Almost a May Queen

In honor of my dear friend Mary Hillier, who wrote Dolls and Doll Makers and other seminal books on doll history, I quote her favorite saying on today, which would have been her 93d birthday, "Dolls are where you Find them." She always wrote me a letter on or before this date saying she was "almost a May queen." For those who care, tonight is also Walpurgis night.

I have been slowing down considerably, but am finding dolls, or they find me, here and there. I found an unusual doll yesterday for $.25; he is a Mexican doll woven of straw. These are related to the corn dolly fertility figures of Europe and the US. He is unusual because he is a man. I havent' seen one for about 40 years! They have been adapted to being bottle covers for tourists, much as the tiny voodoo dolls of Haiti have been turned into whisk brooms for the tourist trade.

This is a short blog today, but I encourage everyone to follow my new blog on living green as well. Today's blog dealt with playing green, and talked about natural toys and dolls.

The Doll Bibliography is being proofed, and some copies will be printed this week for the book fair and the lecture I'm doing next week. I write one book, finish it, and the ideas for more keep happening!

The capital punishment toys were a hit as always. They are now safely at home amid all their other friends.

A good weekend to all. I hope you all find a magic doll show to attend!