Donate a Doll and Do a Good Deed!

Got some old dolls and doll-related items taking up space in your garage or storage room?  Would you like to get rid of the clutter, get a possible tax deduction, AND help a good cause?  The Austin Doll Collectors Society will hold its 39th annual doll show on October 18th, and the club always sponsors a charity booth selling donated items, with all proceeds going to Austin SafePlace and the Austin Children's Shelter.  If you have CLEAN dolls or doll-related items in GOOD condition and would like to make a donation, contact Sharon Weintraub: (512) 323-9639, sharon@weintraub.name, or Elaine Jackson: (512) 832-5663, elaine@gaj.com.  We will arrange pick up and provide a donation form.  The Austin Doll Collectors Society is a 501(c)(3) organization and donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. 

May 5, 2014, Meeting

The meeting opened with a presentation from Josh Eggebeen regarding the creation of the Austin Toy Museum.  Still in the planning stage, the museum will feature toys, comics, and games from the golden age of toys (the 1960s through the 1990s), such as Barbie, GI Joe, Transformers, and My Little Pony, but also hopes to include earlier games and toys.

In addition to permanent and rotating displays and custom dioramas, the museum will include an arcade of classic video games and rare unique prototypes.  The hope is to create not only one of the largest toy museums in the country, but also an educational resource and fun destination for toy lovers and families.

Josh discussed the current Kickstarter campaign, which seeks to raise $20,000 in seed money to cover start-up costs for the non-profit museum.  The campaign offers a wide variety of unique and fun gifts for donations, from tee-shirts to a custom-built diorama for the donor's favorite toys.

Member Mary McKenzie presented a program on Lilly, an early French fashion doll manufactured by Marie Antoinette Leontine Rohmer, who operated her workshop in Paris from 1857 through 1880.

  

Mary brought a reproduction Lilly that she made and dressed.

Mary's program took the form of a story told from the perspective of Lilly.

Members also brought dolls for sale.

April 7, 2014, Meeting

This month was the club's annual swap meet.  Members brought a wide variety of offerings to sell or trade.

Some dolls were nearly mint. . . .

and some were more "fixer-uppers."

Kathy Meador brought a variety of genuine children's cowboy boots.  The boots will be the centerpieces for the luncheon the club is sponsoring at the upcoming United Federation of Doll Clubs convention near San Antonio.  Members were asked to take a pair and, using fabric blossoms, create a bouquet of Texas wildflowers in one boot.

March 3, 2014, Meeting

The refreshment table was garlanded with the green in honor of Saint Patrick's Day.

Rebecca Richards did a program on the history of composition dolls, with many examples from her collection.

Other members brought examples of composition dolls as well.

Jennell Howell told the club about this rare doll representing Wingy Plenty from the Dick Tracy comic strip.

Some members brought dolls to share for show and tell.

President Pam Wolf told the club about her series of mystery novels.