A Doll Story

Here is a short fiction piece about a Lawton doll that won an honorable mention in a contest. The poem was a companion piece; it also won the same prize. Welcome to our new follower!! Laura Emeline’s Antic Adventure It was cold midnight and the Lawton Emporium dreamt an enchanted sleep. Midnight is the witching hour, when dreams – or nightmares- come alive to gaze into our souls and spin our fantasies. In cozy attic room in the flat above the emporium, a little girl slept Her name was Laura Emeline, and her honey colored hair, the consistency of soft flax, lay spread out on her little lace pillow. Her sparkling eyes were closed, and long, curling lashes rested against her cheek. A light dusting of freckles appeared and disappeared against the bridge of her nose as she breathed lightly and evenly in her dreams. At the stroke of midnight, Laura Emeline’s bright eyes suddenly opened. They started open all at once, like the mechanical eyes of the old china headed doll with the real hair named Anastasia, the doll who was her constant companion, an who shared her dreams, at night and during the day. “Come, Anastasia; it’s time!” Laura Emeline’s musical voice, clear as a bell, rang through the room that was bathed in moonlight from a garret window. The little girl climbed out of her tiny, canopied bed with all the ruffles. She grabbed Anastasia, and threw a blue robe that matched her own over the doll’s flannel night dress. The doll’s face was enigmatic, yet at the same time, secretive, knowing, loving. She had been Laura’s companion for entire nine years of her life, one of the fantastic Christmas dolls that all but spoke, which the Emporium received each year for the holidays. The two friends had shared many adventures of an evening, after the clock chimed twelve, when the rest of the household, which consisted of Laura’s beautiful widowed mother and her kind grandmother. Laura’s days were filled with school, and, after school, she helped her mother sew the gorgeous dresses for the ladies who came to Lawton Emporium for their party dresses and wedding attire. Laura, though so small, could sew a stitch as fine as any seamstress, and her fingers were quick and light. She often made a few pennies by dressing dolls for the daughters of her mother’s customers form the silk and velvet scraps that fell from her mothers experienced scissors. Yet, her greatest joy was saving scraps of her own; her mother and grandmother often saved her the choicest bits of damask, silk, buttons, and feathers. With these, Laura Emeline dressed an entire family of tiny china dolls called the Tudors. Anastasia, too, had an extensive wardrobe, and all of the doll family had its own minuscule rag dolls, created from even tinier scraps that fell from Laura’s diminutive silver needle. But, that wasn’t the greatest joy, or secret, she shared with Anastasia. For, at night, a beautiful lady, who seemed to be made of starlight appeared to Laura Emeline. Each night the two chatted happily and sewed, or the lady donned one of the beautiful gowns and told Laura Emeline of her adventures long ago. The lady often wore her own clothes, a hoop skirt, a long purple overskirt of silk, and petty coats of darker purple and damask. Her long, golden curls often escaped from a snood, and her violet eyes shimmered. Around her neck was a long chain that held a cameo brooch, a tiny scissors and a tiny book and pencil. This was called chatelaine, and The Lady told Laura stories of how it had come far across the seas from Paris with her ships captain father. Laura Emeline and The Lady shared many nights together this way, On this cold, chill autumn night, The Lady helped the little girl to sew a little blanket for the latest tiny rag baby for the Tudors. From her voluminous silk pockets, The Lady produced tiny jet beads for eyes. “Laura Emeline,” she said, “These are magic beads, and they came from the sea shore from an ocean far away. Whatever you sew them on will come to life, and bring you good fortune. The little girl’s eyes danced, and her freckles melted into dimples as she smiled at her ethereal friend. She sewed some of the beads onto Anastasia’s robe, and the doll’s painted mouth broke into a smile. The tiny doll hand grasped Laura’s, and the two friends and The Lady danced around the otherwise empty Emporium, the gorgeous gowns their partners in a magic dance of friendship. Laura Emeline grew up and inherited the shop. She used the magic jet buttons sparingly, but carefully. She brought much good fortune to those she loved, and the shop prospered. She had a little girl of her own named Emilia, and Anastasia and the Tudors became her trusted friends, too. And, at Midnight, on Emilia’s ninth birthday, at the stroke of midnight, Laura Emeline led her daughter down to the Emporium, where a beautiful lady, who looked as though she were made of starlight, stood smiling among the silks and velvets, her arms open in a gesture of friendship, tinged with sweet magic and generosity.

See below; Dr. E's Doll Museum remembers one of our Twitter Followers:

Pete Seeger, who died yesterday, at ninety-four, lived into his posterity. For years, he occupied a house up a rising dirt road in the woods. The house was on a cliff, overlooking his beloved Hudson River. He had cleared the land, like a pioneer. In the New York Public Library, he had found instructions for building a log cabin. In the decades since, he cut trees for firewood. A teacher at the boarding school he had attended had taught him to split logs. The woods were orderly, having been pruned for so many years. He believed in the dignity of the individual life, but he wasn’t comfortable with people close at hand. He had no taste for light conversation. He was like the parson of a small parish, constantly engaged with the welfare of his church. Did the farmer whose child had drunk tainted well water and whose wife had died have someone to watch over the child, so that he could tend to his crops? Would it be possible to interest the rich man who came only at Christmas and Easter to pay for the repair of the church roof? Were his sermons sufficiently inspiring? Was his life exemplary? Was he a beacon for his flock? In fact, his life was exemplary. The courage he showed in facing down the House Un-American Activities Committee, his refusal to give names, and his insistence on his right to entertain his own conscience are not common behaviors. Plenty of people gave names. Plenty of people pleaded the Fifth Amendment, but Seeger refused to, because the plea implied a person had something to hide. He chose jail rather than collaboration. At the time, he was a member of the most successful group in show business, the Weavers. He was not surprised when the government threatened night-club owners if they hired the Weavers, and the group’s opportunities withered. In the year before he was to go to jail, he performed as often as he could, in order to make money for his family to live on while he was gone. An appeal kept him out of prison, but he hadn’t expected it to. He was happy to step away from celebrity and the night-club life, which he never liked, and to return to what he always had done: singing folk songs and union songs for children in classrooms and around campfires. There may be a famous person these days who would choose jail over coöperating with the government against its citizens, but I can’t think of one. As famous as he was, he was half of a couple. When his wife, Toshi, died, in July, it was just short of their seventieth anniversary. He was reserved up close and sometimes aloof, as if he were entertaining a reverie. He might have disappeared into private life, but Bruce Springsteen revived him. It was on Springsteen’s plane that Seeger flew to Washington to sing at Obama’s first Inauguration. It was a period when the world’s interest returned to him. After I wrote my Profile of him for the magazine, I wrote a small book about him. He had wanted a biography that could be read in one sitting, and I tried to do that. The book had been a publisher’s idea, and when I called Seeger to ask if he would take part, I said that a publisher had asked me to expand the Profile. I heard Toshi, in the background, ask what I wanted. Seeger said, “He would like to expand the Profile into a book,” and Toshi responded, “Tell him you’ve been expanded enough.” Photograph by CBS/Getty

New Acquisitions

Recently, I did some research for an Estate that contained a large doll collection as part of its assets. I did research about liquidating the collection, and also about the types of dolls, mainly modern, involved. This was a new aspect of collecting and of the doll world for me. I am not sure I liked it. There is a tremendous amount of leg work and other work involved in such a venture. I include some photos here for my followers to enjoy. What is fun is to see how each collector's vision is different. Truly, no two collections are alike. The dolls collected are an expression of that collector's passion. Some buy or acquire only 2-3 dolls per year, others hundreds. While I never met a doll I didn't like, I am leaning towards adding only two to three dolls to the collection myself, if only as another way to "think outside the doll house." My focus has been on metal dolls, and I plan to begin the hunt for an Edison Phonograph Doll, even if all I can find is the torso of metal. The metal Huret is also on my horizon, as always. I have been asked to give two more programs on dolls so far this year, and one more at GAHC related to Hinges and Hearts, and I am about to start a writing project involving dolls. Needless to say, the museum is very busy these days. We are grateful beyond measure that our book is selling well, and for the wonderful reviews we have received. With the demise of IDEX 2014 and IDEX in general, I feel that collecting in general has taken a negative turn. Yet, I see dolls and stuffed animals everywhere, as well as all kinds of doll related figures. I hope you enjoy the photos, and that wherever you are, you are warm and safe, and escaping this new Ice Age which seems to be overtaking us.

Hinges and Hearts: Metal Dolls on Display

The first of two programs based on With Love from Tin Lizzie and the metal and mechanical dolls in my collection took place last week at GAHC, where we had a very good and enthusiastic crowd. Using a PowerPoint presentation and several dolls, I told the story of the project and the history of dolls in general. The Museum director, KL, created wonderful banners and posters with quotes from Anne Rice and my book. The dolls, robots, and automata were displayed to their best advantage in cube cases and in traditional glass cases in the Main Gallery and on the 4th Floor. Below are some of the images from that event. Our next program will involve readings from my book and from other poets and writers in our area, and will occur Feb. 16th. My thanks to GAHC, and to my husband who photographed the dolls. More of his work is on his site, Milanipc.com. Enjoy!

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The Fashion Doll Chronicles: IDEX is no more

The Fashion Doll Chronicles: IDEX is no more: An e-mail a while ago announced that IDEX, the great doll show, eagerly awaited by doll collectors all over the world each year, is no more...

Facebook Page Dr. E's Doll Museum

Thanks to another FB friend who is credited, I have shared some marvelous photos on our FB page. Please Take a look!

From Amazon; a 5 star Review of With Love from Tin Lizzie; Thanks!!

5.0 out of 5 stars We love this book!, January 17, 2014 By Ellen M. Tsagaris - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) This review is from: With Love from Tin Lizzie: A History of Metal Heads, Metal Dolls, Mechanical Dolls and Automatons (Paperback) My wife purchased a copy in October, read it, loved it and talked about it for weeks. I got interested and read it, WOW!!! The details are great, the history is great, the photos are great and it reads well. I particularly liked the section on Toy Soldiers, then went out and bought some for our son. We even purchased 5 more copies and gave them to relatives and friends as Christmas presents. They also loved reading the book. It's obvious that the author spent years getting the information in the book and it's well presented. People in my wife's collecting club had never heard much about what was written but found it to be true and exactly right. They enjoyed reading it and they use it for their collecting. If there's another book by the author, buy it, you will not be disappointed. Why no voting buttons? We don't let customers vote on their own reviews, so the voting buttons

Marshall Martin Antique Dolls: Well, here I am being dragged into the 21st centur...

Marshall Martin Antique Dolls: Well, here I am being dragged into the 21st centur...: Well, here I am being dragged into the 21st century! A blog for me? Really? I guess it is going to happen right now! My friends tell me this...

Marshall Martin Antique Dolls: Well, here I am being dragged into the 21st centur...

Marshall Martin Antique Dolls: Well, here I am being dragged into the 21st centur...: Well, here I am being dragged into the 21st century! A blog for me? Really? I guess it is going to happen right now! My friends tell me this...

The Soul of a True Collector

When you've been in the collecting game as long as I have, it becomes easy to spot a true collector. Not a dealer, piling several of the same item in a cart to sell later, speculating in the latest secondary market trend. Not a causal shopper, buying on impulse, perhaps to decorate a space. It's the person quietly selecting objects at a rock show, or an antique show, or a flea market. They don't stand out by spouting how much they know about something. They aren't haggling loudly. They may be quiet, unobtrusive, but with a determined look on their faces. Certainly, they aren't wacky or eccentric, the way many collectors are portrayed in today's media. Denise van Patten covered that topic often in her blog for about. No, this is a cat of a different stripe, as a colleague of mine was fond of saying. I saw one today. It was at Eagle Days, and the usual purveyors of fossils, rocks, jewelry, and handicrafts were doing their thing in our local expo center. There was a young girl, between 25-30, carrying a plastic basket. She was at one of the vendor's stands selling crystals, fossils, rocks, and jewelry. I watched her, slim, dressed in black, light coat, brown hair pulled back in a pony tail. She wore two pewter medallions on a black cord, and very little make up. But, her face was rapt as she carefully hefted this or that crystal till she found the right one. She was lost in her quest as sure as any knight after the Grail. She had some small rocks, some items for making jewelry, a few little fossils in her basket. She was not clumsy or pushy, but she took notice of little else but the rocks and fossils on the table. You had to admire that concentration, that ability to get quietly lost in the moment, enjoying something so much. quiet passion, to be sure. I've often felt it myself. I spent all day Saturday installing a display of metal dolls for our local museum to promote my book. I forgot everything else. That often happens when I work with the museum collection, or when I'm planning our brick and mortar location. I don't think of any problems, and forget all the stressors in my life. I think it's possible that collecting can add years to a person's life. Those who die young just don't spend enough time collecting.

Tin Lizzie Reviewed in Antique Doll Collector Jan. Issue; Welcome New Follower

Ou4 thanks to Donna and the staff of Antique Doll Collector for the wonderful review for With Love from Tin Lizzie... You may read the review in the Jan. Issue of the magazine. My thanks again to Doll Castle News for their review, and to The Strong Museum for allowing me to write a book review for their Journal of Play. I am grateful for our new follower, and for all those who read this and my other blogs. Look for some exciting news very soon. Our Tin Lizzie display will go up this week at GAHC. Thanks to all have have read, reviewed, and bought our book!! We love you!!

Tin Lizzie Reviewed in Antique Doll Collector Jan. Issue; Welcome New Follower

Out thanks to Donna and the staff of Antique Doll Collector for the wonderful review for With Love from Tin Lizzie... You may read the review in the Jan. Issue of the magazine. My thanks again to Doll Castle News for their review, and to The Strong Museum for allowing me to write a book review for their Journal of Play. I am grateful for our new follower, and for all those who read this and my other blogs. Look for some exciting news very soon. Our Tin Lizzie display will go up this week at GAHC. Thanks to all have have read, reviewed, and bought our book!! We love you!!

French Bebes From The Golden Age Part 2

For those of us who have holiday In-law and Outlaw Stories

In Laws and Outlaws; Apologia to my Sister in Law An apology is begging To issue from my lips, It seems that in some circles, You’ve seen me as remiss. So with heartfelt effusion, Accept these humbled lines, Dear Sister, Please Remember, Only Bards can be sublime: Chorus: I’m sorry you married my brother. I’m sorry your boobs aren’t real. I’m sorry your mother’s psychotic. I’m sorry y our dad is a Heel. I’m sorry you ran out of Zima. I’m sorry you look like a witch. I’m gladder, though now, More than ever, That I managed to call you ---- Well, really, it actually rhymes well with Itch.

More Photos to enjoy

More Photos to Enjoy

Mystery Author Deb Baker (aka Hannah Reed): Coming February 4th

From our friend, Deb, who writes the wonderful Doll mysteries featuring Grethcen Birch as well as these great books!  Deb, we have Gretchen withdrawal at Dr.E's!  When is she reappearing?  How about a haunted doll theme for Halloween!

Mystery Author Deb Baker (aka Hannah Reed): Coming February 4th: *Pre-order from Barnes and Noble /  Pre-order from Amazon Beekeeper Story Fischer has stocked the shelves of her market, The Wild ...

Mystery Author Deb Baker (aka Hannah Reed): Coming February 4th

From our friend, Deb, who writes the wonderful Doll mysteries featuring Grethcen Birch as well as these great books!  Deb, we have Gretchen withdrawal at Dr.E's!  When is she reappearing?  How about a haunted doll theme for Halloween!

Mystery Author Deb Baker (aka Hannah Reed): Coming February 4th: *Pre-order from Barnes and Noble /  Pre-order from Amazon Beekeeper Story Fischer has stocked the shelves of her market, The Wild ...

Some Doll Photos

Happy New Year, and here are some Photos from The Milwaukee Public Museum and other collections!

Some are from the Czech Museum and Peoria Waterfront Museum --

Emma with her Dolls There are also some from the Princess Diana Exhibit.

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