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 Toy Museum, as well as good health and peace in 2121.  That will be our year, I am sure!  God Bless everyone! Believe in yourselves, and happy collecting!