Sunday, December 13, 2020
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Third Rock and the Fluffy Buddies
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Third Rock and the Fluffy Buddies: I caught the Third Rock from the Sun Fluffy Buddies episode on Laff this morning. it is the spoof on bean bag plush madness as it evolved ...
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Skyward December 2020 by our guest blogger, Dr. David Levy
Dr. Levy has been a guest blogger for our blogs for over two years. Our museum is one of the meeting places for the Popular Astronomy Club, and we include space toys and telescopes among our collection. Dr. Levy has discovered more comets than anyone alive; he is also a Shakespeare scholar and noted author.
Skyward for December 2020
David H. Levy
December 17.
The night
of December 17, 1965 changed my life.
That was the night I began a search for comets that this goes on to this
day. It represents the second most
important decision I have ever made, to begin a visual search for comets and
exploding stars that are called novae.
The first most important decision, of course, was to marry Wendee. Both decisions made my life what it is
today.
Usually in Montreal,
November, December, and April are the cloudiest months. Therefore I wasn’t counting on a clear sky
that evening. After a Friday evening
dinner with my family, I walked over to my friend Tom Meyer’s home and we
visited for a while. Afterwards, around
11 pm. I took Clipper, our little beagle, for a walk towards the summit of the
hill on which we lived.
It was during this little
stroll with Clipper that things began to change. Towards the west there appeared to be some
lightening of cloud cover, and soon after, clearing. Within about 15 minutes large swaths of sky
were showing some stars. I couldn’t
believe it. I turned toward home, and
for a few seconds Clipper and I enjoyed a tug-of-war until he gave up and
walked back home with me. Just before
midnight on the 17th, I began my first comet hunting and I scanned
the sky between Pollux and Castor, in the constellation of Gemini. The clouds returned after that.
As the famous ABC news
reporter Jules Bergman said on the launch of Telstar, the world’s first active
telecommunications satellite in 1962, “And it all began today.” For me, it surely did. In December 2020, fifty-five years will have
passed, and I still am searching almost every clear night. There are 22 comets roaming about the solar
system with the Levy name on them, plus one named Jarnac. Jarnac Observatory is the name of our
observing site here in Vail, Arizona and is named in turn after my grandfather’s
cottage, Jarnac, near Ripon, Quebec. An
object was found and automatically reported by Tom Glinos, who once had an
automated telescope here. Because he
incorrectly identified the object as an asteroid, when it turned out that it
sported a tail and was reclassified as a comet, it was named, following the
rules, for the observatory, not for the discoverer. Thus, my total is now 23 comets. If my grandfather knew that his beloved
cottage (and later observatory) now had a comet with its name on it, he would
be dancing all over heaven. It is a
happy story that still goes on today.
"I have owned and used Pegasus, an 8-inch diameter Cave reflector, for
more than half a century. In this picture, camper Andy Bauman and I
are pointing Pegasus to project the Sun, at the Adirondack Science
Camp, in 1966.I used this telescope on my first night of comet hunting
in 1965. Photograph by Joe Howard."
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Top Gifts that are Reasonable and Fun for 2020; No...
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Top Gifts that are Reasonable and Fun for 2020; No...: Top Gifts that are Reasonable and Fun for 2020; No Fuss, No Muss, Just Warm Christmas Spirit We are only at the first of the m...
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Progress Update on my latest book and our Museum
Polly Mann, Las Meninas, inspired by
Velasquez's Painting of the Same name
Greetings from a cold, blustery November Day. Had I not so many friends and family members this month, it would be my favorite time of year. I love the cool crisp winds of autumn, Halloween, the promise of Christmas. Too much sadness has eroded some of that love and anticipation. With the rest of the world, I live day to day and pray for our peace and safety.
Part of our Barbie Collection
Cold, blustery day, Amana, Iowa
The silver lining is we work, and we work on the museum. We made a lot of progress last week, moving for the third and last time 3000+ law books and literature books. With the help of our friends Jeff, Ron, and Daniel, and my husband Dino, we got it done. Next, I’ll start organizing our doll book and doll-history related library in alphabetical order. Even our law books have doll connections; many deal with criminal and contract cases involving dolls, toys, and stuffed animals. Many of our books are over 100 years old; the law library was a gift to me from our former chief judge. I used them in the courthouse library for many years before that; my PostIt notes and bits of paper are still in many of them.
Books in place in my Office Area, 3000+
Next, I would like to work on vignettes in our small cases, one focusing on Polly Mann and her dolls, another a doll house setting for American girls. I also want to do a large doll house setting for my antiques, in honor of The Dolls’ Christmas.
Fisher Price and other Toys
Late Fall
Hopefully, we will open near Valentine’s Day, so I plan a display of Kewpies and vintage Valentine’s, dedicated to my friend and noted author, the late Mary Hillier.
This museum is very eclectic, and pushes the definition of what dolls are, and what they mean to us. Our themes are both serious and playful. We represent prehistory, with museum replicas of Neanderthal personal goddess figures and totems, Venus of Willendorf figures, Ushabti, ancient Greek, Celtic, Pre-Columbian, Roman figures and other museum replicas. These ancient figures were the favorites of Sigmund Freud, who amassed a large collection.
Dolls and Figures representing the Ancient World
We have over 65 doll houses and numerous shadow boxes, from all scales, including play scale Barbie homes.
Some of our Puppets
Hitty at The House of Seven Gables, gift of our friend
artist Stephanie Hammonds, d. Nov. 14, 2017.
Detail of my Shadow Box, The Vampyre Doll Collector, based on a
poem I published in Sappho, I Should have Listened, 918studio.
Our toy collection includes action figures, folk toys, computer games, board games, cars, robots, mechanical toys, tin toys, Pez, Fisher Price and many more, all fund and colorful. We also feature the paper airplane and paper model collection of Dr. Roald Tweet.
Also at this time, I am finishing the second proofs for my latest book, Thinking outside the Doll House, a Memoir. Look for it soon, probably early 2121,
I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving from us at American
Doll and
Sunday, November 8, 2020
Coffee with Dr. Roald Tweet
When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom’d,
And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,
I mourn’d, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.
Walt Whitman, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed
This past week, as I puttered through setting up my new nonprofit museum, and corrected a set of proofs for one of my books, I learned that my mentor, friend, teacher, former boss, colleague, Dr. Roald Tweet, had died suddenly.
Once again, death has touched me, the 6th devastating death in two and one half years. I’ve joked gallows style that the Angel of Death walks with me, even to Dr. Tweet. We laughed, but this was too close. The bottom dropped out of my world.
I met Dr. Tweet as an English major at the small college where he chaired the English Dept. and taught. I worked in the department, and studied there. I drank coffee before class with Dr. Tweet, often his wife, Margaret, and other members of the faculty and student body. That began in 1979. Off and on, I’ve been drinking coffee with him and Margaret for 41 years, barring the times I was away in graduate school.
We kept in touch, and he often brought souvenirs, usually a doll for the future museum, from his many travels. When I taught, he came to my class and taught my students about folk toys, and how writing could be fun. When we did Moby Dick, he not only reviewed notes with me, he borrowed a real harpoon, and brought it to my class, hefting its considerable weight as he strode down the hall of my college.
Dr. Tweet always supported me in my writing, writing references, reading manuscripts, getting me little jobs to write poetry, encouraging me to enter poetry contests, defending me against office politics. He helped me when I looked for jobs, and I was honored to be on the radio show about writing he and Senator Don Wooten hosted, “Scribbled.” Other times, my students and I were invited to read on other radio programs he hosted. Sometimes, Dr. Tweet would ask me to fill in for him and give a lecture when he had a conflict. In school, and while I taught at my alma mater, I published a couple of small articles, and was the recipient of the coveted Tweet Awards, small figurines Dr. Tweet carved, one a rooster, another a duck.
He was a man of many talents, whittling and carving just two. He gave me a necklace called “Gifts bearing Greeks!” and hand carved earrings. One Christmas, I got a tiny unicorn rocking horse he had carved; he knew I loved unicorns. He whittled an arm for one of my antique dolls that had lost hers. When I was still a student, we went on department lunches, field trips, flew kites on the lawn, and attended hog roasts for special occasions with others from the Humanities Departments. Sometimes, we met in his Victorian home, full of handicrafts and antiques. I made doll clothes and dolls for his youngest daughter, and spent many happy hours there and at occasions we attended like the Henry Farnam dinner.
I have enough memories to fill a book. He was even my late Uncle George’s professor. In recent years, I got up early to get to Hardees by 7 am to meet him and Margaret for coffee. We talked about books and writing; sometimes I wrote reviews for him to use on the air. He was helping me to find an agent, and he contributed ideas and research to my current book, and to other writing projects. He brought me poetry magazines to keep my current on what was in.
His sense of humor was legendary. He once attended our 12th Night
Medieval Banquet dressed as a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. He
made a sign to hang over my desk in the English Department that read “Blessed
are the Meek, for they shall inherit the earth, if it’s OK with the rest of you
guys!” Once, in American Renaissance, he
handed me a false final exam, then after I started writing, he came up and
asked if I wanted the “real test.” I
earned 99/100 on that exam; the only comment read, “99, because nobody’s
perfect!” On the last day of that class
he brought in a box of Whitman’s Sampler candy to class, with green Easter grass
glued to the top for, The Leaves of Grass.
We also had a good time one summer at Disney World, when we ran into Dr. Tweet and his family. What were the chances!?!
Besides all these things, Dr. Tweet and Margaret where there
for my wedding, and for the funerals of my mother, father, aunt, and
uncle. While I was in
We spent several Christmas Days with him and his family, at dinners they hosted at their church.
Around ten days ago, I talked to him for the last time. He was upbeat, cracking jokes, and encouraging. He sounded good, and we were trying to figure out if Hardees would have dine in seating soon, or where else to go for coffee. Covid 19 curtailed our fun, but we kept in touch, and we checked on each other.
The Epigraph from Whitman is from one of his favorite
poems. Because of him, I loved
Whitman. As luck would have it, my late
cousin, a poet and literature professor in
For his many talents, Dr. Tweet became a celebrity. He has been remembered in many types of media this week, by many people. Many claim to have known him well, but it’s funny, in 41 years that I knew him, he never mentioned most of them to me. All I know is that I couldn’t be what I am today without him, and we had coffee together for over 40 years.
Dr. Tweet at Margaret's Birthday Party,
around 7 years ago, wearing a party hat he made. We all
created our won.
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Modern Porcelain Dolls from Asia and Waldas; 10 Go...
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Modern Porcelain Dolls from Asiaand Waldas; 10 Go...: Modern Porcelain Dolls from Asia and Waldas; 10 Good Things Can you spot some modern porcelains in this photo of some museum doll...
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Update to The American Doll and Toy Museum Move
Update to The American Doll and Toy Museum Move: Hi, everyone!
Hope you are safe and well. Our
move progresses, and our new address is
The Museum is not yet open to the public. We hope to be open late this year or early 2021, pending any Covid 19 rules or restrictions. As far as we know, masks will be required when we do open. We will sanitize frequently, of course, and have hand sanitizer. We are handicap accessible. We are a 5021© nonprofit and we do accept donations. We are tax deductible. In fact, monetary donations are much appreciated to help us keep up the building and grounds. Grants have been few, far, and not much due to Covid 19.
We thank Karen Holleran, Nancy McCray, Diane Roche, Lucille Christopher and Ken Stineman for recent contributions of funds, amazing dolls and toys! Our wishlist, a work in progress is below. We also thank everyone who has contributed to us in the last year. We will have a list of friends of the museum for display.
There will be a small gift shop on the museum premises; all proceeds go to the museum. We have books, craft items, figurines, museum logo merchandise, vintage paper airplanes, vintage doll, seasonal items, and much more.
We will be charging a reasonable admission, to be determined when we open so we can keep the lights on. Thank you in advance.
Our Etsy store, Dr. Es Toy Museum is now closed. We will reopen at a later date, but must concentrate on moving our books, toys, dolls, miniatures, collectibles, doll houses, paper dolls and ephemera, scale models, plush, bears, scooters, toy cars, paper airplanes, and more.
Below is our Wishlist.
Thank you to all who have donated dolls and funds to us. We have a GoFund Me page, and various social
media sites including our Facebook Page, American Doll and
Look for our upcoming book, Thinking Outside the Doll House; a Memoir this coming year.
Be safe, God Bless, and Happy Collecting!
Museum Wishlist
Pewter head Huret
All china, jointed Frozen Charlotte
Antique French bisque or German bisque doll dressed as Joan of Arc
Ann Parker Ann Boleyn
Suzanne Gibson paper dolls, doll house sized doll, or porcelain Little Ladies
Pollock’s’ toy paper theater, reproduction is OK
Huret and other French Fashion dolls
French Fashion and other doll accessories
Hugo, Man of 1000 faces
Ernest Doll, portrait of Jim Varney
Kitty Karryall from Brady Bunch
Glass fronted subzero fridge for edible dolls
Mid 1800 paper dolls
The Huret Book
Luella Hart’s Books
No. 1 and or 2 Barbie, any condition, and their stands
Voice of the Mummy Game
A Rocking Horse, mid sixties
Black hard plastic dolls with amber eyes, some from
No. 202 Jumeau little girl with laughing face
Eisenberg costume jewelry
Margaret di Patta jewlery
Saturday, October 3, 2020
Museo de la muñeca del Dr. E: Lo siento, en ingles, pero es de Friday Kahlo y su...
Museo de la muñeca del Dr. E: Lo siento, en ingles, pero es de Friday Kahlo y su...: This close to El Dia de Muertos, which Frida loved, I include a post in her honor, dedicated to our friend, Susan Sirkis, who once asked m...
When our Dolls are Sick
Don't throw away a doll; that is my mantra. I try to repair before I keep a doll just for parts, but I confess I collect doll parts and heads for projects, just check out my Pinterest board, Heads Up!!
It's harder to find them, but check out the Doll Doctors Association or Doll Castle News magazine for lists of doll hospitals.
Doll hospitals have probably existed as long as dolls have. It’s
no surprise, then, that many of the questions I get from collectors are about
repairing dolls. While The New York Doll
Hospital died along with Irving Chaise its legendary owner, there are still
doll hospitals around the world in operation.
I have read stories about one in
Clearly, we need another one. I seriously urge anyone with a certificate in doll repair or expertise in the area to advertise his or her skills widely. Life Time Career Schools had a course that is still in operation. From what I’ve read of the lessons and material, it seemed like a credible venture. In any case, where dolls are concerned, remember to do nothing that can’t be undone.
On the other hand, The Internet features many sites on doll repair. We don’t personally endorse any of them. As with anything else, do your homework; don’t send out your dolls if you are unsure. Get references, and ask other customers if they were satisfied.
If you do need help and repair for your dolls, try the website of the Doll Doctors Association, aka DDA, featured recently on CBS’ Sunday Morning. This video is featured on their website. DDA is “Dedicated to the sharing of knowledge, techniques and philosophies associated with the restoration and preservation of antique and modern dolls.” (Doll Doctor’s Association).
DDA describes itself as a ‘social club created for doll repair specialists,” enthusiasts, and conservation. They note that they are “not an educational institution,” but that they do serve as inspiration for each other.
Noted author and collector Genevieve Angione once said that all dolls are collectible. Since they are collectible, they deserve quality care and conservation. All antique and vintage dolls are unusual because no more are being made. We have a finite supply to collect. Dolls and toys by nature are ephemeral; they were meant to take hard play and not to last, yet they are important cultural artifacts that tell human history as nothing else can. They deserve to be curated and conserved. If you are looking for help in doll repair, then DDA is the place to start.
Sunday, September 20, 2020
Musings on Museum Movings
Musings on Museum Movings
Yesterday finished cleaning and emptying the old museum. I will miss that space, cozy and in the hub of our College Hill, nee Hilltop neighborhood. My friends Michelle, Diane and their shop Vintage Rose made it all possible, along with Mr. Joe K, the best landlord in the world. Jorje, our friend and colleague, did our graphics, and our friend and colleague Loey brought visitors and lots of moral support.
We had an amazing ribbon cutting on
We now are moving into our new building, with dolls, toys, books, models, miniatures, vintage clothing, paper dolls, trains, paper airplanes, and other childhood memorabilia emerging from the wood work of their various secure, secret locations. Except, of course, for those that were moving from the old museum to the new.
We’ve had more than our share of challenges as a non-profit in the Covid 19 era, but so have so many of the rest of us, we soldier on. My husband and my cousins Steve and Lisa moved our cabinets and cases to our new facility, and did it in just under 3.5 hours! Our friends Frankie and Marylou have been awesome in helping us to get the building ready, and my friend Kathy helped me pack up dolls to take.
My only regret is that Aunt Connie and my Mom aren’t here to
see this, and my Dad and uncles who provided so many of the dolls and other
things. My Uncle Tom was an artist who quickly learned doll repair. He brought me at least one doll every weekend
from
My Dad brought dolls from all his travels, and drove us to antique malls, yard sales, and dolls shows. He built doll houses and doll shelves, and showed great tolerance when a Barbie case would open in the middle of O’Hare airport, spilling it’s contents, or when a doll hat blew out the window and certain six year old cried all the way to Albuquerque.
My mother was my “doll buddy” and partner in crime. She went to look for dolls when I was in school and couldn’t go, and she dressed them and fixed them, and knitted for them. Every Christmas a doll would go missing till Christmas Even when she/he would emerge with a new outfit.
She and I decorated our red doll house mansion that Dad created, called Plantagenet House. We made all kinds of accessories, and Mom made curtains, rugs, and bedspreads. She crocheted miniature rugs that emulated the larger one’s her grandmother used to make, and knitted tiny pillows and comforters.
My parents made it possible for me to buy this building, our former branch library. They let me keep dolls at their house, and encouraged me all the years I planned this project. I miss them very much, and never dreamed I would launch this project as an orphan, but here I am. But for my cousins and one aunt by marriage, I have no other family, my husband and our son notwithstanding.
The library itself was one of our favorite places. My husband and I often rode bikes there to check out books and to grab a bottle of pop from the old machine that was once outside. I bought many books as gifts at the used book store there, and I lectured about dolls to The Friends of the Library. I used to dream the library housed dolls as well as books, and well, dreams to come true.
We hope to be open Halloween, but barring that, Small Business Saturday. We have a lot of work to do, including enclosing shelves in glass and setting up our gift shop. I’ve spent nearly every day since August 7 moving carloads and cartloads of times, packing, setting up triage for things that need repair, doing paperwork, and drinking a lot of water and Gatorade. It’s exhausting, and I keep getting hurt or tripping over something. I’m deep cleaning at home after I move dolls from there, and try to keep living in general against current restrictions and a Derecho storm that nearly finished our trees.
Losing my aunt unexpectedly mid June, just after both our birthdays was unbearable. I miss her; she lived with us and planned to work in the museum setting up doll houses. She loved the old museum and was in the ribbon cutting, too. She often chose a doll or two to take home for awhile, so she could do their hair. Her death devastated us, but I try to move forward.
You have to keep going.
Our collection represents prehistory to the present, from
every corner of the globe and beyond. We
have dolls that were in other museums, rare antiques, and contemporary
trends. We feature paper airplanes from
the collection of Dr. Roald Tweet,
We will have a complete library of doll and doll related books, including some I have written, as well as other classic books and the former county law library. For our modest admission, you can come and spend the day reading and enjoying the dolls. There will be some interactive activities for kids as well.
We appreciate monetary donations made out to the museum, but will charge a modest admission to help keep us going: $3 adults, $2 seniors and veterans, $1 children under 12. We will have special days for donations only admission, or free days in honor of certain events.
Our new address will be
We still have our Dr. E’s Doll Museum Blog and our Facebook
page by that name, but we have a Facebook page American Doll and
Via social media or live, I look forward to meeting everyone. We’ll observe Covid 19 precautions and will require masks when we do open.
Please be patient, good things are following.
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Mechanical Musings; Early Automatons and Mechanical Dolls
Mechanical Musings; Early Automatons and Mechanical Dolls
When I wrote With Love from Tin Lizzie: A History of Metal Dolls . . . I said that the history of mechanical dolls went as far back as Ancient Egypt. Yet, the history of all things mechanical, including dolls, toys and robots, really dates back around 3.3 million years. That’s how old the first tools allegedly are. Fire, discovered later , led to making better, stronger tools. Somewhere along the line, the invention of the wheel made it possible to invent even better tools and machines. Our automatons, robots, Mamma dolls and mechanical babies share this Stone Age heritage.
This thought came to me as I was working in our new, permanent museum building. Many of the objects in the museum collection are mechanical. The thing about hard, physical labor is that it gets one thinking. I felt like an automaton myself most of this week, driving car loads of dolls, toys, books, and seasonal items to the new museum. We had a terrible storm last Monday with 100 mph winds that lead to power outages, some still going on.
I spent most of the week working in darkness in the new building, with no AC, either. We had power and AC in the old museum. It was cool enough, and there was enough light coming through the windows. The important job of moving and sorting is taking precedence over everything else. Today there was a break, and we drove to the nearest university town, my husband to work, and me to wander.
We hope to be open by Halloween in our new, final location. Barring that, I’m going for another Small Business Saturday Grand Opening.
One important object is a shadow box of a miniature doll museum, a box meant to make our wish come true. Margaret Grace addresses the tradition in one of her miniature murder series, great reads one and all. I hope there will be many more in the series.
So, we go on. If you don’t hear from me, it is because I’m working very hard on the museum, and on my aunt’s estate. We lost her suddenly in June, and nothing has been easy since.
Be safe, and to those affected by last week’s storms, I hope you are save, your property is intact, the tree limbs are cleared, and your power and cell phones are working again.
Thursday, August 6, 2020
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Museum Musings
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Museum Musings: Here are some notes to let you all know I'm still alive. We had a death in the family in June, devastating and unexpected. We lost my...
Sunday, July 12, 2020
We’re no Doll Snobs
We’re no Doll Snobs
As we all continue to face Covid19 challenges and life
challenges in general, we find ways to move on. For us at American Doll & Toy
Museum
I admit I have my hands full; nothing moves as quickly as we’d
like. I’m paying more rent for the
current building than I thought, but I don’t mind because I have great
landlords and a good location. The
challenge is packing, and not having anywhere to stack boxes that are packed
up. I try to work them into the doll
landscape, so to speak, but I’m open only by appointment now, till late summer
or early fall when we’ll open our new larger location.
We've just suffered a devastating, unexpected death in our family, and I'm the trustee/executor for that situation, too. Add slow banks, long distance, and estate bills up, and it would be a recipe for a nervous breakdown were it not for the doll museum and the hopes I have for it.
Dolls and toys seem to crawl out of the woodwork at home,
but it’s a nice problem to have. All this
gives me time to look at the dolls and toys, and to ponder.
It occurs to me that we do represent playthings from
prehistory to now. We have everything
from the sublime to the ridiculous, and while we are probably not the largest
doll collection in the world, we come close. Dolls are humanities historians, as are the
toys that reside with them. We have
examples representing Neanderthal goddess figures, to the current dolls on the
market. Many of our residents are museum
pieces, but others are beloved examples from my childhood and my friends’
childhood.
We’ve had wonderful people donate their treasures to us for
safekeeping; we don’t sell our donations, by the way. What I sell in my Etsy store and in our modest
gift shop are items I have made, or bought especially for the museum. Their sale helps to keep us going.
We have kept the faith and a light on in our doll house
windows, though we were forced to close nearly four months after we opened. We will keep going. This has been my dream and passion since age
4, can’t give up now.
I enjoy all kinds of dolls and toys. I have always been eclectic in my taste, and
the same is true of my collecting. Every
toy tells a story; a museum should represent all those stories, not just one. We enjoy our French bisques and German
characters, our 1860 rubber doll, our
Liberty of London Henry VIII and his wives, but we also love our
Barbies, vintage to current, our Frozen Charlottes, our dime
store plastic babies from the sixties, homemade wrecks, well
loved plush, and even Living Dead Dolls and My Little Pony friends.
Too many doll diva arias spoil the hobby. It’s bad enough we have this creepy doll
garbage floating around. We don’t have to do it to ourselves. I get turned off
by hearing once too often that someone who collects dolls isn’t interested in other’s
collections because they don’t collect that type of doll. You don’t have to own
it to educate yourself in the hobby, or be aware of what others like.
You don’t have to disrespect what someone else enjoys. That’s just cruel. If someone likes mid-century mass produced
bisque dolls in frilly outfits, that’s his/her call. If another collector likes Gene, or bean bag
plush, or played with Barbies dressed in home made outfits, that also his/her
call. Were I forced to specialize, I
would center on antiques, especially French fashion, metal heads, and
international costume dolls, but it would be a hard choice.
If I had too much of one type of doll or toy, I’d be bored. I’d have what Helen Young, noted doll author
and artist would call, an accumulation. My dolls don’t bore me. My toys and the books connected with them
intrigue me.
So, as we move forward, we hope to have stir happy childhood
memories, and to share our collection with kids “from one to ninety two.” We hope to teach about the cultures in our
community, and about the cultures of all the people of the world. We hope to inspire others to study and to
collect, and we invite everyone to use our many books for their research, too.
Our admission will be modest, and will be waived for certain
holidays. We will also host programs,
and classes on dolls and toys open to the public. We will partner with other businesses and
nonprofits, too. We are on GoFundMe should anyone care to donate. So, stay tuned, we’re
just about to wind our music box up, and we plan to play a very long tune!!
Saturday, June 20, 2020
The Dolls are Moving soon to their Forever Home!
The Dolls are Moving soon to their Forever Home!
It’s happening; the citizens of American Doll & Toy
Museum
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| Via WVIK |
When I was little, I would ride my bike to this branch
library. There was a soda machine, a popular draw, and it was across from my
grade school, and later, my church. My
best friend lived down street, too. As
they say, location! Location! Location! We had a great time. Both of us loved to read, and it was a great
place to also see friends and neighbors.
During the summer, my mom and I were frequent visitors,
checking out lots of books to read. I
looked up all kinds of books on dolls, dinosaurs, and Joan of Arc.
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| Shelves in our new Museum |
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| One of the rooms in our new Museum |
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| Main floor of the new Museum with shelves and study stations |
 |
| Places for sitting and reading, as well as observing dolls |
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| Room for programs and special events |
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| More Shelves |
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| Doors and safety |
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| Little Kitchen |
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| Panorama view of floor |
We always washed off the plastic book covers with a paper
towel slightly damp with soap and water.
We were ahead of our time.
My husband grew up nearby, and he also loved going to the
library. We could walk or ride bikes; it
was a kid’s destination.
Today, American
Doll & Toy Museum
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| Miss Revlon and similar dolls |
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| International dolls including Small World India in front of one of our houses |
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| Celebrity dolls and toys |
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| Micro-mini dolls under dome, a sushi dinner, more International, Barbie, and celebrity dolls |
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| 17th c. Historical doll, Scarlett, and more historical and celebrity dolls. 17th c. Doll by Marin of Spain,. formerly in Boca Raton Children's Museum. |
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| Georgie Fay, from Mikki Brantley, Ashton Drake Artist. |
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| One of our costumes |
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| Minis, vintage tins, dolls from 20s to present in case behind |
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| Robot with doll house |
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| Father Tuck Paper Dolls |
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| Vintage artist African American Doll |
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| Vintage felt artist doll |
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| Dolls being packed |
While the books are not for check out, patrons can stay and
read, and use the books on the premises as long as they like. All for a very low admission price, with
discounts for kids and seniors, and special days for Vets.
There will be days when admission will also be free, and
programs that will benefit other non profits in our community.
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| Colleen Moore is not for sale, but the paper airplanes are |
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| One of our board games |
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| With love from Tin Lizzie; one of our metal heads |
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| Artist dolls and modern bisques |
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| Present location with patriotic window |
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| Francesca and friends |
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| For sale in our gift shop; see Dr. Es Toy Museum on Etsy.com |
Our gift shop will also expand, with craft kits, books, doll
related items, vintage jewelry, vintage toys, and more.
So, the antique dolls are packing their bags, including the
china heads and antique bisques, the action figures and heroes are taking
flight, Barbie is finding space for her dream house, and the toy soldiers are
forming battalions.
Raggedy Ann, Shirley Temple, Patsy, Tammy, Wendykins, Cissy, Jill and Ginny, G.I.
Joe, Skippy, all the Ancient dolls, the International dolls, bears and stuffed
animals are packing their bags. Edith
the Lonely doll arrived just in time for the move, and our French Fashion girls
are gathering their trousseaux.
Our paper dolls, books, old cases, and doll clothes, our
board games, marbles, jacks, model ships and paper airplanes are all getting
ready to go.
We will miss our current location, and our dear friends in
the neighborhood, but we are just up the street, and can do more for our
community in this larger space. We hope
to continue to be part of the College Hill Association, too.
We’ll be open till July 1, by chance or appointment. Please pardon are dust, as I continue to
organize and to pack. Call 309-721-9882
for an appointment. Until we move,
admission is discounted to $1 or free will donation.
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| In our gift shop; see Dr. Es Toy Museum.com |
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| For sale in our gift shop |
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| An example of the books for sale in our gift shop |
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| Vintage miniature figure in our gift shop. Great for doll houses. |
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