A Calendar for Doll Lovers, Part II

 

Here is part two of the Doll Collector’s  Calendar.  Use it as a guide and jot down your own ideas to share with other doll collecting friends. I like to think forward, even in an unusually cold April. What are your favorite doll months?

Courtesy, Theriault's

 

July:  Decorate with dolls dressed in red, white, and blue.  There are wonderful dolls in all price ranges representing Uncle Sam, Betsey Ross, George Washington, and others.  Look for Bicentennial memorabilia to enhance your patriotic dolls.  Since Bastille Day is July 14^th, July is a great month to study and display French dolls and paper dolls as well.

 

August:  Dolls shows continue.  Take some time to organize, dust, and cull your collection, if needed.  Make some donations of duplicates; repair, redress, and renew your dolls.  Read Home is the Sailor by Rumer Godden, and focus on dolls made of sand, shells, and other materials from the sea.  Display mermaids and sea monster dolls.

 

September:  This month is Doll Collecting Month.  Also, new dolls for the holidays begin to hit the stores.  Plan a program that will promote doll collecting in a positive light.  Visit antique malls or Internet Sites that specialize in dolls that are new to you.

Inspire a friend or family member to collect dolls; buy them three dolls related to something they love, e.g., three Wizard of Oz dolls for an enthusiast of the film.

 

October:  My favorite holiday is here.  Watch the excellent film Of Dolls and Murder, Dirs. John Waters and Susan Marks, which celebrates the work of Frances Glessner Lee, miniaturist and forensics expert, who used doll house scenes to study unsolved murders. Get out your Monster High dolls, Living Dead Dolls, Witch, Vampire, and Monster dolls. Have a party where everyone reads a ghost story about dolls.  Make dolls from dried apples and pears; they make fantastic Kitchen Witches to hang in your home for good luck.

 

November:  Use Pilgrim dolls and figural candles on your table for Turkey Day.  Study Native American Dolls; there is an excellent free brochure you can download on the Smithsonian Institution’s website.  If you don’t’ have any Native American dolls, considering reading about Kachina dolls, Inuit dolls, and Storytellers.  Did you know John Wayne and Senator Barry Goldwater collected Kachina dolls? Begin Christmas shopping for your doll collecting friends and make-up your own wish list for dolls to add to your collection.  This is a good time to read Wendy Lavitt’s great book, American Folk Dolls.  Start gathering dolls and toys for Toys for Tots.  We also like to send dolls and mittens, books, etc. to the children of various mission schools and other charities.

 

December:  This is a great month for doll collectors!  Look for modern dolls on sale, visit malls, antique stores, thrift shops and Internet sites.  Look for doll themed Christmas ornaments.  Get ideas form articles on my blogs Doll Museum, Dr. E’s Greening Trips for the Common Person, and Dr. E’s Doll Museum. Check out Pinterest, including my boards Holidays and Doll Collection.  Read Tasha Tudor’s Take Joy, A is for Annabel, Rosemary, That’s for Remembrance, and The Dolls’ Christmas.  Study about dolls made of Gingerbread, marzipan, prunes [Germany], Santos, Nativity figures, and Santons.  Get out our Santa Claus, Angel, and Nutcrackers.  Make gifts like those described in Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie to give as favor to your collector friends. Many Christmas movies like Scrooge with Albert Finney feature dolls and automatons; have a film festival! If you are near Beloit, Wisconsin, visit The Angel Museum.  Wrap presents with doll themed paper and save scraps for your own collection.