Dolls have the ability to become intertwined with cherished memories. Some collectors embraced the opportunity to share these personal stories and photos of their beloved dolls.
Carol Allore said, “I am a big fan of the Little House on the Prairie TV show. As a child, I sat on my dad’s lap in his recliner every Monday night to watch the show. It is my fondest memory of my dad, who passed away on New Year’s Eve 2018. These dolls (Mary and Laura Ingalls) came to me from a doll rescuer in Australia. They are original Bratz dolls that have been repainted. The artist also made their precious little prairie outfits.”“This doll is a Simon & Halbig with a Bergmann body and belonged to my grandmother. She is wearing my father’s christening gown,” Carol Frosco said. “I had never seen this doll until after she died and my grandfather gave her to me. She means a lot to me as a family heirloom.” Angela Jackson has fond memories from this photo shoot of her doll Eliza, who is a DollZone Vita. She said, “I tried to capture her likeness as the Ophelia painting by John Everett Millais.” Jackson found the gown at a flea market and used a mirror, a painting, and a rose she dried herself to set the scene. “I feel that she has a forlorn look about her, which was perfect for this particular shoot,” she said. Marybel: The Doll That Gets Well belongs to Marsha Hemphill, who said this was her favorite doll as a child. She was made by Madame Alexander and came with accessories such as crutches, casts, and sticker spots for measles. Ralph Gilson said, “This doll is Snake Empress, a resin BJD by Wilde Imagination — Robert Tonner and Joe Petrollese — and she is wearing Tonner’s Blue Moon outfit. I’ve had this doll for many years now. I remember how the night looked the day before I posed her, and I wanted to capture that magical look of the ocean at dusk under a full moon. I think it is a great shot.”
Tabetha Waite said, “This is a china doll that belonged to my great-great-grandmother. For a long time, it was in the care of a cousin, but she sent it to my grandmother last year. She passed away this past June and now it is with me. This is special, not just because of the age and the history but because it was handed down through two generations of ladies raised by their grandparents. I will treasure it always and I am grateful for the kindness of our cousin for giving it to us. My grandma cried when she held it again.”Alice Harden said this doll is about 40 years old and originally belonged to her grandmother. “I played with this doll every weekend I spent with her,” she said. “It started the love I have to this day for dolls.” About 25 years after her grandmother’s passing, Harden’s father and aunt gave the doll to her. The doll has since become the centerpiece of Harden’s doll collection. She said, “The only thing I know about her is she was made in Spain. When I look at this doll and I hold this doll, I remember all the love that me and my grandmother shared through the baby dolls.” “This beautiful doll was the beginning of a wonderful doll friendship,” Carol Reilly said. “This Tonner Angelina was the first repaint I commissioned from the artist Jewelianne back in 2012!” William Moran shared this photo of Souvenir of the Library of Sarajevo by Brigitte Deval. He said, “This was distributed by Thomas Boland and Company at the 1996 Toy Fair. It is the only doll that I have seen that is a political piece. The piece was produced, and a portion of the purchase price was contributed to rebuild the Sarajevo Library that was burnt down in 1992. Two million books were destroyed. The library was reopened in 2014.”
