International Travelers

Member Sylvia McDonald, who has appeared a number of times on this blog sharing some of her extensive collection of international dolls, has made the difficult decision that many of us collectors will have to face someday--what to do with our beloved doll collections that have given us so many hours of joy?  She has made the generous decision to spread that joy by donating many of her dolls.  As reported earlier on this blog, Sylvia donated a set of beautiful hand-crafted Polish dolls  to the Polish Heritage Center.  What follows is her story telling how 102 of her international dolls traveled to Birmingham, Alabama:

How do you go from having 4 little plastic dolls that you and your mom dressed as international “foreign” dolls to a collection of about 150 international dolls? (If the truth be told, there would have been more if I hadn’t used restraint!)

As a young girl and on into high school, I was a part of the Girls’ Auxiliary (G.A.), an organization under the Woman’s Missionary Union of the Southern Baptist Convention (WMC).  Scripture memorization and missions around the world are the focuses of G.A.

One activity I chose to do was dress four dolls in international costumes. I’m sure my mom did more of the “dressing” than I did, but they are wonderful to have! Along with these dolls and learning about the lives of missionaries around the world, I grew to love international dolls and the people of these countries.

Through the years my family and I have had friends who have visited countries around the world, and I would ask them to bring me dolls or they would just bring me dolls from those trips. A college student on a summer mission trip brought me back five dolls from Russian areas with the $25 I had sent with him! 

Being a part of the Austin Doll Collector’s Society I have had opportunity to acquire many international dolls that are unique. It has been so nice to learn about the history and culture of various areas because of these dolls. I’ve displayed different groups of the dolls once or twice a year at events at our church where missions and international countries are involved. I’ve had Girl Scouts and other groups into my home to see the dolls over the years. Everyone has loved them.

These international dolls are just a part of my overall collection of dolls, and as I have gotten older I realize that my kids can’t manage all of the dolls. Thus the search of what to do with the dolls began. I was hoping to keep them in Texas at a university or a seminary, but had no luck there. I thought of WMU and G.A.! They began this craziness, so why not check with them? My son’s former Baylor roommate had some connections, and voila, the WMU wanted the dolls . . . and they wanted as many as I would send! 

It took me over a month to go through the dolls and decide which ones to send because there were some of the “first” ones and some from family, etc., that I wanted to keep. I also pulled out ones that had been given to me to send to family members of those who had given the doll to me. One of my first international dolls was a geisha from a young bride and groom serving in the military in Japan in whose wedding I was a candle lighter! They are no longer living, but I sent the doll to their daughter. An Australian swagman went back to the one who sent him to me. Peruvian dolls went to family members who had married Peruvians, etc.

This has been a labor of love, and yes, it has been hard to part with them. I have so many memories connected to the dolls and the people who gave them to me. I am thankful that the dolls will be displayed from time to time in the National WMU Building in Birmingham, Alabama, and when not displayed, they will be stored as a group so that they will be well cared for.

Now you may ask, do my shelves look empty? Absolutely not, unfortunately, but less crowded! Do I miss them? Yes, but hopefully the dolls will continue to bring joy to others who realize we are one big happy family of peoples the world over.