American Doll and Toy Museum: "The really avid collector feels that she should b...

American Doll and Toy Museum: "The really avid collector feels that she should b...: "The really avid collector feels that she should buy as many dolls as possible so as to preserve them . . . " Kay Desmond, The Al...

The Mad Collector in the Basement; Established Doll Museums

Recently, I learned of a program to be given at a future doll convention. It purports to tell us all how to start a doll museum. Key points are that the museum is in someone’s basement, with a separate entrance. Hmm. To create our 5000 sq. foot doll and toy museum took twenty years and lots of paper filings with the state and federal government. We had to find a building, and bid on it. We started in a much smaller building and paid rent; I had saved up a year’s rent to cover it. Many of our cases had to be transported two hours from the former Planetary Studies Museum. We had to file for nonprofit status for our building, too. All this took more than a year. We got our permanent building in August 2020. It took a year to set up the dolls and toys, and I’m not done yet. I did this on my own, with my husband helping. He runs his own security company, so doesn’t have the time he’d like to devote to the museum. We get wonderful donations of objects, but not many financial donations. We finance it ourselves, for now. Covid hit when we were in our old building, and only open three months. We had to close. We got no grants, though we applied, no financial help. As for the collection; it’s mine. I started collecting at age three, and never stopped. Really, I’ve been planning it my whole life, with my family helping. They took me to doll museums all over the world. My family has been every where but Antarctica, and my mentor, teacher, and friend, the late Dr. Roald Tweet went there. It counts. Actually, my first “museum” was in a basement, too. My parents’. Dad built it. It took him about a year, and a year before that to build my fantastic red doll house, Plantagenet House. I hear lot of people talking about doll museums in their house, in a basement, within a retail shop, in a garage. I hear about “established doll museums.” When I googled the term, our museum came up. We have toys, games, doll houses, dolls, books, models and puppets representing Prehistory to the present, and we are here to preserve and to educate, not to invest, sell, or make money. Below are some pictures of the “museum” Dad built. pBefore I had to pack and move my core collection, the dolls were organized by size, material, age, country, and type. There were toys, doll houses, art, books, and paper dolls. Doll related art hung on the walls. I hope to do a podcast soon.

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American Doll and Toy Museum: Paper Dolls a brief a Brief History by Request

American Doll and Toy Museum: Paper Dolls a brief a Brief History by Request: Recent visitors to American Doll and Toy Museum asked to see paper dolls. We have thousands, maybe tens of thousands in our collection. So...

Japanese Girls/Doll Festival

Happy Japanese Doll Festival March 3d. Once, it was hard to find Hina Matsuri festval dolls, now it is easier Mitsuwa Shopping Center in Arlington Heights offers miniature food and other items to celebrate the Girls Day or Doll Festival. Read Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden to learn more. Huguette Clark also had a wide range of Japanese Doll Houses made for her. See also previous post on this blog.

American Doll and Toy Museum: Our Purpose

American Doll and Toy Museum: Our Purpose: The more I run the American Doll and Toy Museum, the more I realize a lot of people of all ages have no clue what a museum is. “What is the...

Pinterest

American Doll and Toy Museum has many new pins of our museum. See also boards on Dolls around the World and African American Heritage Dolls. These last two are new.

A Life in Dolls; my Resume

Here it is October, the month I live for all year. We’ve had at least two months of assorted disasters which have detracted from writing and from the museum. Sometimes, I sit and ponder how long I’ve been involved with dolls. I thought I would give you a timeline of my life with dolls and toys. I hope you enjoy it, as it is also sort of my resume.

• My fist doll is a Dreamland rubber bunny with a human face, wearing bare bottom yellow pajamas. • Age 3, my mother hands me two Greek dolls that were part of her family’s collection. I sat on the Kitchen floor holding them, and declared I would collect dolls. • I see my first antique German bisque doll at Fantasy Land, Gettysburg, PA. • Age 5, we visit Edison’s home, and I see my first Edison Phonograph doll. Years and years later, I get one for the museum collection. I begin collecting dolls and related objects on family road trips all over the US and Canada. • Age six, my babysitter gives me a bisque Nancy Ann Storybook doll, my first vintage doll. My first grade uses life sized dolls to portray Dick, Jane, and Sally, but she makes me a sock doll for my collection. • Age 7, my mom and I begin attending the local antique show. We find my first antique doll, a frozen Charlotte. That year, I also attended the San Jose Flea market for the first time. • Age 8, I give my first talk on dolls for the Girl Scout’s collecting badge. I did dozens of talks on dolls and toys between ages 8 and 22. My Aunt Rose begins making porcelain reproduction dolls for me. Her husband, Uncle Tony, buys me vintage dolls from auctions. • Age 9, we visit Europe; lots of dolls come home. • Age 13, our first doll show comes to the area. I’ve been attending them since. • Age 22, my first article on dolls was published in National Doll World. I received the prestigious Tweet Award, carved by my teacher, mentor and friend, Dr. Roald Tweet. • I’ve written by now hundreds of articles on dolls online for About.com, Flossie’s Newsletter, and Ruby Lane. I have written articles for Western Doll Collector, Hope and Glory; Midwest Journal of Victorian Studies, Doll Reader, Antique Doll Collector, National Doll World, Doll Designs and other publications. • Circa 2014 to 2018, I worked for various employers creating Pinterest boards and blog posts, as well as curating descriptions for objects on eBay. • I’ve set up at doll shows and had an Etsy shop. • Worked antique shows and in antique shops. • Appeared in podcasts, radio, and in local TV news shows, been interviewed by Irish talk show host, Shawn Moncrieff. Was approached by The Today Show and Inside Edition. Interviewed by Atlas Obscura. Had a story done on me for my work network by a reporter who worked for Newsweek. • Have written several books on dolls, including works of fiction that include them. I have an author’s page on Amazon, and a page on Facebook. • I’ve worked as director of social media for a doll magazine, and created numerous blogs and social media accounts on dolls. • I spent twenty years bringing this museum to fruition, not an easy task. • Still give talks and do displays at other museums, at libraries, for clubs and groups. • We are nowhere near finished. • It isn’t just a hobby; this is my vocation, and it’s been my whole life. • Also make dolls and paint them, repair my own not others’.

and, I developed courses and mayerials on dolls. Also presented several papers on dolls at the Midwest Modern Language Association conventions. Happy collecting folks. But it doesn’t just pop up overnight.