Friday, December 12, 2008 10:14 PM CST
Douglas County Museum has hundreds on display
By DAWN SCHABBING, Features Writer
dschabbing@jg-tc.com
If only dolls could talk, just imagine the stories they could tell.
Dolls have served as a toy, a companion, a model for a seamstress, or possibly as a life-like being in one’s room.
Some have lived in plush comfort; others have been tossed aside, later to be rescued from the trash.
Hundreds of dolls made throughout the ages are on display at the Douglas County Museum, 700 S. Main St., Tuscola.
The theme of this exhibit, “Dolls: Simple to Sophisticated,” can be seen at the museum through Dec. 31.
“This is the first time we’ve ever had an exhibit strictly about dolls,” said Lynnita Brown, director of the Douglas County Museum.
“It is important to us that people come in and see our displays. This gives us the opportunity to display things that otherwise might be stuffed in a drawer or in a closet somewhere.”
Residents from the area have either loaned or donated the dolls for the exhibit. Dolls have come to Tuscola from towns including Mattoon, Charleston, Oakland, Newman, Arcola, Lovington, Atwood, Villa Grove and Champaign.
“Some have come in with one or two things, but we have been able to combine them with others and have a significant display,” Brown said.
She estimated more than 1,000 dolls make up the exhibit.
“We have some very ordinary and simple dolls, to some that are very unique and elaborate,” Brown said. “Some were rescued out of the trash by its owner, including a baby Jesus doll.”
Dolls have been a part of people’s lives for centuries — since prehistoric times. The earliest dolls are believed to have come from the Babylonian period, according to a sign at the entrance of the exhibit.
The majority of dolls found today were manufactured beginning about 1850, according to About.Com.
Some of the earliest made dolls were carved out of wood, papier mache, wax and cloth. Porcelain dolls became popular starting in the 19th century, soon followed by bisque (unglazed) and china (glazed), according to information at the museum.
The exhibit includes military dolls, seasonal (holiday) dolls, cornhusk dolls, dolls made of tin, and cloth dolls of all sizes.
The museum often has exhibits of collectible items. Brown said people choose to collect things for a variety of reasons — or sometimes having no reason at all.
“Some people didn’t have the opportunity to have a doll as a child. Some get dolls when they are older. Some are lonesome and like to fill their house with other images of real people,” she said.
“Others might buy a doll because it simply strikes their fancy or as an investment or a keepsake.”
Brown estimated some on this exhibit may only be worth a dollar or two, but others might be worth $500 to more than $1,000.
While many doll collectors appreciate the monetary value, others simply have a sentimental reason for wanting a doll.
The exhibit contains two of the “Happy, Sleepy, Weepy Doll,” which offers three moods with just the turn of its head. The dolls have a porcelain or ceramic head, a bonnet, ceramic arms and a soft body. A small knob on the doll’s head is designed to switch the mood from happy, to sleepy to weepy — depending on what is desired.
The history on this particular doll is minimal, but Brown considers it to be one of the more unique dolls in the exhibit.
The oldest doll on display dates back to 1856 and was imported from Japan, Brown said. The doll’s head is made of tin.
The second oldest doll there was made in 1865, she said.
Other early dolls from the 1920s to 1960s are the Skookum dolls that resemble Native American people. The life-like faces and folded blankets are often sought-after collectibles.
A collection of paper dolls, black baby dolls, soft sculpture dolls, Johnny West, Barbie, Crissy, Pee Wee Herman and Archie Bunker’s grandson — an anatomically correct doll — are among those on display.
Also displayed are American Girl, Prince Charles and Lady Di, Michael Jackson and Baby Sandy dolls. There are some from the Anri Collection, which are wooden hand-carved dolls, as well as milk filter dolls and a few life-size dolls.
More recently made dolls include those from popular movies of the ‘90s such as “Toy Story,” featuring Buzz Lightyear and Woody the Cowboy.
The exhibit includes Douglas County’s own Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, designed by Johnny Gruelle (1880-1938), whose birthplace was in Arcola.
The red-yarn-haired soft rag doll was created by Gruelle for his daughter. He also wrote fictional storybooks for children and introduced the doll in 1918. The doll was born earlier, in 1915.
Another success story comes out of dolls for Dorothy McIntyre of Newman (1930-2006), who in 1939, at age 9, was paralyzed after a horse kicked her.
McIntyre was taught to sew by her mother, and she began making dresses for dolls out of her home. Several salesmen’s sample dresses of a line called “Dorothy Dolly Dresses” and the doll model are displayed at the museum.
McIntyre went on to attend the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, where she majored in dress design, Brown explained.
“She was most talented and very independent,” she said.
She said McIntyre made dresses for Shirley Temple dolls, because at that time in the 1960s, the toy company didn’t manufacture extra dresses for the dolls.
“Dorothy made dresses and sold them exclusively to Marshall Fields toy department for $1.25 a dress. The store then sold each one for $2.50.”
Brown and a volunteer staff of about 15 people helped organize the doll display, and she said there were some challenges along the way, but it was worth it.
“Setting up this display was a lot of fun and just hearing the stories behind each one and how much the doll meant to each person is worth it.”
Contact Dawn Schabbing at dschabbing@jg-tc.com or 238-6864.
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