Doll Museum

Doll Word Search

One thing I like to do when I have time is to create word search puzzles.  I used to make them for one of the blogs I wrote professionally, and the puzzles were doll themed.  I recently came across a word search called Collecting Dolls in one of my aunt's books.  Who knew?  It was fun, but the authors misspelled Jumeau as "Juneau." The puzzle was in Hidden Messages Circle A Word JUMBO by Kappapuzzles, July 22, 2019.

I suppose doll collecting can be puzzling to those who don't enjoy dolls.  I can't imagine my life without them, or the many people I've met along the way.  Too many things discourage collecting anything.  Antique enthusiasts in general seem to be falling by the way side.  Minimalist anything seems to be the big thing today.

No one wants anything to dust or organize, scrapbooking even seems to be falling by the wayside, and I'm horrified to hear that no one wants to pass down slides and photo albums.  Many are throwing out their snapshots and family portraits.  They don't want to end up in a thrift store where future generations of strangers can gawk at them.  If it doesn't fit in a phone or on the cloud, it's gone.

Future archaeologists are going to suffer, I fear.  Even museums are turning to hands on amusement for exhibits, and to travelling shows comprised of cardboard posters and graphics of artifacts, not the artifacts themselves.

While many doll museums may be closing, I plan on starting, and involving my community as much as I can.  Creepy doll folk need not apply or comment, and the same goes for doll snobs.  This museum is for everyone, and I hope everyone can relive her childhood memories with toys and dolls.  There has to be a reason why the Toy Story franchise is so popular.  I just got the /Target toy catalog, and will do a post on my best toys of the season, so there must be some interest.

Happy collecting, and keep the faith!

Doll Museum Progress

So, I’m back!  Trying to keep up, but setting up the museum takes all I’ve got these days.  It is a small, but temporary space, a chance for us to begin while we pursue a larger building for our permanent home.

My friends have stepped up in unimaginable ways, from Michele, who made the building available, to Diane, her business partner who has helped with supplies, and costumes, and doll accessories, to Dick and Nancy who have offered their help in so many ways. 

Gloria, Caroline, Clara, Jill, Marie, Kathy, and Nancy S., and everyone else who has donated dolls to us, to the Friedken family for the little trike, and to everyone at Good Will, Salvation Army, Erin at Rescued, Dennis of The Treasure Chest, and our many friends in the antique and thrift community who have helped me, and given me encouragement and advice.  I wish my Mom and Dad were here, and my doll friends now gone, Mary Hillier, Stephanie Hammonds, Mikki Brantley, and so many more wonderful writers and doll artists, my friend and pen pal, R. Lane Herron who currently writes for Doll Castle News, and so many others.

Believe in your passion, follow it, and you will be happy.  Success is measured not by monetary gain, but by true happiness.  It has taken me my entire life to get here; I started collecting when I was three, and I never met a doll, or toy, I didn’t like.  I studied, my folks helped me travel, my Dad carried home dolls from all over the world, even one given to me from executives of Mitsubishi.    My mother made them, repaired them, dressed them, and put up with old things, which she really didn’t like.  At least, not at first; she changed her mind later.  My husband, Dino, has been a huge help, my editor, my best friend, my navigator in this journey. Our friend Greg, gone too soon, believed in me, and Mark, our other friend, contributed a lot.

I’ve had antique adventures with my friends Rosie, Lori, Nancy T, Danyelle, and more.  My Aunt Rosie and Uncle Tony looked everywhere for old dolls for me, and Rosie made them in her ceramics studio for me.  My Uncle Tom brought one home each week for me, and my Uncle George cruised Berkley and Lost Gatos looking for stores that sold dolls. My grandma’s collection of international dolls inspired my collection; two of them began it.  She also dressed dolls, sometimes over night.  Doll nudity offended her.

We hope to open November 30, 2019, Small Business Saturday; for the first time in a long time, I’m looking forward to something, and the sun is shining again.  Thank you to all who read me blogs and postings, and to those who have bought and read my books.

Thinking outside the Doll House, A Memoir, will be out soon.  You can read my entire doll story there.  Thank you, and I love you all!

Vintage Halloween Decor Home Tour l Beistle, Blow Molds, Pyrex & More!

Kane County and The Doll Museum

Today, a life-long dream started to come true.  We took possession of our doll museum building, and began moving in cases.  I put post-it notes on them to remind me which dolls go where.  All my dolls won’t fit; they really are a doll universe, but a good representative grouping of each category will fit, along with a small reference library, a few doll houses and miniatures, and a nice selection of toys, antique to modern. Framed paper dolls will grace the walls, and others will “live” organized in filing cabinets.  One case will hold seasonal dolls and artifacts, and other will be a small gift shop.

I had a lot of fun last week at the Kane County show sponsored by Karla M.  I sold three copies of With Love from Tin Lizzie, a History of Metal dolls,  out of just five that I brought, and I was thrilled. There were many friends at this show, people I’ve known for years, literally we grew up together.  Many knew my late parents, often referring to my patient Dad who brought Mom and Me as “the man in the car.”  I was there to help my Friend Diane R. with her lovely booth, and I learned a lot, and am learning a lot, in the process.

These folks are my family, and I felt from them love, respect, and credibility, more than I got in over twenty years of teaching , [my awesome students notwithstanding], more than I ever felt working in the courts, or in private law firms.  I loved the law, loved the clients, but the culture was something else.  In this group of like minded doll folk, though, everything was different.  A lovely dealer named Peg donated a box of lovely 70s Barbie furniture to the Museum.  Pam G. and I spent the time conversing about all kinds of dolls.  My friend Marion Z. and her sister Suzanne were there, and so were Marianne and Jerry from Galena.  Fritzi had a wonderful display, and Laverne and George Koddy were there; I hadn’t seen them in years.  I met some of my instagram and Facebook friends as well.   Quite simply, everyone was kind and supportive.

There was no creepy doll garbage, and no doll divas.  Thank you to all of you, my extended doll family, for your support, and kind thoughts.  Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to move forward with this project.  Thank you, dear, sweet Dianne, for finding room in your car for all our treasure, and to your friends Tammy, Debbie, and their husbands for the fun and great conversation. Here’s to next time!

Museum Tentatively to Open December 2019!!

After a lifetime of planning, it has finally happened!  more details will follow as the doll drama unfolds, but The American Doll & Toy Museum will open the first week of December!  This will be a smaller version of our collection because of space limitations, but there will be representative dolls from prehistory to the present, and a nice selection of doll houses, miniatures, toys and related objects.

Many of you also follow our main doll museum blog, Dr. E's Doll Museum, and you know that I am Dr. E and this is our unofficial name.  I started a new Facebook Page called american Doll
In and Toy Museum, and will follow up with a Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media accounts to spread the word. We have also started a GoFundMe Page.

We'll have a small book shop selling doll related objects, vintage paper airplanes, licensed merchandise books, and perhaps some small antiques from the shop behind us.

There will be special events and give a ways.  We'll celebrate each season and holiday, too. There will be rotating displays of all kinds.

I plan on have a doll trinket to give to each visitor as a memento.

Many of you have seen  the displays of my dolls at various museums. I've collected since age 3, and have been planning this museum since grade school.  We will join a small neighbor hood near one of my alma maters called College Hill, which hosts other events and houses several antique stores, a cafe, a hometown bar and grill, a hometown barber shop, sports apparel shop and more.  We will be contributing to small business and to our community.

We welcome everyone; we aren't just for doll collectors and dealers, and we hope by embracing the general public, that we will also encourage young collectors.

Below are some of our citizens, and there is a YouTube video with more.

Doll Museum Video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_TLGmyLKIw&t=158s

Arriving at the Grovian Gala today