August 10, 2025, Meeting

This meeting was a special celebration--the 50th anniversary of the Austin Doll Collectors Society. United Federation of Doll Clubs director for Region 3 Karen Allen attended and awarded the club with this certificate:

Members celebrated with punch, ice cream, and this special, and very appropriate cake (there was a miscommunication and the cake actually says "40th Anniversary," but it was delicious nevertheless). 

Members were asked to bring a doll that started their collecting or had special meaning to them. Jenell Howell brought this "Mabel" doll by Armand Marseille. . .

. . .and this doll by Simon and Halbig. She told the club that the dolls had belonged to her great-aunt. When Jenell was 12-years-old, her great-aunt showed the dolls to her and Jenell was fascinated by the dolls and the family history. She was told that the Halbig was displayed in a store window during WWI, but no one would buy German goods. Jenell's great-grandmother walked by the store window daily and although she admired the doll, she would not buy it. The day armistice was declared, Jenell said that her great-grandmother went to the store and bought the doll. The dolls were both dressed by her great-grandmother.

Myrna Loesch brought two childhood dolls. She got this Horsman Cindy doll for Christmas when she was about 21 months old.

Myrna received this Lissy by Madame Alexander in 1956.

Bette Birdsong shared this china head doll.  Bette told the club that when she was in the 6th grade, she visited some relatives and saw a Minerva metal head doll on a cloth body with china limbs. She declared that she wanted the doll and subsequently received it for her birthday. Years later there was a fire at her parents' house and although the doll's head was lost, Bette was able to salvage the body. Later she found a  beautiful antique china head in an antiques shop and the head fit the body she had saved.

Sylvia MsDonald told the club that this plastic baby by Hollywood Doll Manufacturing Company was the first doll she bought for herself as a child.

This Nancy Ann Storybook Doll was another childhood doll of Sylvia's. The doll portrays Goldilocks and was given to her as a gift.

Jan Irsfeld said that when she was a child she saw a picture of Cissy by Madame Alexander in a catalog and fell in love. Instead, her parents bought her a Dollikin by Uneeda. As an adult, Jan bought and restored this vintage Cissy and made her a dress that was a copy of the one she had seen in the catalog. The flowers on the tulle were all hand painted by Jan.

This composition doll was a childhood doll of Nancy Countryman and wears the dress Nancy made her.

Another childhood doll of Nancy's, inherited from a cousin.

She also brought this vintage Barbie by Mattel. Nancy said that she started to collect Barbie dolls in 1962. However, the first Barbie doll she purchased was a Christmas gift for her five-year-old son. Nancy explained that she was a school teacher and had to work late on Christmas Eve. Most of the stores were already closed and the only toy she could find was a Barbie doll. She bought it for her son, telling him that the doll was for his G.I Joe dolls to date.

Ann Meier shared this Madame Alexander Portrette doll in her original trunk, filled with all sorts of hats and accessories. The doll and trunk are entitled "Mrs. Malloy's Millinery Shop." 

David Craig displayed this Tiny Kitty by Robert Tonner. He told the club that the doll's beautifully-made clothing reflects his love of fashion from the 1950s and 60s.

Elaine Jackson brought her childhood Toni doll.  When she was 10 years old, Elaine's mother told her that Santa could bring her either a new bicycle or a Toni doll.  Elaine could not decide which she wanted and Christmas day found she had a new bike. After Christmas, her mother took her to the store and using money saved from her allowance, Elaine bought her own Toni doll.  Even though the doll was on sale, Elaine did not have enough money, so her mother helped her pay for it, but afterward deducted the debt from Elaine's allowance.  

Elaine had also recently acquired this wooden ballerina carved by Austin artist Nancy Grobe. Grobe, who was once a member of our club, eventually had to give up carving because of arthritis and became a skilled painter. Elaine said that this doll is one of Grobe's early creations.

Pam Hardy shared this Bye-lo baby. She told the club that she had always wanted a Bye-lo and had said that when she finally acquired one she would stop collecting. Instead, she ended up joining our club.

Sharon Weintraub displayed two dolls from her collection. When she was around 10 years old, she went to visit some relatives in Florida, including an aunt who collected a wide variety of antiques, Sharon was fascinated by the aunt's collection and when they left, the aunt gifted her a low brow china doll head. Sharon started checking out books about dolls from the library to learn more. Sadly, later the head was broken when a shelf was moved. The family was going on vacation to Portland, Maine that summer and Sharon's mother said that they would go antiquing and look for a doll to replace the broken head. The little doll in brown by Armand Marseille was found in a Maine antique shop. Shortly afterwards, the great-aunt of a friend of Sharon's was moving into a retirement center and wanted to find someone to take her two childhood dolls, a Simon and Halbig shoulder head doll on a kid body (the doll in the antique black dress) and a Florodora doll by Armand Marseille. These became the second and third antique dolls to join Sharon's collection.