Doll Collectors

By Mary Alice Garrett

This story originally appeared December 24, 2009 in The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware.

Don't accuse these grown women of "playing with dolls." That doesn't begin to describe what they do.

"We're doll-makers rather than doll collectors. That's what unique about our club," said Rosalind Hoffmann, secretary/treasurer of the Brandywine Doll Club of Delaware.

Indeed, club members, many in their 80s, have studied the history of all types of dolls and have learned to make handsome reproductions. From rag dolls to French and German dolls to the "Million Dollar Bye-Lo Baby" doll, they've made them all.

The club got its start in 1978 in the Greenville basement of Harriet Shealy, who taught doll-making skills to seven women. Annie Lou Abernathy, Marjorie Gilbert, Corlinda Tarney, Hoffmann and Shealy are still active in the club. All except Tarney, a Hockessin resident, live in Greenville. In 1981, the club received its charter from the United Federation of Doll Clubs.

Some said Shealy's basement looked like Santa's workshop, with shelves and trays of doll heads, body parts, fabrics, clothing and miniature furniture. "Harriet was a wonderful teacher," said Abernathy. "The club evolved into an outstanding group under her." Membership grew, and for eight years, members met at the former Wanamaker's on Augustine Cutoff. They also studied under doll-makers and doll-painters and traveled to doll museums and conventions.

Members learned to make doll heads from molds, paint faces (even eyelashes), re-root hair, insert eyes, attach arms and legs and sew complete outfits -- shoes to bonnets. Many of the doll reproductions are hard to distinguish from their antique counterparts.

The women recently exhibited some of their finest dolls at the Woodlawn Library. A group of visiting preschoolers was awe-struck by them. "These dolls -- they don't talk to you, they don't say they're hungry -- they're just pretty," Hoffmann told the youngsters.

The pristine dolls were somewhat off-putting to them. "That one is scary," said 4-year-old Ethan Smith of Small Wonder Day Care.

All 19 current members admit to a lifelong love of dolls that they're passing on to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"I got into dolls when my daughter was in high school and didn't need me anymore," said Helen Arrants of Elkton, Md. Now Arrants' granddaughter has taken up the hobby. "Whenever she goes into my sewing room (where the dolls are), she whispers."

Arrants secures her favorite doll with a seat belt whenever she takes her out. The doll, a stately Steiner-Kahli reproduction, was displayed at the library. Arrants painted the doll's face and made her clothing -- a bronze silk dress complete with bustle, French bonnet and kid leather shoes. "I'm very proud of her. She's my coup de gras," said the records specialist at the University of Delaware.

Longtime member Rosemary Lucas enticed her daughters, Nancy Best and Carol Dunn, to join the club a year ago. A resident of Jenners Pond Retirement Community in Pennsylvania, Lucas can make a doll from a picture. She fashioned a tiny Chinese doll from wooden clothes pins to resemble Best's Chinese daughter, AddieRose, 10.

Betsy Fraser of West Grove, Pa., displayed rag dolls. Included were several animal rag dolls designed for boys. Fraser keeps her sewing materials inside a large doll tote bag she designed.

There were two "Million Dollar Bye-Lo Baby" dolls. The doll, modeled after a three-day infant, was the "best-selling doll in 1934," Hoffmann said.

Its maker was American Grace Storey Putman, who had to travel to France in 1922 to photograph newborns in a hospital. She was prohibited from doing this in the U.S., Hoffman added.

"Many said they learned to care for an infant with a Bye-Lo Baby doll," she said.

Club members recently completed a three-month study of this doll.

It brought back memories for 92-year-old Abernathy. "I just adored that doll," she recalled. She badly wanted one as a child, but her widowed mother couldn't afford to buy one. It wasn't until Abernathy was grown that she found one in an antique shop. The baby doll, plus another, are among Abernathy's antique doll collection.

President Kay Harper still has a plastic toddler doll she got when she was 12. It's dressed in overalls and a bonnet. "My granddaughter likes to play with it. It's almost as big as she is," said the Bear resident.

Carol Scherling of Smyrna specializes in making celebrity dolls. She recently published a book on "Blondie" of the comic strip "Blondie and Dagwood."

Bettie Phillips' ambition was to own a doll shop. She didn't achieve it, but she has made hundreds of dolls. "My basement is full of them," said Phillips, who lives in Brandywine Hundred.

Pam Czarnota, also of Brandywine Hundred, joined in 1983. She's given most of her dolls to her daughter. She now knits clothing for homeless families through "Care Wear."

Harper noted that the first doll manufacturers were in France and Germany. After the factories were bombed during World War II, doll factories opened in the U.S. -- the very first one in Philadelphia.

The Raggedy Ann doll debuted in 1918, followed two years later by Raggedy Andy. Both had red yarn hair.

Character dolls -- such as Mickey Mouse and Shirley Temple -- appeared in the 1930s. "Shirley has had her day, but she's still popular," said Hoffmann. Plastic dolls were introduced in the '40s.

Teen fashion dolls came in the 1950s, with the Barbie doll the most popular.

Harper said the most-collected today is the American Girl doll. "It's going to go down in history as a very, very good doll," noted Hoffmann.

The club plans to start a junior club for girls 12-18 years old. It would also like to add a club for young adult women.

Members make rag dolls, teddy bears and Santa Clauses for area charities. Last Christmas, they made dolls for the West End Neighborhood House.

FYI

The Brandywine Doll Club of Delaware usually meets at 10 a.m. the second Wednesday of each month at the Woodlawn Library, 2020 W. Ninth St., Wilmington. Visitors are welcome at all meetings. For more information, call Kay Harper at 836-4707.