image: Underwood Archives/UIG /Bridgeman Images

Displayed at England's Empire Exhibition in 1924, Queen Mary's Dolls' House measured almost 5 feet high and weighed nearly 5 tons. The 1:12 scale royal palace boasted working light switches, elevators, and plumbing, which required the skills of more than 250 craftsmen and manufacturers. Nearly 200 writers penned its library's tiny handwritten books, including Rudyard Kipling and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and well-known artists made approximately 750 original paintings. Even the 1,200 bottles in the wine cellar were filled with thimblefuls of champagne, wine, and other spirits.