HINSDALE, N.Y. — For many people, a doll is nothing more than a child’s toy that is soon outgrown, forgotten, given away or thrown out.
Not so for members of the Southwestern York-Penn Doll Club who not only cherish their dolls, but review their history, educate others on their historic significance and create their own.
The club, which comprises residents from New York state and Pennsylvania, was founded in 1972 by a group of friends who had gathered at a home in Cuba to talk about dolls, show off their collections and exchange information. Now, 46 years, and several name changes later, the club is a member of the United Federation of Doll Clubs and is going strong with monthly meetings attended by more than a dozen members.
“The camaraderie and sharing our love of dolls” is why members enjoy the organization, said club treasurer and doll maker, Wende Kenyon of Belmont. “It’s educational and there is so much to learn.”
For example, a club presentation at Chapel Ridge assisted living facility in Bradford, Pa., last month provided information on Kewpie dolls made in the 1930s through the 1960s at the former Cameo Doll Company of Port Allegany, Pa.
“The main thing behind dolls, which are a child’s toy, is it taught children their place in society,” Kenyon explained. “During Victorian times, they taught young girls how to be mothers and young ladies.”
She said girls also learned how to sew while making clothing for their dolls.
Molly DeCapua, a charter member from Olean, said she remembers the Toni Doll in the 1950s even taught girls how to give their dolls perms.
“The kids designed the doll’s hair a special way with perm (solution) that was sugar water,” DeCapua recalled. “That (doll) was around about 10 years.”
Kenyon said some of their members also have Barbie dolls, while others, such as herself, collect the Ginny doll made by the Vogue Doll Company from the 1920s to the 1970s. The doll was named for the daughter of the company’s founder, Jennie Graves.
“They’re just small dolls, and they’re my particular interest,” Kenyon said, noting she has a model believed to be from the 1950s. “They were made to play with, and they were made to dress and comb their hair. They were a child’s fashion doll with tons and tons of clothing, shoes and accessories.”
Karen Ostrum of Bradford, Pa., said she has a large collection of dolls that are fun to talk about and show to other club members.
“I have antique dolls, but I also have modern dolls and artists dolls,” Ostrum shared.
She said a number of club members regularly give presentations on dolls during their meetings.
Presentations can be historic in nature by supplying background information on dolls, such as from the Civil War era, and how they tied in with society.
Kenyon said the group’s parent organization, the United Federation of Doll Clubs, has a new doll museum in Kansas City, Mo., which houses a doll from the Civil War era.
“All the dolls are kept in a place where the temperature is regulated,” she said, noting the Civil War doll had been donated to the Sanitary Fairs to raise funds for the care of wounded soldiers.
“The Sanitary Commission was started to help returning Civil War (Union Army soldiers) who were wounded,” Kenyon explained. “Every big city (in the North) would have a Sanitary Fair where they would gather things to auction off or sell” to raise funds.
She and Ostrum said they often give historical presentations on antique dolls and their connection to society.
“This is nothing, you would just be amazed” at the historical significance of dolls, Kenyon added.
Doll makers in the club include Sandy Lockwood of Humphrey, who makes dolls of muslin, as well as from cotton T-shirts. Three of her dolls were made to look like her mother-in-law, her mother and her husband.
“It kind of started with my mother-in-law who passed away and my daughter had been close to her,” Lockwood said, noting she made the doll of her late mother-in-law for her daughter.
She said she has also been commissioned to make dolls in the image of other people.
Club member Betsy Orlando, a well-known doll maker from Belmont who also teaches at the John C. Campbell Folk School Folk School in Brasstown, N.C., presented this week’s program on her dolls.
“The weird thing about it is I never liked dolls as a child,” Orlando admitted. “My mother adored dolls and had over 3,000 antique dolls. I started making dolls for her because I couldn’t afford to buy any for her.”
Orlando makes cloth dolls from her own patterns and has entered her work in competitions that have included the Houston Folk Show.
For more information on the club, which meets for dinner and presentations at 6:30 p.m. on the last Wednesday of every month at Hinsdale Methodist Church, contact Ostrum by email at kostrum@gmail.com.
