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Growing Up With Dolls |
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Greetings!
This newsletter takes a look at some of the historical dolls that are not seen very often. They serve to remind us how long they have been an important toy and posession of little girls and the part they play in their growing into caregiving adults. We are also reminded why we love repairing dolls. We appreciate your business when you trust us to repair or restore your precious dolls, and are especially thankful to those of you that respect our work and take the time to drop us a note and let us know how er did. Better yet, You can send us that message by sending us another doll for repair. We promise it will recieve the same attention and care that your firs doll did. Without You we would not be here. Then later in this letter we take a look at some of the less conventional dolls and toys that we have recieved for repair. As always feel free to drop us an email with any questions or comments that you might have. Better yet, write a story about a personal doll story that you would like to share and send it to us for publication in a future letter. We sill even pay for it. Diane & Dave Trumbauer
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Growing Up With Dolls | |
Penny Woodens, as they are sometimes called, are among the most fascinating dolls ever made. Their legs and arms could be moved into very lifelike positions. Their heads and bodies, carved in one piece, coul
 | | Penny Wooden dolls |
d survive the roughest treatment. Their painted faces suffered, it is true, from too many washings or from being left out in the rain, but that was not too serious an injury. Someone in the family could always repaint the face when needed. Best of all, they cost so little that almost any child could afford to have a family of them. An uncle or a brother who was clever at whittling could make a Penny Wooden in a very short time. In New England, if the men of the family were not so talented, the poppets could be bought for a penny in any Cent Shop. It was an adventure to be allowed to go to the Cent Shop all by oneself. There in a little glass case all by themselves were the penny dolls. On the shelves behind were ranged the more expensive dolls that cost five, ten, fifteen, or twenty-five cents each.
 | | Penny Wooden Family |
| | | Wax doll |
The wax babies were small and pretty. So were the china ones. But they were made all in one piece so that their arms and legs could not be moved. That made them hard to dress. The more expensive wax and china babies had movable arms, but even the tiniest wooden one had both legs and arms that moved.
 | | Tiny Wax Doll |
 | | Tiny Wax Jesus doll |
China Head Dolls On a special shelf were the doll heads of various sizes. They were made of glossy white china and had shiny black painted hair, blue eyes, pink cheeks, and tiny rosebud mouths. Sometimes, but not often, you could find a china head with brown eyes, and once in a very great while, you might even get a gray-eyed doll head. These heads were really more than heads, for the neck and shoulders were molded in one piece with the head. Mother or Aunt Mary usually bought them; made the body, arms and legs of cloth; then glued the head onto the body.
 | | China Head dolls |
In larger stores, one could buy bodies already made, as well as china arms and legs to sew on to a homemade body. The china parts were made in Germany and shipped to this country in great packing cases that held hundreds of each size. They were sold all over this country and were very much cheaper than dolls are today. Most of these china dolls were "lady" dolls to be dressed in grown-up fashions. They were the mamas of the doll family.
 | | China Head Girl |
The doll in the picture at right with its homemade body, arms, and legs, is an unusual "little girl doll" of the 1840s.
The children of the doll family usually were homemade of cloth or wood. Dolls were frequently made by grownups for their children.
 | | Wooden doll |
Then, of course, children themselves have always increased their doll families by making some of their own. Many different kinds of materials and objects were pressed into service. A hank of flax could be braided to look like a doll, or an acorn could be stuck on the end of a twig to serve the purpose for the time being. Skillful fingers could contrive really elaborate dressed dolls, using corn husks and silk for the working materials. A string tied around a rolled up rag or a piece of wool or cotton batting transformed a common material into a very acceptable "doll-baby". It is fascinating to make dolls for yourself. There are so many different ways of doing it and so many different kinds of materials to use. Dolls can be made and dressed without a bit of sewing: little ones that can be turned out quickly from odd scraps of materials, and more elaborate ones that are round and soft, and paper dolls whose dressmaker costumes are cut, shirred, and pleated just like real fabric clothes.
About the Author
Discover the Art Of DollMaking - Learn The Tips & Tricks Master Doll Makers Don't Want You to Know! Click here for FREE online book!.
http://www.doll-making.org
Source http://www.articopia.com
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| One of the We see many types of dolls every week. | |
One of the most enjoyable things about running a Doll Hospital is the recieving the mail, UPS and FEDEX packages each day. Even though the contents are always broken and in need of help it is still a little like Christmas with new packages each day to open. Each one is a surprise and the fun is planning ahead to all the things that will repair or restore the doll to her former glory.
Many of the boxes contain less conventional items than the regular dolls. This story takes a look at some of the ones we recieved tha past month or two. The first was a music box that had five porcelain figures on top. These were connected to the music box works and moved while the box played. We cleaned the dolls and made new costumes for them.
 | | Music Box dolls |
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 | | Music Box |
The next one is a Charlie McCarthy ventriliquists doll. We see 5 or 6 of these every year. Most often the mouth no longer moves of is malfunctioning. On this one we repaired the mouth and made new clothing for the doll. He returned home looking like new.
 | | Charlie McCArthy |
All cloth dolls are a fun change in pace from the porcelain and the composition and the plastic ones that we see every day. Some of these have definately seen better days by the time they find their way to the Doll Hospital. When these doll go home they usually have new clothes, often bodies and almost always new stuffing. Being a childs constant companion is not only tuff work but demanding on the parts as well!
 | | Holly Hobby Doll |
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 | | Raggity ANDY |
Every once and a while we get a clown doll. These are a little harder to find replacement porcelain for if it is a head or hands or feet that we need to fix. In almost every case there just as not as many clown dolls made as there are on most other dolls. Often it is a matter of just getting lucky to find a replacement head for a doll like this clown doll.
 | | Clown Doll |
About the Author:
Dave Trumbauer is Diane's husband and is involved in the day to day operation of the Doll hospital.
http://www.dollsbydiane.com
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Should Boys Play with Dolls?
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Traditionally speaking, playing with dolls has been considered a girl's pastime. From the 1940s to the 1960s, when dolls were quickly gaining popularity, it was the female children who could be found role-playing in the shoes of their mother or grandmother. Today, more and more people are starting to embrace the concept of boys playing with dolls. The debate of boys and dolls is a long-standing, often relationship-dividing, argument.
 Parents of young boys often find themselves at arms with each other over a simple toy, and it doesn't take long for other family members, friends, and neighbors to get involved. Much of the concern - from a male point of view - seems to stem from the fact that dolls are considered a feminine toy. Fathers and other men struggle with the mental image of watching their "tough" young son coddle a toy baby; in fact, many men worry that playing with a doll will cause negative consequences in their son's future.
Acceptance begins with the adult male's outlook on life itself, including his ability to embrace other people's lifestyles, such as that of homosexuality. Most experts agree: Playing with dolls cannot possibly cause a young boy to develop an overtly feminine side. What many parents fail to realize is that caring for a doll requires imagination, care, love, and concern on the child's part. There is something about watching a young boy care for a baby that is heartwarming and genuine, especially if that child is otherwise rough-and-tough. From birth, most boys are taught to be resilient and to play with trucks and tractors. Although it is possible that boys instinctively gravitate towards "boy toys", they also mimic real life and other playmates. If a young boy sees a young girl having fun with a doll, he will also want to play a role.
It's also common for boys who spend the majority of their time with their mother or female caregiver to be drawn to conventional girl toys.dult females are often more accepting of the situation than male influences, supporting a young boy to follow wherever his imagination may take him. Overall, most parents and educators agree that activities should not be split by gender. Boys should have as much of an opportunity as girls to play house, care for dolls, or use toy mops and brooms. As the years progress, less and less focus is being placed on traditional roles, making it
increasingly important for young boys to realize the importance of gender equality.
About the Author
Victor Epand is an expert consultant about kids toys, stuffed animals, and dolls. You will find the best marketplace for kids toys, stuffed animals, and dolls at these sites for kids toys, stuffed animals, and dolls for boys.
Source: http://www.articopia.com
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| A Doll Story from one of our readers,,, | 
We will pay COLD cash for your "Doll" Story?
This doll story as well as the feature story in several of our past newsletter were sent to us by one of our customers. We find in almost every case, the story behind the story is usually the best or most interesting story. If you have a story about a doll or a Teddy Bear that has been in your family, write it up and send it to us. If we decide to use it in a future newsletter, we will pay you cash for your story. If you have ever wanted to be a writer or a blogger. Here is your chance. Just put doll story in our eMail and we will take it from there. the email address to use is...
Click here to compose an email about your doll story. If you have a digital picture in .jpg format, attach it to your email.
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We are located in Homosassa, FL, but we are a mail order doll hospital. Our shop is located in our home, which is great for commuting to work, but it is hard on the drive up business. Deed restrictions restrict us to work that comes to us via UPS and the Post Office. With the price of gas these days, it is likely less expensive to mail or ship it anyway. Enclose your phone number and we will contact you just as soon as your doll arrives. Average turn around time is two to three weeks..
Sincerely,
David Trumbauer
Dolls by Diane |
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