The page for our upcoming doll show has been updated with a downloadable dealer contract and letter.

April 19, 2013, Doll Presentation

Member Sylvia McDonald shared pictures of a doll presentation she created for the April 19, 2013, Missions Banquet at First Baptist Church in Round Rock for Friendship International.  She displayed 60 dolls from her collection and reports that none of them wanted to go back into their cases when she got home!

March 4, 2013, Meeting

This month's program, by Beverly Evans, showed members how to sew a simple, but charming, dress for small dolls.  Beverly brought these tiny dolls modeling of the type of dress members would  make.

She also brought these diminutive darlings for members to practice on if they didn't bring a little doll to dress.

Beverly also supplied precut material and lots of lace and ribbon.

Members, following Beverly's easy instructions, went enthusiastically to work.

Two dolls show off their newly-sewn finery.

 

 The refreshment table was decorated in honor of the upcoming St.Patrick's Day.

During show and tell, several members displayed their newest dolls.

Several members also brought dolls they wished to sell.

February 4, 2013, Meeting

Elaine Jackson gave a program on metal head dolls.

 Elaine explained that German and American companies experimented with metal head and all-metal dolls, but although such dolls were certainly less fragile than bisque and china, they were never popular with the public.

Elaine told us that she believed that these two metal-head baby dolls were probably made in America.  

This metal head doll was made by Buschow and Beck in Germany and is marked "Minerva."

This doll has an aluminum head and was made in 1919 by Giebeler-Falk Doll Corporation in the United States.

An unusual Black metal head doll with blue sleeping eyes.

Made in Switzerland by Bucherer et Cie, this character doll has a composition head and hands, but has a fully jointed metal body.

Beverly Evans will do next month's program on how to dress an all-bisque doll with a pudgy belly.  She brought these little charmers as examples of the type of doll members will learn to dress.

Members brought some dolls they wished to sell.

 

November 5, 2012, Meeting

Our program for our November 5, 2012, meeting was our annual swap meet.  Members were invited to clean out their closets and cabinets and bring doll-related items they wanted to swap or sell.

Members quickly got into the spirit of the swap meet!

2013 Doll Show at a New Venue!

The Austin Doll Collectors Society 38th Annual Doll Show and Sale will be on October 19, 2013, at a new venue, the Norris Conference Center in Austin, Texas.  Located at Northcross Center near Anderson Lane and Burnet Road, the show is easily accessible via Mopac (Loop 1) or  Hwy 183 and offers plenty of free parking as well as dining options at many nearby restaurants.  We hope to see you there!

Pflugerville Public Library, September 2012

Members Myrna Loesch and Sylvia McDonald created a display of some of their delightful dolls for the Pflugerville Public Library.  

The dolls ranged from the 1880s through the 1940s and were made of a variety of materials, including bisque, composition, and hard plastic. Some  of the bisque heads were on jointed composition bodies and some dolls had bodies of cloth or kid leather with bisque or composition heads.

Some of the earlier dolls were made by German companies, such Simon and Halbig, Shoenau and Hoffmeister, Armand Marseille, Heubach Koppelsdorf,  and J.D. Kestner, while later dolls were produced by American companies, including Effanbee, Cameo, and Madame Alexander.  Below, you can see examples of the popular Kewpie and Patsy dolls.

The solemn little boy is a cloth doll stuffed with deer hair and hand painted by German artist Kathe Kruse, dating from the early 1900s.  His female friend cheerfully clad in red and white is McGuffy Ana by Madame Alexander, made in the 1930s and 40s, and the wee baby in the buggy is a Bye-Lo Baby designed by American doll artist Grace Putnam in 1923.

The display was well received and Myrna and Sylvia plan to do another display next September. 

September 3, 2012, Meeting

This month's program was about the United Federation of Doll Clubs annual convention in New Orleans.  Jean Cassel created this scrapbook to preserve all her convention memories.

Sallie Howard displayed some of the dolls she received at convention luncheons and events.

She also showed off some of her winning dolls from the convention competition room.

As well as some of her convention purchases.

Myrna Loesch displayed the diminutive doll dressing table she made at a convention workshop.

These dainty little doll boots were crafted at a convention workshop by Beverly Evans.

Lynda Marks displayed some of the dolls she acquired at the convention.

Jean Cassel showed off several Bleuettes and their outfits from the convention.

She also acquired this darling doll with her many outfits and accessories.

 

 Jean told the club about a convention program she attended on the Japanese Friendship Dolls.

Tracy McClain showed the club some dolls she found during a recent vacation jaunt.