Halloween and Other Musings

It is Halloween; A Happy One to All, and a Blessed New Year/Samhain to our Wiccan Friends. The Celts are my favorite people, and they have some awesome ritual figures in bronze and stone, including sculptures of Epona. For those who want to read, I recommend the works of Morgan Llewellyn, especially The Horse Goddess, Anne Rice's early Vampire Chronicles, Parke Godwin, and nonfiction on the Celts by Nora Chadwick, Jean Markale, Antonia Fraser and Joy Chant [The Warrior Queens and The High Kings]. The Sci/Fi fantasy of Evangeline Walton [The Island of the Mighty Series], Patricia Keneally Morrison [yes, Jim's widow], and Julian May also satisfy. For myth and legend, there is Bullfinch’s Mythology and my article in a 1987 National Doll World, "The Golden Girls; Modern Celtic Ladies." Halloween is always elegiac for me. My best memories are of carving pumpkins with my Dad, my mom making awesome costumes; a Greek Gypsy when I was 5, a fantastic Raggedy Ann outfit, a Pioneer Girl, a witch, a vampire, my Flamenco outfit, this one bought in Madrid. She was hard to top. We always had the tradition of decorating our picture window, and I had a headless Anne Boleyn cutout done when I was 9 or 10, and dozens of haunted graveyard drawings with Henry's hapless victims looking for their heads. I loved my plastic Jack O' Lantern pails, and my Aunt Connie would send awesome goody boxes with candies and Halloween dolls. My little figural candles were all parading around the house; we had amazing ones on display at our old M.L. Parker's dept. store. My Aunt Rosie would have theme parties for every Holiday, complete with favors and ceramic figures she made. No little girl ever had it better. Now, only my dad is left, and he hates all holidays. We don't carve pumpkins, though I display various varieties. Our kittens limit what we can have inside, so my great haunted houses and witches, my vintage lanterns and ghosts, the skeletons mom and I dressed, all wait for The Museum. I watch The Great Pumpkin every year, as I have since it debuted when I was six. I go over albums of my old cards and take out the carefully preserved, very vintage but well-loved cutouts, some jointed and dressed. I look at the monster dolls my mom used to knit for and dress. I get out the Dia de Muertos dolls and figures, and think of Frida K, who loved dolls as I do. Yesterday, I had to take lunch money to school for my 15 year old. These are harried, forgetful times. My mother taught Spanish there 38+ years, and it was my alma mater, my husband's, my late Uncle George's. My aunt worked for the school district, too, so there were many memories. I lost my mom five years ago, and though I try not to get personal on my blogs, let me say that I will never get over it. When I am in the high school, she is there. I feel here everywhere, and I can hear her voice in the halls. We use to laugh; she was so loud when she taught, that the secretaries at the other end of the building were learning Spanish along with us. I'm loud, too, when I teach, and it is a compliment when people say they can hear me everywhere. :) Our city is tearing down another of the schools where my aunt worked, and where my son attended. I use to go to the frolics there, and knew the staff like family. This Halloween, all is sad but not because of the goblins. I see bits and pieces of my life chipping away, and while I don't feel old, I think perhaps I may be. This is why people collect dolls, or books, or coins, or whatever. Study material culture, and read The Grapes of Wrath. Our things, and least the cherished objects, do matter. They are our memory triggers. Without which, we disappear into the void.

Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Books Still the Majority and a Question for my Rea...

Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Books Still the Majority and a Question for my Rea...: Today as I was driving to work in the rainy fog of chilly October morning, I heard on NPR that books are still 80% of the publishing industr...

With love from Tin Lizzie: A History of Metal Heads Metal Dolls Mechanical Dolls and Automatons by Tsagaris, Ellen: New, Softcover, $20.00 at Alibris Marketplace

With love from Tin Lizzie: A History of Metal Heads Metal Dolls Mechanical Dolls and Automatons by Tsagaris, Ellen: New, Softcover, $20.00 at Alibris Marketplace

New TV Show based on a Popular Auction House

See below, and check out Morphy Auctions. Other similar shows of interest include Pawn Kings, Auction Kings, Cash in the Attic, "Collectin" Across America [off air], The Collectors [off air], American Pickers, Toy Hunter, Both British and American Antiques Roadshows, Market Warriors, Oddities, and Storage Wars. Happy Watching. SYDNEY - An exciting new series based on Morphy Auctions of Denver, Pennsylvania, made its primetime debut on Australian television on October 22nd. Titled Million Dollar Auctions, the show is carried on FOXTEL's A&E channel, which delivers original and exclusive programming from the US cable giant to Australian audiences in high definition. Million Dollar Auctions joins a powerful lineup of hit shows on FOXTEL A&E that includes American Pickers, Storage Wars, and Dog the Bounty Hunter. The Australian deal with FOXTEL was concluded at Mip TV (Cannes, France) earlier this year by exclusive sales agent and production company Icon Television. Icon TV will have 13 half-hour episodes of Million Dollar Auctions finished by December. The show has generated interest from networks in 10 other countries, including the United States. "What sets our show apart from some others is that it's not a reality show as most people would think of the term," said Morphy Auctions CEO Dan Morphy, the central figure in Million Dollar Auctions. "From the beginning, we set out to produce a series that was genuine and unscripted, with the goal of entertaining as we educated viewers about antiques and collectibles." Million Dollar Auctions is the creation of Dan Morphy (executive producer), award-winning filmmaker Glenn Aveni (director, executive producer) and Bob Newman (executive producer). Each episode of Million Dollar Auctions incorporates privileged visits to advanced collectors' homes, valuations of items that might be lying dormant in anyone's attic; and actual auction footage taken at Morphy's gallery, where winning bids decisively reveal what's hot in today's marketplace. In the opening episode, Morphy and his team visit the world's largest Coca-Cola collection, appraise a rare Mr. Peanut window display, and auction a fantastic lineup of valuable robots. Episode 2, which will air October 29th, includes a visit to a $3 million private collection of marbles, plus segments on superhero comics and a prized 19th-century slot machine. Million Dollar Auctions airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. local time on FOXTEL A&E. For information on upcoming episodes and repeat times, log on to www.foxtel.com.au. To participate in a future episode of Million Dollar Auctions, email Serena Myers at Morphy Auctions: serena@morphyauctions.com. LIKE US ON FACEBOOK! www.facebook.com/morphyauctions

Some Photos of Similar Museum Dolls and other Items; Happy Halloween!

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Creepy Doll Halloween Display

On Bourbon Street, found on Cnn.com: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2013/10/23/pkg-graphic-baby-doll-halloween-display.wpix&hpt=hp_c3&from_homepage=yes#/video/us/2013/10/23/pkg-graphic-baby-doll-halloween-display.wpix

Empty Mansions; the Life of Huguette Clark and Her Doll Collection

>Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune Hardcover– Deckle Edge by Bill Dedman(Author),Paul Clark Newell Jr.(Author)/206 customer reviews The above is the new biography about the mysterious heiress with the million dollar doll collection. Antique Week has a great article about her and the dolls. At first, the dolls, estimated to be worth about $1.7 million dollars, were willed to her private nurse. Then, in an ongoing dispute I documented on my blogs through articles, the will was intrepreted differently after numerous relatives and claimants crawled out of the dollhouse woodwork. Now, the dolls and one mansion are part of nonprofit foundation being set up. However, the IRS is claiming penalites for assorted tax errors, and has dibs on everything, so the legendary dolls may be sold. The inventory is staggering, as alluded to in Antique Week. There were hundreds o prime French dolls from Au Nain Bleu, but he media coverage showed modern porcelain dolls in stone bisque from Asia, and vinyl play dolls from the sixties and seventies as well. Even into her 80s, Ms. Clark bought through Theriaults and other auction houses, and spent over $18,000 for one or two dolls at a time. I'm glad to know she was not a doll snob, at least. She was meticulous about her doll houses and their inhabitants and was known to ask for doll houses to be remodeled to fit her chosen doll house families, or even to refuse a house that did not live up to its expectations. She reminds me of me when I was ten or so, and the doll house family was made up of many dolls, some who were not to scale, but who were always welcome, wherever they fit. I had doll house editions on shelves under desks, under tables, in boxes adjacent to the "main" house. Dalton Abbey had nothing over us. It would be lovely to keep this collection in tact. So many great collections, historically relevant, have been broken up and sold, never to be chronicled or viewed again as a whole. If we had the funds, we'd take in all the Clark orphans. I call on The National Toy Hall of Fame and The House on the Rock to take notice! People often comment on the money Clark, a millionaire many times over, spent on dolls. It was her money, I'd like to add. She preserved images of the past and curated them for future reference. They will never be assembled this way again. Historians and students of Material Culture should thank her. There are worse things one can spend money on, and Ms Clark was also known for her generosity in giving dolls to others. I will read this new book; I hope it is not another book length indictment of a collector's "eccentricity," or literary gawking at someone else's wealth. It will be in the next edition of my Doll Source bibliography, and look for further stories on this and my other blogs. Forgive typos, hand injuries acting up, and I need new glasses :). May the best doll go to you.

Halloween and Dolls and antique Wax Models for Anatomy

One of the things I enjoy is posting on Pinterest. I have a Holidays Board and a Doll Collection Board; both contain images of Halloween and goth dolls. There are more on my Erzebet and the Lady Vampires Board. Wants this year include Catty Noir of Monster High, Frozen Charlotte of Living Dead Dolls, Goth Girl from Spirit of Halloween, and of course, the Haunted Mechanical Rag Dolls from Spirit of Halloween. I've discovered 17th c. wax models done for anatamy study, and also some 18th c. models for studying anatomy. We the plastic Invisible Woman and some other skeleton models in the museum, but these are breathtaking, though a little too graphic to post here. Here is a link from the U of Chicago Magazine about a "Lady Anatomist" who did this work in wax. https://tableau/uchicago.edu/articles/2013/04/excerpts-ladyanatomist. Her name was Anna Morandi. The Journal of Anatomy also had a good article at http://ncbi.nlm.nigh.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815944. There is a blog devoted to these figures, very similar to Santos, called "morbid anatomy" at http://The Year of Halloween.com. Wax dolls are a good choice to write about for Halloween. I still have my tiny figural Halloween Candles, shaped like witches and ghosts; several reside in our doll house attics, and others on our display shelves. Wax is associated with voodoo dolls, and with long, ghostly tapers held by phantoms. The atmosphere of Harry Potter carries out the motif to perfection. I loved using candles and caryons to make my own wax dolls, and would also use soap and candles. I wish I had my old Mattel jewelry maker; I used to improvise quite nicely with it. I used cats eye shells, beans, stuffed animal eyes, and later dolls eyes in my creations. I dressed them and made clothese for them, and read about Vargas, Montanari, March, Periotti, and other great doll makers in wax. I read about Lewis Sorensen, Gladys McDowell, met Bobbi Langkau and bought some of her dolls. I read about metal dolls dipped in wax, and Pumpkin Heads, or molded haired dolls dipped in papier mache. One of ours has a molded bonnet, with a place to attach a real hair pony tail. She is old, from the 1840s or so. We have a 200 year old wax creche figure, and some other figures including one equally old devotional child that was part of the Mary Merritt museum. We also have a wax Bru, but that is all we know of her provenance, and a couple of mystery poured wax dolls. I would love a figure from Mme. Tussaud's, or one sculpted by Sorensen for The Ripley's Museums. Tussaud had dolls made of her and her royal princess friend, made during the course of their liftimes. She, of course, had the hideous task of modelling the severed heads of the victim's of Mlle Guillotine, including, one day, the head of her playmate, a sister of the King. Wax dates to the time of the Egyptians, probably earlier; as soon as we learned to raise bees, there was beeswax, and candles have been made from all sorts of variations. Wax dolls are lovely, but hard to find. I have posted a photos of one of mine for your enjoyment.

I Won! Thank you Greyden Press!

Children Recognized Author Winners a to z and how it came to be by Jane Knigge A Walrus Ate My Right, Blue Shoe by Lori Spencer Around and Around the Seasons We Go! by Jennifer Leonard Buried Treasure in Olney by Thomas Renk Clara and World War II by Ellen Marie Tsagaris Emma Finds Her Voice by Estelle Sobel Erasmus Halloween Night by Kaylee Hamelink If Trees Could Dance by Theresa Stucky Jake and Lilly’s Mom Works by Erin Rhinehart Lovebugs by Shera Dalin My New Mommy by Ronni McNabb Railroad Train by Mariecor Agravante Sit With Mama by Mary Flanagan Malbasa The Magic Shoes by Janet Ruth Heller The Unhappiest Girl in Town by Susan Lutz FICTION CATEGORY GRAND PRIZE WINNER Flight to Destiny by Sarah Byrn Rickman Fiction Recognized Author Winners A Cowboy in Savannah by David Osborne Bronk by Max Oliver Cheron’s Choke by Frank Mabry Eli’s Lullaby by Perry Jurick Laura of the Woods by Steven Bussell No More Yellow Buses by Geoffrey Steele Shadow Mountain by Max Oliver SWEATIN’ by Kim Kendall The Gun Trail by Tom Alberti Toe-rag by Ruan Wright Fiction Silver Lining Winners The Bathory Chronicles Liz Volume I by Ellen Marie Tsagaris The Wild Horse Runs Free by Ellen Marie Tsagaris

Memoir; Writing your Life Story: What to do at a Reading

Memoir; Writing your Life Story: What to do at a Reading: I did a reading tonight with some friends at our local library. There is a community program done every year called Read Local. Tonight, I...