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 Lincoln’s birthday, also my grandparents’ 92d
wedding anniversary. Two dolls from my grandma’s collection started mine when I
was age 3. They married in Paris,
and maybe that’s why I have a thing for all kinds of French dolls. I remembered the city well from when I was
nine, and the awesome dolls lining the walls of one airport shop after another,
and the great food. To a nine year old,
that meant hot dogs stuffed with gruyere cheese. Awesome!
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 Peoria,
where he worked in a studio. He also
gave me the dolls he brought back from Korea
and Japan
when he served in the Korean War. My Uncle Jim drove me around to all sorts of doll
shows, and kept my secrets re what I paid for what. My grandfather would drop into Woolworth’s
where I looked for doll clothes, pay my bill, and leave to continue his walks.
My grandmother who was a seamstress by trade made doll clothes in all sizes;
she hated naked dolls lying around neglected.
Her father died when she was very young, and she didn’t have dolls of
her own. As an adult, she loved them
very much and had a collection my family brought from all over the world.
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, Augustana
College and a doll that
belonged to Shirley Temple, whom I met in person. There are robots, Tonka trucks, trains,
collectibles and many holiday items.
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 3059 30th Street, Rock
Island, IL 61201,
and our number is 309-721-9882. Our
mailing address is 4 Hillcrest
Court, Rock Island, IL 61201. We have a Pinterest Board, and a Blog, both
American Doll and Toy
Museum. We’re still on Twitter as Antique Doll and
Dr. E’s Doll Museum.
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 Toy Museum. On Instagram, we are under
ellen_tsagaris. We’re also on Flickr
under my name as well as Tumblr.
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.
