A friend of mine recently wondered whether there was anything
new that could be written about dolls. I certainly hope there is; I have
another book about then being published, and one ready to go. One is sort of a memoir, the other is poetry.
I can admit that I have a lot more to say. Just tonight, I was watching the old Johnny
Carson Tonight Show and discovered two dolls I didn’t know about, Suzy Snapshot
by Galoob and Bottle Baby by Tyco. I was
able to find both on ebay.
One subject to pursue is the pop culture fad that dolls are
creepy and scary. I’ve harped on that
before, I know, but it is affecting peoples’ lives and businesses now. Children are discouraged from playing with
dolls, commercials make fun of collectors, doll dealers have to put up with
would be patrons telling them their dolls are creepy.
I have the TV on in the background, and I saw Halloween
dolls and props on The Office, and a teddy bear on The Nanny. There is a bobble head mascot on The
Office. The Nanny often features dolls
as props, and there is a Nanny doll, which I have. I love my Halloween monster dolls; they are
cute, and reflect us and our interests as humans. I love our own Terror at
Skellington Manor haunted house because they have a doll room, full of dolls,
but they take care of them, and even ask me to identify them for them. They also have wonderful animatronics, cousins
of automatons and mechanical dolls. They really like dolls, and the whole thing
with them is tongue in cheek.
Lately, things in my life have been very difficult. Were it
not for the dolls and the dollhouses, these past few years, I’m not sure what
would have happened to me. Our passions
keep us alive. Mine are similar to those
my late mother, my best friend, my inspiration, shared. Often, I can’t believe my parents are gone and
I’m alone. The dolls were always a
family endeavor. We took trips to find
them, bought them as souvenirs, Dad built doll houses and doll cases, ’he drove
my mother to find them when I was away at school, and my mother made dolls,
dressed them, helped me fix them. Both were supportive and proud of them. The rest of my extended family was in on it,
too.
We also liked coins, stamps, books, and shells. We have postcards and ticket stubs and lots of
slides from all our trips. These are not
just things; they sustain me and remind me that life was once good.
Planning this doll museum has been a huge dream, and a big project.
Dolls and “the doll motif” have been a
huge part of my life. Barbara Pym, the
writer I wrote a book and my dissertation on, stated we all needed something to
love, even if that something were not another person. She meant we had to have
a passion in life, something that got us excited and made us want to wake up
each morning. Virginia Woolf, who
preceded Pym at Oxford
During one of my dark times when I couldn’t decide what to
do and felt useless, I mentioned to my Dad that all I really knew had to do
with dolls. “That’s a talent’, he said.
It surprised me, but it didn’t. It is a talent to assemble, curate, and
maintain a great collection. It takes
organization, management, memory, and communication skills. What I’ve learned about them took years of
study, and not just on dolls. I read
historical texts, plays, literature, sociology books, psychology texts, legal
cases and texts, patents, and more. Books
on art and costume crept into my library, and of course, lots of paper dolls,
fashion plates, and ephemera. The dolls have been the best education I’ve
had, and I have 12.5 years of college and grad school alone behind me. I could
have been a surgeon, but I’d rather be a doll doctor!
It’s a shame so many people are ditching good dolls in
charity and thrift shops. It’s a shame
doll snobs with high prices and bad attitudes discourage people from getting
interested in the hobby. It’s a shame
haunted doll crap is making us all ignorant and driving away kids who are
missing out on a lot of fun and chances to make friends and learn something.
Dolls are more than money or investment, though good
antiques can out do the stock market any day.
I find most doll dealers to be passionate about their inventory and
eager to help new collectors learn. They
respect collectors, and are enthusiastic about sharing information and coming
together. They are part of the doll community, and important to all of us who
study and who collect.
Doll shows are social events where we catch up with each
other. I’ve made many friends over
dolls, some near and dear to me, as much as my own family. Dolls have brought my husband and me closer as
we work on books and museum projects together.
So, my advice?
Collect, keep an open mind. As Genevieve
Angione wrote, all dolls are collectible. Study and notice it, even if you don’t collect
it, but good general collections have their place. To paraphrase George Orwell, break any of my
rules before doing something barbaric. In
other words, collect what you like in dolls.
Follow your passion, but don’t put down someone else’s. As for all the negative creepy doll nay
sayers, you’re a regrettable part of doll history, but grow up and straighten
out your miserable lives. Quit ruining it for everyone else, learn to think for
yourselves, and don’t follow every pop culture fad. Finally, well, go get a
hobby! Try collecting dolls
seriously.
Happy collecting everyone!
