendy House. Is this term/toy specifically British?