Last Doll Show of the Spring

   If you read my last post, you'll know that I had a load of problems, one of which I thought at first was missing the doll show. Then I found out that I didn't miss it. It was this weekend instead! So yesterday I went to the doll show, the last doll show of the Spring in my area. And before we get behind again, here is just some of the best of the doll show from yesterday.

  Some of the first dolls I spotted were these Dionne Quintuplets.

The real Dionne Quintuplets were real quintuplets, born in Ontario, Canada in 1934.They were the first quintuplets to survive infancy, so they were very famous. In fact, the public were absolutely fascinated with the children. (My grandma had a framed picture of the teenage quintuplets on the wall of the bedroom we slept in when we visited when I was a kid.) Unfortunately, the children were removed from their parents' care by the Canadian government. A hospital was built where the children lived with caregivers, and the pubic paid to file through and watch the kids play. You can read the sad story of the Dionne Quintuplets on their Wikipedia page. Today, only two of the quintuplets are still alive.

  This dealer had some beautiful antique dolls.

Look at the Bette Davis Eyes on the girl in plaid.

  This doll is a Sweet Sue. I love her dress. You can see my Sweet Sue HERE, my Sweet Sue Sophisticate HERE, and my possible Sweet Sue of this size HERE, my larger possible Sweet Sue HERE. Sweet Sue was by American Character, but they weren't always marked, and  there were a lot of very similar looking dolls. The reason there were so many other dolls that looked like Sweet Sue, btu were made by other companies, is because at one point American Character, Arranbee (R & B), and Madame Alexander shared factory space, and doll parts! Can you imagine companies sharing like that now days?

  There were so many beautiful antique and vintage dolls at this show. They were out of my price range, but I loved seeing them. This bunch included Madame Alexanders, a possible Saucy Walker, and a couple of Shirley Temples. And the cute little guy with the sheep.

 

  Gorgeous dolls here.

  I really liked the two pressed felt faced dolls here.

  More antique ladies.

  Here's a batch of small dolls.

  I like the lady in black, right in front of Mark Twain.

  I must have photographed these dolls twice. The fence looking stuff in the background is because this show is at a sports center. There was actually some soccer practice of something going on in a different part of the room!

The girl on the left is making her third appearance in this post.

  Okay. Guess my favourite in this photo. I'm sure you guessed they it is felt faced doll in green at the front.

  Cute kids. I think the boy on the left stole Buddy Lee's clothes.

  These two little ladies are Baitz dolls, but not whistlers. I don't know if I have ever seen Baitz dolls that aren't whistlers before. You can see my Baitz doll, which is a whistler, HERE. Whistler dolls don't actually whistle, but their mouths are in a whistling position.

  This pretty group was at another table. They, and the group of Little Women dolls behind them, have wonderful faces.

 

  I'm wondering what the deal is with the little guy with the bad toupee. And he thinks the Kathe Kruse doll is suspicious!

  I quite liked the little girl in the pink and white dress. Even at half price I managed to resist.

  Of course, I like the doll on the right here.

  I talked to WendyL of WendyL Creations. She had some wonderful dolls. She has been making dolls for most of her life, and the practice hasn't gone to waste! They're really good.

  I don't usually go for the more gross dolls, btu I like these zombie dolls.

  I also really like the Jack O'Lantern dolls. They're heads are made of spun cotton, but not the preformed stuff. These guys are made from loose cotton that has been formed.

  But lest you think all her dolls are creepy, she also made these cute bunnies, which also appealed to me.

She also created these very colourful ladies.

  And yet another style of doll.

 And another one! And they're all so nice.

  She hand paints all the faces.

  These dolls were smaller ones, about 6 inches tall.

  What she had the most of were these little creepers.

  They're called Cauldron Critters.

  Wendy was really nice. Order something from her.

  Also at the show was my neighbour Cindy McGuire, from China Cupboard Bears.

  Cindy started making bears about 30years ago, and these days she makes all sorts of animals.

  I like this cute little pig.

  The big bear has an interesting nose, with stripes made of thread.

  I am so disappointed that this picture came out blurred! The dog is wearing an eye patch and has back wheels! Cindy's husband made the wheels.

 

  Cindy now uses all natural fibers. I bought the last of her fake fur at her yard sale a few years ago. I had the great idea of trying my hand at making stuffed creatures. Now all my fake fur smells like smoke and will have to be washed.

  This dealer had some very pretty dolls. 

  The one that caught my eye first was the girl in the yellow dress. I asked what kind of doll she is. The dealer told me, and, as usual, I forgot!

  There were also some Shirleys, a Charlie Chaplin on the right, and another pretty girl in yellow.

  A felt faced Scots doll, and an unusually realistic, (for er era), doll in red.

 

  George and Martha Washington!

  I love the doll in orange!

  Is the little guy in red a restored version of the little boy in my last post who was wearing a blue and white striped suit? 

  I like this Miss Curity nurse doll. There were lots of different Miss Curity nurse dolls, in different sizes and styles. This one, who was in wonderful condition except for her missing hat, is from the 1940's, and is about 21 inches tall. She was made by Ideal.

  This bride doll seems to be having second thoughts.

  I did buy something from this dealer, which I'll show you in a minute.

  There were a lot of dollhouse dolls at this show. This one, similar to Dollhouse Girl, was made in Germany..

  This doll was extra special.

She drew me to the dealer's table, but then I became obsessed with a basket full of tiny dolls. Welcome to this show's 'The Ones That Got Away'.

with me.  Maybe I'll come across them again at a future show. First of all, this lady made from chenille pipe cleaners.

  She would have been even prettier with her dress fluffed out and her hat stuck back on properly. Her hat was clever. It was made of a chenille stem, coiled around just right so that the end looked like the feather on the hat. Or maybe it was supposed to be a mink tail, because it looks like she's wearing a mink around her neck.

  The other one I really would like to have bought was a lady in winter clothes. She was one of a group of dolls made from the flat kind of clothes pins.

 

The one in the middle. I might have liked her male companion too. But definitely her.

  They were attached to stands that were labeled 'Eubank Dolls'.

  These three were also Eubank Dolls. 

  I looked up Eubank Dolls. They were made by a lady named Wilma Eubank Pulliam. From the 1930's to the 50's she handmade dolls in Hannibal, Missouri, home of Mark Twain, and sold to tourists. The dolls were larger ones than these, with molded heads, and measured 9 to 11 inches tall. They were characters from Mark Twain books, as well as Twain himself. In 1950 Wilma and her husband moved to Branson Missouri to open Eubank Dollhouse Shop. That might be where these dollhouse dolls were sold. At that time the Twain dolls were still made in Hannibal. So maybe she had people helping her make them by then.

  I was also tempted by these tiny dolls. They have porcelain heads, arms and legs.

  You know I love Dianna Effner dolls. I recognized the doll on the left as Willow right away. But she was a cloth faced doll. Apparently she was cloth over porcelain. She and her companion were made by a lady who specialized in this sort of doll. Of course, I forgot her name too! I was counting on being able to read it off Willow's tag, but I can't. 

 

  Let's finish up this tour of the doll show with some more handmade dolls, and then we'll see what I bought.

  We've seen this lady's dolls before on the blog. She was in another doll show post. Her dolls were good then, but I can see how much her talents have grown since then.

  Her dolls are needle felted. This one is Jane Austen.

  She was inspired to make this Oompa Loompa after watching the new Willy Wonka movie.

  She got the idea for the dog riding a chicken from a YouTube video!

  She takes commissions for special designs.

  So. What did I actually buy? Well, I found this colourful Nistis lady in a $5 box.

  Nistis dolls are very similar to Klumpe and Roldan dolls. I have a Nistis bullfighter, a Klumpe flamenco dancer, and a Roldan gardener girl, if you want to compare them.Klumpe dolls have distinctive inverted 'V' shaped eyebrows. I know this lady is a Nistis anyway, because she has her tag still attached.

  I love the faces on these dolls.

  A feature of Nistis dolls is their weird feet.

  I did say I stuck mainly to small dolls, didn't I? I know the Nistis lady isn't that small, at about 10 inches, but these dolls, which I got from the dealer with the Miss Curity nurse, are dollhouse size. 

 

I imagine they'll visit Kay and Jeffrey at some point.

  They're German dollhouse dolls from the 1930's. The one has a bit of a wonky eye, but I don't think I should try to correct her vision. What do you think?

  I bought another German dollhouse doll from another dealer. She was cheap because she needs restrung. I can manage that.

I dropped her leg as I was getting her ready for this picture. I swear that toe wasn't broken off when I bought her, but we couldn't find it. I even had Fuzz look, and Fuzz has always been able to find anything.

  Continuing what seemed to be a trend for this show, I bought yet another German dollhouse doll. This one is an Erna Meyer doll though.

  She's a little dirty, but she's a really old one, probably from the 1930's or 40's.

  You can read some things about Erna Meyer dolls in my post on my Erna Meyer dollhouse lady.

  I didn't buy those Eubank dolls, but from that dealer I did buy this tiny lady. She's only a couple of inches tall.

  She looks a little displeased with something! She was made in what was then Czechoslovakia. She has a cloth face, but wooden hands and legs.

  And okay. I did buy one big thing. She was cheap though, and I have been wanting one. She's a Whimsies doll, by American Character.

  I think she might be Susie the Snoozie, because she has her eyes closed, and only one rooted bit of hair in the front. In that case, she should be wearing a flowered nightgown.

  Apart from that unmistakable face, you can tell she's a Whimsies because she's stamped on the back of her head.

    Well, that's it. See you again soon.