Children of Japan

Children of Japan
Courtesy, R. John Wright

Hinges and Hearts

Hinges and Hearts
An Exhibit of our Metal Dolls

Tuxedo and Bangles

Tuxedo and Bangles

A History of Metal Dolls

A History of Metal Dolls
Now on Alibris.com and In Print! The First Book of its Kind

Alice, Commemorative Edition

Alice, Commemorative Edition
Courtesy, R. John Wright

Translate


Emma, aka, La Contessa Bathory

Emma, aka, La Contessa Bathory
Her Grace wishes us all a Merry Christmas!

Annabelle

Annabelle

Emma Emmeline

Emma Emmeline
Our New Addition/fond of stuffed toys

Cloth Clown

Cloth Clown

Native American Art

Native American Art

the triplets

the triplets

c. 1969 Greek Plastic Mini Baby

c. 1969 Greek Plastic Mini Baby
Bought Athens on the street

Iron Maiden; Middle Ages

Iron Maiden; Middle Ages

Sand Baby Swirls!

Sand Baby Swirls!
By Glenda Rolle, courtesy, the Artist

Glenda's Logo

Glenda's Logo
Also, a link to her site

Sand Baby Castaway

Sand Baby Castaway
By Glenda Rolle, Courtesy the Artist

A French Friend

A French Friend

Mickey

Mickey
From our friends at The Fennimore Museum

2000+ year old Roman Rag Doll

2000+ year old Roman Rag Doll
British Museum, Child's Tomb

Ancient Egypt Paddle Doll

Ancient Egypt Paddle Doll
Among first "Toys?"

ushabti

ushabti
Egyptian Tomb Doll 18th Dynasty

Ann Parker Doll of Anne Boleyn

Ann Parker Doll of Anne Boleyn

Popular Posts

Tin Head Brother and Sister, a Recent Purchase

Tin Head Brother and Sister, a Recent Purchase
Courtesy, Antique Daughter

Judge Peep

Judge Peep

Hakata Doll Artist at Work

Hakata Doll Artist at Work
From the Museum Collection

Japanese Costume Barbies

Japanese Costume Barbies
Samurai Ken

Etienne

Etienne
A Little Girl

Happy Heart Day

Happy Heart Day

From "Dolls"

From "Dolls"
A Favorite Doll Book

Popular Posts

Jenny Wren

Jenny Wren
Ultimate Doll Restorer

Our Friends at The Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum

Our Friends at The Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum

Baby Boo 1960s

Baby Boo 1960s
Reclaimed and Restored as a childhood Sabrina the Witch with Meow Meow

Dr. E's on Display with sign

Dr. E's on Display with sign

Dolls Restored ad New to the Museum

Dolls Restored ad New to the Museum
L to R: K*R /celluloid head, all bisque Artist Googly, 14 in. vinyl inuit sixties, early celluloid Skookum type.

Two More Rescued Dolls

Two More Rescued Dolls
Late Sixties Vinyl: L to R: Probably Horseman, all vinyl, jointed. New wig. R: Effanbee, probably Muffy, mid sixties. New wig and new clothing on both. About 12 inches high.

Restored Italian Baby Doll

Restored Italian Baby Doll
One of Dr. E's Rescued Residents

Dolls on Display

Dolls on Display
L to R: Nutcrackers, Danish Troll, HItty and her book, Patent Washable, Mechanical Minstrel, Creche figure, M. Alexander Swiss. Center is a German mechanical bear on the piano. Background is a bisque German costume doll.

A Few Friends

A Few Friends
These dolls are Old German and Nutcrackers from Dr. E's Museum. They are on loan to another local museum for the holidays.

Vintage Collage

Vintage Collage
Public Domain Art

The Merry Wanderer

The Merry Wanderer
Courtesy R. John Wright, The Hummel Collection

The Fennimore Doll Museum

The Fennimore Doll Museum

Robert

Robert
A Haunted Doll with a Story

Halloween Dolls Displayed in a Local Library

Halloween Dolls Displayed in a Local Library

The Cody Jumeau

The Cody Jumeau
Long-faced or Jumeau Triste

German Princesses

German Princesses
GAHC 2005

A Little PowerRanger

A Little PowerRanger
Halloween 2004

The Island of the Dolls

The Island of the Dolls
Shrine to Dolls in Mexico

Based on the Nutshell Series of Death

Based on the Nutshell Series of Death
Doll House murder

Popular Posts

Total Pageviews

A lovely dress

A lovely dress

Raggedy Ann

Raggedy Ann
A few friends in cloth!

Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum, WI

Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum, WI
Pixar Animator's Collection

Little PM sisters

Little PM sisters
Recent eBay finds

Dressed Mexican Fleas

Dressed Mexican Fleas

Really old Dolls!

Really old Dolls!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

What is a doll?

When you loved dolls and studied them,

you started to love all kinds of people too, because you saw the virtue

in their expressions, how carefully they had been sculpted, the parts contrived to

create the triumph of this or that remarkable face.

ANNE RICE

TALTOS


Today, I wanted to talk about the definition of "doll," as well as what has inspired me to create a museum collection. A friend of mine always said "Dolls are Where You Find Them!!" Anyone who loves to collect dolls knows that she was right. I have literally searched the world for dolls to add to my collection. Really, any good collector would do the same. For, as Anne Rice implied in the above quote, there are as many kinds of dolls in the world as there are people. There is no end to the materials used to make dolls. And, there are just as many reasons to collect them as there are collectors and dealers. Ideally, the best doll dealers or entrepeneurs are those who also have their own collections and who love dolls. Others gather their doll "families" because they want to recapture some fond but lost childhood memory. Or, maybe someone was too poor to have dolls when s/he was little; after all, toys in general, and dolls in particular, are luxuries. Of course, there are those who collect dolls because they are students of costume or history, or because they want inspiration for some other line of work.

I don't know why I started collecting dolls. I only know that I have been doing it since I was three years old. Actually, I preferred toy guns and playing outside with the other children in the neighborhood to dolls when I was very young. I didn't play "Barbies" until relatively late in life, (ages 10-12), and by then, I was an avid collector. My "play" consisted not in make-believe so much as in redressing dolls and creating little plays for them. I was also involved in battles with little boys who had plastic soldiers. Since girls in my day couldn't fight, however, I was relegated to nurse duty, and had to stand up the little plastic figures after they had fallen down in an enemy attack. At least once, I rescued minuscule revolutionary war soldiers from driveway gravel in which they had been imbedded for I don't know how long. A friend's older brother had carelessly trampled them underfoot, into the gravel, when he tired of them. I was always the rescuer of broken and forgotten dolls, so that doll restoration became an important reason for me to keep collecting.

Whatever the reason anyone has for doll collecting, however, one has to acknowledge that it is now one of the fastest growing hobbies in the United States, if not the world. Some say that it is the leading hobby in this country. I almost wish it weren't. Dolls should not be a source of competition; they are items of comfort and mystery, and important icons of childhood. Their very presence is testament to the similarities among people throughout the ages; no matter when we were born, all people have had the desire to recreate themselves for posterity. Human motives for doll creating are not important; ritual figures, religious idols, miniature portraits, toy soldiers, statues, toys, grave dolls, paper dolls, models, all serve a particular purpose. Like paintings and photographs they have the potential to live after us, and they have the potential to imitate us. They fascinate us for these very reasons and more. And, the way the word "doll" is defined also describes the type of collector.


Let's define a doll for our purposes as any representation of the human figure, big or small, whether or not a child's plaything. This way, we can have interesting discussions of statues and figurines, and automatons, and robots, and many other wonderful doll-like objects that are left out of most books. And, let's also include anthropomorphized creatures like teddy bears and "Beanie Babies," often dressed and treated as dolls anyway. We may even have a discussion or two about other objects that have been turned into dolls. For example, Cosette in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables adopts an old footstool as her "doll." Laura Ingalls Wilder's first doll in Little House in the Big Woods was simply a corncob wrapped in an old handkerchief and called Susan. Let's also consider what Barton Wright and Evelyn Roat say in their book, This is a Hopi Kachina. The authors write that " the kachina doll is not a toy, but it is not considered wrong for a child to play with it" (19). One could make the same observation about almost any object, especially one representing a human being. Perhaps it is no accident that many of the famous porcelain companies of the world allegedly made small dolls and doll heads as part of their trade that closely resembled the heads of the figurines they made. For others, dolls were ritual objects, representations of lost loved ones, childhood friends, or inspirational muses. Defining the word and the parameters of a collection are personal choices, reflected in indivdual taste and preference.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Inaugural Blog

Welcome to my museum blog. This blog is about the process of creating a doll museum, first in web form, then as a brick-and-mortar attraction. I have collected, made, written about dolls and doll-related items since I was three years-old. The pieces in my collection range from ancient ritual figures to modern robotic toys. They include fashion dolls, Santos, collectors dolls antiques, folk dolls, craft dolls, paper dolls, figurines, toy soldiers, sculptures, photographs, books, related memorabilia, and letters from others known in the world of dolls and antiques My collection is one of the most unique in the world. It is also one of the largest private collections. I have reached the point where I would like to share it with others. I will be posting photographs of some of the items in the collection. I am not a dealer; I am not interested in commercial gain and am in the process of forming a nonprofit corporation on behalf of the museum. I am interested in hearing from others who enjoy writing about the history of dolls and toys and who enjoy collecting them for their own sake.