Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My Himmie

Silvi is my one and only Himmie (doll by Annette Himsteadt ), and she is the one I hug when I need a little therapy, lol ! She has the sweetest face...childlike serenity mixed with a quiet curiosity. Her hair color is so similar to mine when it was all cut off during my breast cancer treatment (it has since grown back). Silvi is 29" tall, and is a mixture of vinyl and plastic. I might add, as she is from Germany, this is VERY serious vinyl ! Indestructible.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

I live in two worlds, and each is exquisitely lovely. This blog introduces you to some of the Tiny People who reside in my home and in my head. Yes, that's right...I said, in my head . Dear Reader, you have been warned.

Doll collecting has always been a part of my life and my imagination. I cannot remember a time when I did not love dolls. I had a baby doll I dragged, cuddled, slept with, bathed (even though part of her body was cloth), and ...umm, fed (yes, with real food). My mother was not only patient, she played along with me, and I spent gloriously wonderful mornings alone with her (I was the youngest of five children) while my sibs were at school, playing, "visiting", sitting on our wide, secluded porch talking to my baby, perhaps even occasionally give her a scold. One of my favorite dolls from my earliest year was "Amosandra" (I renamed her Ambrosia), an adorable little black rubber baby doll from the radio series, Amos and Andy. She always, but always went into the tub with me. I had to at last give her over to the elements a few years ago because her little rubber body had dried up beyond recognition, alas.

Later, when I began school, I found a way to write tiny little letters to my dolls at home, which I delivered after school. They received valentines and xmas gifts, and one year, Mother made them all ballet costumes and we had a dancing school. Mother said she could leave me in front of the doll counter at ZCMI while she shopped because she knew I wouldn't budge from my wide-eyed reverie at the Madam Alexander case. They were always my favorites. I cherished the little blue and pink booklets which pictured all the dolls in the collections. I had some of the little Women Lissy dolls. My favorite doll of all was my blond basic Lissy, whom I named Anna Christine. I still have her. I also had Betsy McCalls (both tiny and 14"), Muffie dolls, Terry Lee (strange dolls !), Tony, Miss Revelon, and Debbie Lee doll.

I gradually left my dolls to dream in their boxes in our basement when boys, orchestra, dance club, etc., began to replace them in my affections, but I always secretly stole glances of dolls in toy stores, and knew that someday I would return to Tiny People. They finally made their triumphant return after decades, marriage and babies. In 1999, I discovered Robert Tonner dolls, and although my favorite dolls had always been child dolls, I found a new love for fashion dolls, especially since they were so beautifully made with fantastic wardrobes. I also found Helen Kish Dolls, who make my beloved child collection.

Dolls have been a kind of therapy for me, and through them, I have met some of my favorite people on the planet.