Something Different; see me also at Doll Collecting at About.com

If you would like to read my column, go to About.com, and search doll collecting. There is also a free weekly newsletter. I write about all kinds of dolls and doll news. This post is something a little different, since it is guest authored by one of our readers, Bonnie. Since this site is for you, I am always interested in your ideas and in what you have to say. Therefore, I'm asking you to share with us stories of your favorite dolls, or your doll collecting experiences. Please email them to me, and I will post as many as I can here. Bonnie is a long time participant on our "doll board"/forums, and she has shared her love of vintage dolls with her granddaughter. Read on. Sent from Windows Mail Hi, Ellen I really enjoyed the glimpse of your doll collection, as well as your ‘confessing’ to keeping your little refrigerator and wringer washer. I knew a lot of girls with dolls but none of them had much in the way of ‘housekeeping ‘toys. I had them all ,most made by Wolverine and a Little Lady stove that really worked. I’m sure that’s why everyone wanted to play at my house(LOL). My ‘collection’ began the Christmas I was 2. I had to give them up years ago, some got ruined from storage in my mother’s basement and some I gave away. I began replacing them about 18 years ago and was lucky enough to find the same models as I had. Just last year I found the simple red and white cupboard(c.1940) made by Wolverine that I really loved and had about given up hope of finding. I’ve only seen it pictured in one book and the one I bought is the only complete one I’ve ever seen for sale. I kept the dolls I loved the most, all gifts from Santa in the late 40’s and early 50’s. One of my earliest memories was the time I was forced to give my Sparkle Plenty doll to a dog. That is the honest truth; I was all of 3 years old and I cried my heart out. That Christmas my grandmother(Santa that year) gave me a compo F&B Patsy Baby and I have loved F&B passionately ever since. In the years to follow I had lots of DyDee Baby dolls; as I got bigger, I got bigger DyDees. I got that huge talking F&B Noma one year and I thought she had the ugliest costume I’d ever seen; didn’t like her all that much, she was too heavy and awkward. My sister got one too and the doll was as big as she was . We didn’t play with them much. My most favorite girl doll is my Ideal Betsy McCall I got when I was 10. I still have her and purchased another of the same vintage ‘just because’. I also had the big Amer. Character Ricky ,Jr. I gave him to a doll museum to add to their celebrity doll collection. I found a replacement 2 years ago in the same yellow outfit and almost no vinyl discoloration. The last childhood doll that I got was a large blonde Miss Revlon; I did not care for her ‘adult’ figure or blonde hair. Which means I also had no interest in Barbie. However, I did make clothes for my sister’s Barbie and Ken, so I’m not all bad. I still find F&B’s from the 20s through mid 50s that I like and must have. I’m partial to baby dolls -- 2 Patsy Babys, 3 Babyettes, 2 large DyDees and a Mold #1 11’’ Dydee with her original wardrobe and box. She is my ‘dream’ baby; I dearly love that precious face. I ’d say someone else did also as evidenced by her fantastic condition. Girls today have really missed out ….I think the Golden Age of dolls was also the golden age of housekeeping toys. We had it all, and some of us still do. Thanks for stirring my memories Bonnie ( aka dollnana on about.com/dollcollecting boards)