Featured A peek inside my mother's doll collection

Mom collected antique dolls for about 40 years. She was a member of a doll club that met monthly. Sadly, many of the members are no longer with us. I'm sorting out her dolls and have a lot to learn. I thought I'd share a glimpse of some of them. I may ask for help identifying some of them down the road, if there are any doll lovers here. Regardless, they might be fun to see for some of you . My favorite are the old milliner dolls with paper mache heads and carved wood hands and feet. There are many more that I haven't photographed yet.

 

it's a nice collection.......... creeps me out a little though....

we have a collector or two here.....and a virtual ton....who will be willing to help on a doll by doll basis !!!

 

Oh my goodness, Migg, they are all so lovely and in such pristine condition.
Their clothes are lovely too. Just curious but . . . did your mother make/sew some of the clothing?

 

Wow! What an assortment!

 

So nice to see a quality collection in such remarkable condition! Obviously your mother cared deeply for her 'babies'.

 

Oh my goodness, I see one of the doll babies I had as a child!
A beautiful and well cared for collection.

 

Are you planning to keep or sell ? Some of them could be worth a good deal of money,personally Id have an expert look at them. A word of caution,during the 80s when doll collecting was all the rage,many older style ones were reproduced.

 

Love love love it.

 

Holy cow, Migg! That is quite a collection!

 

WOW!!

 

What a Lovely and well cared for collection!!!! Congratulations for keeping it so well!!!!

 

Lovely collection.
I know there are at least 2 doll collectors on the board.

Can only think of @Christmasjoy at the moment.

 

That is quite an impressive collection!

The collection of the half dolls is lovely. So colorful, different, and take up so little room.

I see one Googly........might be more, but it's all I see at the moment.

 

The "Door of Hope" dolls are also especially nice.

Plus the collection of the china heads is a fantastic display.

@Christmasjoy will soon appear and ooooh and aah over the collection...guaranteed!

Each doll would have to be examined for repairs, replaced parts, etc., & as Johnny suggested, possible reproductions but as a viewing collection, it is beautiful.

 

Thank you! And yes, she did make some of the clothing. Mom loved to sew. The attic sewing room is still filled with fabric she bought for doll dresses. Some had patterns, some she designed.

 

She bought a few repros early on, but the vast majority of her dolls were purchased with the help of other members of the United Federation of Doll Clubs. She was blessed with their knowledge as well as life long friendships.

 

Beautiful collection! We look forward to your questions.

Your mother sounds a bit like mine. She has a huge collection of dolls, some older and some newer.. also is a seamstress with a lot of fabric in her house. And belongs to a UFDC-related doll club! She also has a nice small collection of doll reference books. I've read or consulted several of them, and have gained some knowledge.

I think @Bookahtoo is also interested in dolls, although may not be a collector?

 

Yes, we will be selling almost all of them next year. It will take that long to research and catalog her many possessions. I love many, but have to be practical. Two of Mom's doll club friends lost their entire collections due to fires in the last year so they may want to buy some, but they may pass due to their own age etc. One owned several thousand dolls similar to ours!!! Sadly, I don't think she was properly insured.

Gee. We used to discuss numbering and cataloging all of Mom's dolls for insurance purposes or resale down the road, while her mind was still clear, and never got around to it. There's always time later. We didn't anticipate this, though. For those that don't know, Mom has Alzheimer's and now resides in the memory care unit of an assisted living facility. She did wonderfully at home for the last few years, here with me, but broke her hip this summer and declined rapidly after that. The eventual sale of the dolls will go towards her care.

 

How wonderful for you to have friends/members of the Doll Federation. Their help will be all that you will need for IDs and today's selling values.

Best of luck in this endeavor. Please keep us posted to how this goes. It's an interesting topic.

My best to your mother.