Where my Dolls Came From; PS We are Open Again, look for our open sign, by chance or appointment

When I was a little girl, we took long road trips everywhere, gone from home three weeks at a time or more.  Usually, we headed towards San Jose, where my mother's family lived.  We stayed in motels and hotels, and once, in a cabin at Yellowstone.

Current Museum; Many dolls here came from trips

Other than my grandma's house in San Jose, I preferred motels to hotels.  Hotels were stuffy, and intimidating, and to a little kid, boring.  I didn't like bell boys or helpers with the luggage.  I didn't care for room service, other than reading the menus.  The restaurants often didn't have little girl food.  In Athens, I hated that the maid threw out my paper toys and flowers people had given to me without asking.

Motels on the other hand, were full of possibilities.  I could roam on my own, within reason, to find the pop machine and the ice machine.  The doors often opened up to freedom, and play grounds, and pools that welcomed little kids.  It was often easy to open the phone book, look up the antique stores and doll stores, and get my folks to take me before they closed.

Scenes from our new museum building

Come sit a spell in our new museum, hopefully open this fall

Panorama of our new space

Many of my dolls came from these road trips.  Native American dolls were plentiful the further west we drove.  Places like Indian City sold original crafts and dolls, and many gift stores along route 66 had terrific examples.  Kachinas were my favorites, and my first came from Ogallala, NE.  An attraction called Front Street had Native American dolls made of leather and beads, as well as Dresden figurines, miniatures, and  reproduction china heads.  For years, an original flat top china head stood in the museum that replicated a frontier town.  I have pictures of her.  by 1985, she was gone.

Front Street, Public Domain

Repro china head, similar to those in Front Street, NE

There were doll shops along the way in Albuquerque's Old Spanish Town, Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Little America, Cheyenne Wyoming, Idaho Springs, and elsewhere.  In Knott's Berry Farm, I got to see Mott's Miniatures, and I bought  a little doll that had been in their displays.  My dad and I also met and talked with Mr. Mott.

Route 66, Public Domain

Dolls also came with me.    Barbie and her friends always packed their best vacation wear, and I made simple dolls from broom straws to keep me company in the car.  I also drew paper dolls on motel stationery. One tragic trip over the Rockies, Penny Brite's tiny scarf blew right out the window.

On one of these trips, I heard over the radio that Jim Morrison had died.  Six degree of separation?  Well, the second cousin of one of my school friends was in The Doors, or so she said.

I also learned the lyrics to Folsom Prison Blues on one trip to San Jose.

Many of my Asian dolls came from China Town in San Francisco, and I got my first porcelain Suzanne Gibson doll in Anaheim.  We hit flea markets, including the famous San Jose Flea Market, as well as doll conventions and shows ehre I  met Johanna Gast Anderton, Franklin Lim Lao,. and Jim Fernando.    I met the past and current owners of The Carmel Doll Shop; previous owners were from my home town in Illinois!

We hit the Christmas sales at Macy's, and found antiques in Ghiradelli Square.  I saw the outside of Kimport Dolls one year in Independence, MO, but Kimport was closed for the day.  Later, I met the founder's grand daughter. 

Candy, my travel companion

My Grandma's living room

Our House

Many museums had great doll exhibits, including one I can't remember in someone's home, with a mummy to round out the collection.  The Hastings House of Yesterday Museum was awesome in NE; the state museum in Carson City, NV, had a complete Dolls of Destiny exhibit.

Public Domain, Mott's Miniatures

Hobby City in Anaheim and Helen Moe's Doll Museum in Paso Robles were awesome, as were smaller museums I saw in San Juan Bautista and Oakland.

How I miss my family, and those roadtrips we took, complete with my dog Killer, who had his own luggage and who ate with us in the motel room, sitting on the bed next to me, table drawn up to us.

I saw It's a Small World and my other favorite Disney attractions many times.  We were at Great America, Marine World, Cliff House, Mount Rushmore, Deadwood, Lake Havasu, Santa Cruz, you name it.

Dolls came from everywhere. 

Where do your dolls come from?  Do you collect on trips?  What are your stories?