I will be Back; Finishing a Book

So, I will return, as my Gen. Macarthur doll might say. LOL!. More musings, and then a very brief hiatus. The competition factor involved in dolls is upsetting to me. [Note, I’m tying in Word and using sell check; hence I have the missing letter from the alphabet!].

Frankly, my advice to anyone is, there will always be another doll. I’ve read some version of this advice in Eleanor St. George’s books, in Helen Young’s, and in Clara Hallard Fawcett’s. A hobby is a retreat from the “slings and arrows of fortune,” and a way to handle stress and pursue personal enrichment. I will quote my friend R. Lane Herron here, a legend in the collecting and doll book/doll artists world, “ I don’t know what I would do without the dolls …” Lane and I have been regular correspondents since 1985 or 86, when I started writing With Love from Tin Lizzie; A History of Metal Dolls . . . That there will always be another doll is even truer of the most expensive commodities; just read the ads in the major magazines, or go to Ruby Lane or eBay, as well as other wonderful sites. There will always be a Tete Jumeau, or even a Jumeau Triste, and even Huret dolls are to be found for those with the funds and knowledge of where to look. The rare AT is found not so rarely at major auctions by Theriault’s , Frahsers, and others.

I take issue with terms like “serious” collector and “high end.” They dismiss many out there who write about dolls and doll history, and are not mad enough, or can’t afford to send upwards of $1000 on one doll, or more likely, upwards of $10,000. We at the museum will not deny we have our share of high end or “serious” collectibles, but we also find that though we love them, they are not the examples that make visitors smile. Again, note, All Dolls are Collectible, to paraphrase another legend, Genevieve Angione.

My issue with some major clubs and organizations is that, as one major dealer I know puts it, they have become cliquish. I was horrified when I offered to donate a coy of my Bibliograhy of Dolls and Toys to the most venerated and oldest doll club of all to receive a letter stating that if I wanted to sell my book, I could take out an ad.

I wasn’t trying to sell anything; it was a donation to their museum, and all I would have wanted, at most, was someone to review it honestly, as the lovely family of Doll Castle News did.

Of course, it is crucial to encourage and inspire other collectors. Dolls are a luxury, but there are many wonderful dolls to be found and many fit within any budget. I don’t like being copied, either, but I take imitation as a form of flattery in general. I started with foreign/international dolls and then antiques, slowly incorporating my childhood dolls, characters and celebrities and others. My collecting model was influenced by Helen Young, Janet Johl, and others like them who collected good, and varied general collections. I admire those who specialize in only one type of doll, but I also get bored with that kind of collection after a while. That’s just me. Having said that, I focus on metal dolls and mechanical dolls in my collection, and have sub collections of Frozen Charlottes, Greek Dolls, ritual dolls, and Hispanic dolls.

I have come to refer going to doll shows alone; whoever I am with suddenly becomes a collector, or wheedles me into giving him/her something I found and bought first, or I have to deal with other folks’ schedules and time issues.

Do your own thing, and keep your ideas to yourself. Or, you will find everyone is suddenly into foreign dolls and metal dolls, and soon, they will try to publish your ideas. Not good.

In any case, stay collectors; remember why you began, kudos to dealers who also collect and are knowledgeable. It is great to make a living off what you love, but let’s to the grade school competition and the elitist behavior. If dolls do tell the story of all humanity, let’s be the bards of a harmonious chorus, not a cacophonous chorus of noise pollution.

I’ll be back soon!!