Doll Collecting, Small Business, and the Future of the Human Race

Today I caught an AOL headline that made me pause; the "heartbreaking" news was that Duck Dynasty was entering its last TV season.  Call the grief counselors, I guess.  I would think the other headline I caught on ABC would be more heartbreaking, and give us more pause;  Stephen Hawking announced that the human race was disappear from the earth in another 1000 years.  Granted, we probably won't be there to worry, mourn, or fuss, but that, to me, is a lot more heartbreaking than a cancelled TV show.  Oh well, I guess we all live on in syndication.

Maybe like the artifacts in Wall-E, our dolls and collections will outlive us, mute future antiquities to whom we were.  That's why they deserve museums to save them. 


With that in mind, it occurs to me that most of us how deal in dolls/antiques, collect them, write about them, restore them, curate them, etc.,  are small business people.  We buy from each other, and thereby support small business as naturally as breathing.  We invented Small Business Saturday, recycling, and buy local, a long, long time ago.


We represent peoples' dreams, hopes, and passions.  Those of us who write and craft carryon the tradition. We are resilient, and show that we can make things and take care of ourselves, even in the worst of times.  Ben Franklin would be proud of us, and so should Martha Stewart.


I could write a book on this subject alone.

As for the human race disappearing, somehow, I don't think so. We are an optimistic lot.  At our local astronomy club last Monday, I listened to a presentation on science v. science fiction, and the point was made that all aliens in sci fi are anthropomorphized in some way, either with human characteristics like speech, or as humanoid figures that walk, even if they look like monsters with big eyes and antennae.  Is it arrogant that we assume if there are aliens, they will resemble us?  Think back to Gulliver's Travels, and the strange worlds of his voyage, where even the intellectual horses talked, and thought, like men and women.

Dolls reflect these imaginary musings.  We have alien dolls, and talking animal figures, and androids galore.  Even Make magazine talked about marionettes, and robot-mixed drones, along with the usual topics involving animation and robotics.


The are some thoughts that swim in my head that I wanted to ponder.  Forgive any misspellings and typos; it's been a hard week.  But, Happy Thanksgiving, Seasons Greetings, and Peace to All!!