Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Modern Porcelain Dolls from Asia and Waldas; 10 Go...

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog:  Modern Porcelain Dolls from Asiaand Waldas; 10 Go...:   Modern Porcelain Dolls from Asia and Waldas; 10 Good Things     Can you spot some modern porcelains in this photo of some museum doll...

Update to The American Doll and Toy Museum Move

 

Update to The American Doll and Toy Museum Move:  Hi, everyone!  Hope you are safe and well.  Our move progresses, and our new address is 3059 30^th Street, Rock Island, IL, 61201.

 

The Museum is not yet open to the public.  We hope to be open late this year or early 2021, pending any Covid 19 rules or restrictions. As far as we know, masks will be required when we do open.  We will sanitize frequently, of course, and have hand sanitizer.  We are handicap accessible.  We are a 5021© nonprofit and we do accept donations.  We are tax deductible.  In fact, monetary donations are much appreciated to help us keep up the building and grounds.  Grants have been few, far, and not much due to Covid 19.

 

We thank Karen Holleran, Nancy McCray, Diane Roche, Lucille Christopher and Ken Stineman for recent contributions of  funds, amazing dolls and toys!  Our wishlist, a work in progress is below. We also thank everyone who has contributed to us in the last year.  We will have a list of friends of the museum for display.

 

There will be a small gift shop on the museum premises; all proceeds go to the museum.  We have books, craft items, figurines, museum logo merchandise, vintage paper airplanes,  vintage doll, seasonal items, and much more. 

 

We will be charging a reasonable admission, to be determined when we open so we can keep the lights on.  Thank you in advance.

 

Our Etsy store, Dr. Es Toy Museum is now closed.  We will reopen at a later date, but must concentrate on moving our books, toys, dolls, miniatures, collectibles, doll houses, paper dolls and ephemera, scale models, plush, bears, scooters, toy cars, paper airplanes, and more.

 

Below is our Wishlist.  Thank you to all who have donated dolls and funds to us.  We have a GoFund Me page, and various social media sites including our Facebook Page, American Doll and Toy Museum, and our blog, American Doll and Toy Museum.  We’re on Twitter as Antique Doll and Dr. E’s Doll Museum, on Flickr as Ellen Tsagaris, and Instagram as ellen_tsagaris.  We also have other blogs including Dr. E’s Doll Museum, also in Spanish and Greek, and The International Doll Museum Blog.  Google us for more.  We often share among our other blogs as well.

 

Look for our upcoming book,  Thinking Outside the Doll House; a Memoir this coming year.

 

Be safe, God Bless, and Happy Collecting!

 

Museum Wishlist

 

Pewter head Huret

 

All china, jointed Frozen Charlotte

 

Antique French bisque or German bisque doll dressed as Joan of Arc

 

Ann Parker Ann Boleyn

 

Suzanne Gibson paper dolls, doll house sized doll, or porcelain Little Ladies

 

Pollock’s’ toy paper theater, reproduction is OK

 

Huret and other French Fashion dolls

 

French Fashion and other doll accessories

 

Hugo, Man of 1000 faces

 

Ernest Doll, portrait of Jim Varney

 

Kitty Karryall from Brady Bunch

 

Glass fronted subzero fridge for edible dolls

 

Mid 1800 paper dolls

 

The Huret Book

 

Luella Hart’s Books

 

No. 1 and or 2 Barbie, any condition, and their stands

 

Voice of the Mummy Game

 

A Rocking Horse, mid sixties

 

Black hard plastic dolls with amber eyes, some from Greece

 

No. 202 Jumeau little girl with laughing face

 

Eisenberg costume jewelry

 

Margaret di Patta jewlery

 

 

 

Museo de la muñeca del Dr. E: Lo siento, en ingles, pero es de Friday Kahlo y su...

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When our Dolls are Sick

 Don't throw away a doll; that is my mantra.  I try to repair before I keep a doll just for parts, but I confess I collect doll parts and heads for projects, just check out my Pinterest board, Heads Up!!

It's harder to find them, but check out the Doll Doctors Association or Doll Castle News magazine for lists of doll hospitals.

Doll hospitals have probably existed as long as dolls have. It’s no surprise, then, that many of the questions I get from collectors are about repairing dolls.  While The New York Doll Hospital died along with Irving Chaise its legendary owner, there are still doll hospitals around the world in operation.  I have read stories about one in Rome, and one in Australia that were intriguing.  American Girls have their own doll hospital and beauty parlor for maintaining the dolls. We have a need for one locally; we once had at least three, but the owner of the last one operating died this past July.

 

Clearly, we need another one.   I seriously urge anyone with a certificate in doll repair or expertise in the area to advertise his or her skills widely.  Life Time Career Schools had a course that is still in operation.  From what I’ve read of the lessons and material, it seemed like a credible venture.  In any case, where dolls are concerned, remember to do nothing that can’t be undone.

 

On the other hand, The Internet features many sites on doll repair.  We don’t personally endorse any of them.  As with anything else, do your homework; don’t send out your dolls if you are unsure. Get references, and ask other customers if they were satisfied.

 

If you do need help and repair for your dolls, try the website of the Doll Doctors Association, aka DDA, featured recently on CBS’ Sunday Morning. This video is featured on their website.  DDA is “Dedicated to the sharing of knowledge, techniques and philosophies associated with the restoration and preservation of antique and modern dolls.” (Doll Doctor’s Association).

 

DDA describes itself as a ‘social club created for doll repair specialists,” enthusiasts, and conservation.  They note that they are “not an educational institution,” but that they do serve as inspiration for each other.

 

There Hospital Locator is a link that helps anyone with access to the DDA website locate a doll hospital in her area. The site features useful links about doll repair and collecting as wells membership information. Active members receive the “Doll Rx Newsletter,” published three times a year.  There is also available for purchase a book called The Best of the Doll Rx.  DDA presents at UFDC convention and holds an annual meeting of its own.

 

Noted author and collector Genevieve Angione once said that all dolls are collectible.  Since they are collectible, they deserve quality care and conservation.  All antique and vintage dolls are unusual because no more are being made.  We have a finite supply to collect.  Dolls and toys by nature are ephemeral; they were meant to take hard play and not to last, yet they are important cultural artifacts that tell human history as nothing else can.  They deserve to be curated and conserved.  If you are looking for help in doll repair, then DDA is the place to start.

 

 

 

 

Musings on Museum Movings

 

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 30^th 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.

Mechanical Musings; Early Automatons and Mechanical Dolls

 

Mechanical Musings; Early Automatons and Mechanical Dolls

 

When I wrote With Love from Tin Lizzie: A History of Metal Dolls . . . I said that the history of mechanical dolls went as far back as Ancient Egypt.  Yet, the history of all things mechanical, including dolls, toys and robots, really dates back around 3.3 million years.  That’s how old the first tools allegedly are.  Fire, discovered later , led to making better, stronger tools.  Somewhere along the line, the invention of the wheel made it possible to invent even better tools and machines.  Our automatons, robots, Mamma dolls and mechanical babies share this Stone Age heritage.

 

This thought came to me as I was working in our new, permanent museum building.  Many of the objects in the museum collection are mechanical.   The thing about hard, physical labor is that it gets one thinking.  I felt like an automaton myself most of this week, driving car loads of dolls, toys, books, and seasonal items to the new museum.  We had a terrible storm last Monday with 100 mph winds that lead to power outages, some still going on.

 

I spent most of the week working in darkness in the new building, with no AC, either.  We had power and AC in the old museum.  It was cool enough, and there was enough light coming through the windows.  The important job of moving and sorting is taking precedence over everything else.  Today there was a break, and we drove to the nearest university town, my husband to work, and me to wander.

 

We hope to be open by Halloween in our new, final location.  Barring that, I’m going for another Small Business Saturday Grand Opening.

 

One important object is a shadow box of a miniature doll museum, a box meant to make our wish come true.  Margaret Grace addresses the tradition in one of her miniature murder series, great reads one and all.  I hope there will be many more in the series.

 

So, we go on.  If you don’t hear from me, it is because I’m working very hard on the museum, and on my aunt’s estate.  We lost her suddenly in June, and nothing has been easy since.

 

Be safe, and to those affected by last week’s storms, I hope you are save, your property is intact, the tree limbs are cleared, and your power and cell phones are working again.

 

 

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Museum Musings

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