Thank you so much for all your kind comments on Jeffy… he is such a sweet little guy but when I got home, Reuben seemed like a giant!! Miss your sweet face Jeffy!!!
We drove back from Deb’s today and made “several” stops at antique shops and thrift shops. Cindy and I found a few treasures, but I’ll have to show my few things another time. Cindy and Tom will be leaving in the morning to head back home, so I wanted to spend my time visiting…
I’m going to have to ask another question today…
Tell everyone about how you came to love dolls… did you play with them as a child or just discover them when you were older?
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
I cannot remember a time I didn’t love dolls. There’s a picture of me when I was maybe 2, sitting on the fender of the car, with my babydoll in my lap. Pictures of me at age 4/5 pushing my doll buggy. And so on.
We moved out here (Seattle) when I was almost 15, and I only wanted two things for Christmas–to move back to Michigan, and a Barbie doll. I got the Barbie doll, and I had so much fun sewing for her!
Then I became a mom, and time marched along–but I still had most, if not all, my childhood dolls. My son turned 10 the year Cabbage Patch Kids hit (1985) and the next year he decided he wanted “a bald baby boy”. I was in Sears one day and they had just gotten a shipment in, so I got him one, and Flynn was his constant companion. I think he ended up with 3 or 4 in all.
I, on the other hand….ended up with WAY more than that! It’s kind of what started me on doll collecting. I have even been to Babyland! I have Many CPKs, although I’ve been thinning my collection, donating the newer “toy” ones (with vinyl heads) while hanging onto the Originals (all soft-sculpted). I like them because I am a sewer, and have made quite a few cloth dolls (although none like them). From there I went on to other kinds of dolls, and have everything from the 5″ Robert Raikes’ Hitty doll to a life-size Annette Himstedt baby, Mo, who wears size 6-9 months clothes! Little Darlings (7), Ruby Reds (7), Lee Middleton babies, Helen Kish, etc. I love them all.
I meant to add, Sally I enjoyed your recent dolly adventure! And Barbara, your bee story. Wonderful!!
Like Charlotte, I don’t remember a time that i didn’t love or have dolls. From the very first one, Susie, which for the life of me I cannot remember what she looked like, although I am pretty sure she was a cloth doll, up to my American Girl dolls, I had a great variety of dolls to play with, and there are many pictures of me as a child holding a doll. I had the original Betsy Wetsy, and I gave her so much water that it came out of her arm and leg crevices!! I was always getitng in trouble for that! I had a Sparkle Plenty doll, a 10 inch Nancy Ann Bride doll,Sweet Sue, Madame Alexander Newborn Baby doll, Vogue Ginny, plus a number of Madame Alexander Storybook Dolls.
One thing I do remember, and I am sure it was a “thing” back when I was younger, that you only got a doll for Christmas, and that was your major gift that you always asked Santa for. There weren’t really any adult dolls back then, except maybe you could say Toni dolls, but I never had those, and of course, Barbie wasn’t invented back then, but I am sure I wouldn”t want a doll like that! Dolls were supposed to be little girls in my mind, but yes, i did have a bride doll! Go figure!
My daughter wasn’t into dolls much at all, but did get a lot of Barbie things and a couple of Barbies. Somehow I received an AG catalog, the very first one, and fell in love with them and all of their accessories. However, buying them was not a thing at the time, since Jennifer was then in high shcool, and why would I be buying them for me?? I finally did have granddaughters in 2003 and 2005, so when I bought them dolls, they were American Girls dolls, and got myself a Molly so I could play with them! So now they are in high school and college, and Grandma is still playing with dolls!
Barbara, I loved the story of your bee, and have a special place in my heart for bees, since my grandmother was a beekeeper and I have gained a world of knowledge about them through her. Honey right off a honeycomb was a special treat for us!
My father-in-law was a beekeeper and used to keep us supplied with great honey. After he passed it was hard to go back to store bought honey and we don’t have anything locally.
I got the first AG catalog also. My daughter was five at the time, but she just wasn’t interested in dolls much and I didn’t want to make the investment for something she wasn’t going to care for. Now I wish I had so I could have inherited them once she left home.
I have “inherited” my daughter’s 1991 Kirsten and her wardrobe. I pretend it is not stored in my home for fear she will want to claim it one day.
🤔
Hi Debbie! Keep pretending! You love that doll too much to let it go- lol Jan
You know me too well! 😘
Yes, like Linda and Charlotte, I am sure it started when I was to young to remember. And, as Linda said, we got one doll for Christmas, maybe one for birthday. My great-aunt made most of my clothes until I was about 6 and she made clothes for my dolls to match. I also loved my doll house. It was made of wood and had a real staircase. I loved playing with them long after my friends had stopped doing so. I used to bribe a younger friend to play with me.
Since I had boys, I only got back into loving dolls when I had granddaughters and it started i 1999 when I saw Ann Estelle in a shop. I can’t believe how my collection has grown from there!! Now I really love sewing for them.
So many fun stories yesterday! Jeffy is a lucky dog to have a favorite toy brought back to life – well done Jeanne. Glad to hear you had some quality sister time and lots of antique shopping.
Sally, that dolly interception had all the makings of an episode of Rockford Files. Scoping out the local Post Office, you are a PI in the making! I hope you have a worthy plan for the remaining four.
Great question Jeanne. I think doll collectors share a genetic trait, LOL. My mother assured that I had the latest doll for Christmas and birthdays. My favorites were Vogue Ginny and later Barbie but there were dolls like Patti Playpal and Brickette in the mix. Fast forward to my first year as a middle school teacher. One Friday (casual dress day) the eighth grade English teacher was standing in the teacher’s lounge in her rock and roll t-shirt and blue jeans talking about her Ginny dolls. Three years later we learned about AG dolls and “started buying for our daughters”. Thirty years later we are watching the mail delivery for RRFF and Little Darlings. The details of each doll are worth hours of phone time. To quote Madame Alexander “Love is in the Details”. It is great to have a hobby that you can enjoy when work is over and children are grown.
Joy, are you alright in the deluge? That is a lot of rain in one month!
So glad Cindy is better and that you had some shopping time. Did Cindy pick up any special treasures? I’d love to see what both of you purchased. 🙂
As to dolls, mine started with a Tiny Tears baby doll and then Betsy Wetsy. I had another walking doll named Jane. Have no idea of her maker. I still have those and their lovely clothes made by my relatives. When I was four, I started playing with Ginny dolls. I think I had 13, by the time my dolly days were mostly over in third grade. I still have them as well. 🙂 I also had Ginnette and Ginny’s older sister Jill. Jill is as close as I ever got to a Barbie as my mother thought they were too adult looking. Fast forward to 2000, when I started picking up Ann Estelle dolls. They led to some Kish and American Girls. Then to Little Darlings, Meadow dolls, and the Ruby Reds. Can’t forget a few Connie Lowe kids, some from Linda Macario, Sylvia Natterer, and Rose BBFlockling as well. We’re overrun with dollies, but they are so much fun. 🙂
As to the “rain” out here in northern CA, we’ve had quite a bit. But, still not enough to refill reservoirs. Tomorrow is supposed to be dry so the ground can recover from the deluge an take in more moisture. Lots of trees down, and local flooding in the usual places. Mostly storm drains plugged in the flatlands. Lots of clean up to do, but nothing major for us fortunately. We’ll see what the light of day produces. 🙂
Way too tempting to list all the dolls and all the ways they have been apart of my life! I don’t remember life without a special doll, still play with my 1952 Sweet Sue and love this group of others that “Get it!” New Year’s plans are to hopefully make a reproduction of my 4 year old Christmas dress for Sweet Sue and her American Girl sisters.
Finally stopped snowing at 14 ½ inches!
Oh my… I was given dolls from the start😉 there is a pic on my first birthday with the dolls I received…still have one of them. The doll I remember most was a big unmarked Compo Mama doll. Similar to Bubbles. I took her along everywhere even though she was as big as I was. Angela was her name. I remember my mom telling me I was too old for dolls and giving her to the Goodwill….that scene is burned in my memory😧
My girls played with my dolls along with the ones they received. They humor me with my collection which has gotten to be too many🤭 Love Little Darlings, Ann Estelle,the Dionnes…I have a set of almost every size🤫
A few AM’s and Kestner, Love the Paola Reina’s and RRFF too. This month has to be organizing the ones I have!
Glad Cindy is over whatever made her sick and that you didn’t get it.
Tell us what you found at the Antique Stores😉
I was trying to remember the other day just when I got interested in dolls. It really was quite recently. Probably within the past ten years. I did not play with them much when I was growing up because we did not have the money to spend on them. Mostly I played with paper dolls. More affordable and their clothes were quicker to change. And I loved designing clothes for them. I had a Tiny Tears, a beautiful ballerina doll and my Ginger (Ginny) doll but that was pretty much it in the doll department.
I think my first doll as an adult was my MA Gracie. I saw the patterns for the 18″ dolls and thought I’d like to sew for them since I was no longer sewing for myself. I made tons of clothes but was disappointed at how hard it was to sell them. I overheard too many mothers say that if they were going to pay $10-15 dollars for clothes it would be for their daughters not some doll. I never thought of eBay and I think Etsy was fairly new at the time, so I was selling mainly at our church festival.
I think my next doll was my 8″ Betsy McCall, but I did not want to sew for a doll so small so I searched the internet to find her clothes and found Jo Flitton of Jo’s Doll Shoppe. I bought Betsy several outfits from there but also discovered Jo’s Heartstring line of dolls and fell in love with them. I bought a few of them. Jo often mentioned Dianna Effner as doing the sculpt for her Heartstring dolls and I got curious and started doing some research on Dianna and discovered her Little Darlings. I ordered a Sculpt #1 by Geri Uribe, “Claire”. It took two years to get her. After that every time I tried to order from Dianna’s site they were closed for orders. Looking for another way to buy one I found Magalie Dawson and my Sculpt #2, 3 and 4 were done by her.
In the meantime I was learning of other dolls through one channel or another and somehow ran across Jeanne’s blog and joined. With so many doll loving sofa sisters there were dolls mentioned that I just had to have. I can probably name them all here but I’ll just leave it at a lot. Probably my most of one type would be my RRFFs. Then of course I had to have their Siblies. I also have the Dianna Effner L’il Dreamers Evianna and Ashlynn and am anxiously awaiting Alora who is supposed to be released sometime around late winter or early spring. Recently I bought my two Sylvia Natterer dolls, Valentine and Romy. Joy had mentioned the SN dolls a few times so I checked them out. They are so cute but it took me awhile to get them because there were others that had priority. Also, I now have two from the MA Lissy line, one I bought a few years ago and one a week ago.
I’m trying to limit my purchases in the future because I really need to concentrate on clothing the dolls I already have. But one never knows when dolly fever will strike or what doll will become a “must have” for my collection.
Barbara, another collector who likes MA Lissy. I have 3 but find myself looking at them often.
Debbie, I was reading a story about the Lissy dolls in “Dolls” magazine and that got me looking on eBay to see what Lissys were available. I found three I would love to have but thought that was pushing my luck. Not sure I could smuggle in three dolls. My Cotton Candy Lissy looks so sweet and feminine and my new Elizabeth’s European Vacation Lissy has a more sporty look about her. I bought an outfit for my first Lissy from Jeanne that she made for one of the 10″ dolls and it fit her perfectly.
I saw the Lissy European Vacation. I am so glad she went to you! I am happy to know that the clothes for 10 inch dolls will fit. My modern Lissy is in shorts and a straw hat. She might like something for other seasons.
Went back to yesterday and loved Sally’s doll and Barbara’s bee story. Concerning the bee, I would have done the same thing. I fish bees etc .out of the birdbath. We have a butterfly puddler that I put a bit of water in in the warmer months.
I had three dolls as a child. A MA baby doll one similar to Littlle Huggums, but with vinyl arms and legs, cloth body, and closed mouth, a MA brunette Pussycat, and a Scottish Robby doll. I still have the first two. What really got me was receiving the PC catalog back in 1989 and seeing all the lovely historical clothing and accessories. My daughter had them first starting in 1994 when she was five and I finally got my Evangeline (PC German Samantha) in 2007.Now I have six and a Ruby Red!
Great question, Jeanne! I have enjoyed every entry! The first doll I remember Pitiful Pearl. I was 5 and had asked for a bride doll too late; “Santa” had already bought the ragged orphan for me and the toy budget was too small to fix it! So my clever mother just left a note for me from Pearl under the tree Christmas morning. Pearl wrote that she was an orphan and had no one to take care of her, that if I was willing to, she was waiting behind a door. I rushed to rescue her and to this very day, I can still see the hallucination that the doll was frowning until I picked her up. She smiled and never lost her smile. She was my constant companion; I pushed up her bangs so much they permanently stuck up, and I brushed hair so much she has bald spots. And yes I still have her! In her original dress, and now in the original scarf/socks/shoes I purchased from eBay and doll shoes. Fast forward 60+ years and I now own sooooo many dolls and have a super great doll-collecting friend and we help each other buy/weed/dress them. Too much fun!
Hi Jeanne,
I’m happy to hear your sister is feeling better. I’m glad you were able to squeeze in some bargain/antique shopping before she heads home. Jeffy is such a cutie. He looks like a mini version of my childhood dog, only ours was a standard size poodle. He was black with a tiny white spot on his chest. Poodles are such smart dogs and very sweet too. Loved the photos of him watching so intently! You made his day for sure.
What a fun question you asked. I enjoyed reading everyone’s response. I’ve loved dolls all my life. I enjoy collecting. I don’t redress them much although I have lots of shoes and clothes. Usually, my girls go straight into my doll cabinet. Sadly, I’m running out of room there, so in their box they stay until I move my ladies around. I’m awaiting a My Meadows Tia to come home from Miss Charlenes. I had buyers regret after I bought her so she may not stay long. I’m hoping for a Connie Lowes Stella to complete my collection I know what you’re thinking but my habit needs to be reeled in. hehehe
Loved the Bee story, so sweet. Without bees where would we be?
We had a few days in the 50’s most of our snow is gone…Yeah!
Happy New Year to everyone! Wishing you all a year full of love and God’s blessings.
Hugs
Ingrid
PS, I quickly proofread so forgive me if this old brain misspelled or didn’t punctuate properly : )
I have loved dolls since I was a little girl. I started sewing doll clothes in the late 1990’s. My sister was a doll collector and she asked me to sew clothes for her dolls. She would send me patterns and cloth. I started buying the inexpensive “Springfield” dolls that were 18″. Then I collected “Daisy Kingdom” dolls. I finally bought a used American Girl doll and my collection grew from there.