Rocks and Dolls
Eleanor St. George, a famous doll author and collector of the late forties and fifties, wrote that doll collectors are seldom single minded people. She mentioned a collector with fabulous gold coins, and d that bred quarter horses. A few years ago, I had the honored pleasure of speaking with the daughter of a famous doll author and collector who was a founding member of the UFDC. Jan's father was an expert in stamps, but she told me that besides dolls, they collected rocks and all kinds of things. Then, this week on Facebook, two of my doll collecting friends posted pictures of their crystals and pebbles. Rock hounds and doll collectors are kindred spirits.
My dear friend, the late Rochelle Murray, was as fascinated witch dolls as I am. She also volunteered at the local rock and gem show. Another woman I know who does estate sales has also volunteered there. A former doll show promoter was a gemologist in her other life.
My own mother was a huge rock hound. Her family had a rock garden made of stones and even shells collected on their trips throughout the United States and Mexico. When my mom and dad and I took trips, we collected rocks, shells, petrified wood and drift wood along with dolls. These were from all over the world; from seashores and deserts, from craggy paths. One pebbble, a gift from my teacher and mentor in college, came from a path Darwin took during the Voyage of The Beagle.
hs in moumtain areas. We stopped at all kinds of rock shops in Wyoming, always looking for jade and fossils. At Mt. Rushmore, we bought one of many dolls made of rocks. My mom's hall passes at the high school where she taught were large rock with miniatures or animals stuck to them. By the way, she taught at my school, Rock Island High School, and our mascot was Rocky, a
Our museum glass cases once held metorites and fossils and were part of the former Planetary Studies Foundation museum. When I was young, my mom started me out collecting with two sets she bought at The Shedd Aquarium, one of rocks, one of shells. We picked up shells where we could; I have a necklace with a tiny scallop shell I found in Valencia, and a doll hous roof paved with tiny shells from Huntington Beach.el Locally, I've found shells fom Mississippi River clams, and clam shells with button holes punched into them. These were in Muscatine. We have pyrite dollars and geodes from Southern Illnois where I was in school, all kinds of chrinoids and other fossils I found locally, along ro arrowheads and stone axes. I have a tiny stone axe sent to me by my friend, Marry Hillier, who wrote many books and articles on dolls and toys, including my favorite, Dolls and Doll Makers. One of the shadowboxes I did is of a rock and mineral store, complete with tiny fossils of all kinds. The wallpaper is of photographed pebbles.
Prehistoric Venus figures were often carved from limestone, and Neanderthal goddess figures are little rocks with scratchmanings and designs to make them look humaTn The single posts at Stonehenge are meant to be statues of ancestors.
Hare are some of my rocks and stones for you to enjoy. Of course, I love gems and diamonds, even cubic zirconia, one of the oldest stones in the world, and these are a girl's best friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment