From its outward appearance it could be a doll house. Once inside, the Doll & Toy House offers a looking glass chance to experience childhood once again.
Mildred Smith Coulton presented her first gift of antique dolls to the museum in 1954. Her personal collection numbers 350 examples that include bisque, china, papier-mache, celluloid, tin, brass and poured wax.
These dolls are more than just "girls play," because they had a lesson to teach, too. Called "Educational Dolls" these babies' cloth bodies are imprinted with arithmetic problems, names of the states, or the alphabet. Produced around 1905, they made learning fun!
"Carlotta" is just one of the fine china-head dolls in the exhibit. She is a tinted Dresden, dating to 1850 and elegant in a velvet dress with her blond hair caught up in a black net snood.
Other donors have and continue to add to this most treasured display. Toys, tea sets and a very special child's playroom are reminders of youthful pastimes in another day.
The English peddler doll sells her trinkets door to door, bundled in her homespun shawl. Her cloth painted face with rosy cheeks and twinkling smile shows she loves the life!
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