Valley Of The Dolls

A special event at the Valley County Pioneer Museum is being put on for the months of June and July. The thought on this exhibit was for local residents and visitors to the Glasgow area to come see the many beautiful dolls that our local community doll collectors have on display.

We were greeted by Ms. Barb Hoffmann, supervisor for the museum, and Mary Fewer, who is working at the museum this summer as a staff member. Ms. Hoffman who has been at the museum for about ten years, explained that doll collectors travel all over the United States to find these beautiful dolls. The Glasgow museum was very appreciative at the loan of the dolls for the exhibit.

Many of the dolls are foreign dressed in their native style clothing. There are Shirley Temple dolls and Kewpie dolls. There are large dolls and very small dolls in the exhibit. We were taken aback at how many dolls there actually were. It is quite a display.

Ms. Hoffmann stated that there is even a copy of an original French doll that is worth $24,000.

The German doll on display is a reproduction of a favorite type of doll in the 1800's with three faces. One face is smiling, one sleeping and the other is crying. To show each face, the head is turned to depict the emotion of the baby doll.

Many of the dolls are part of the Carolyn Fauth collection.

There is a display of whimsical Halloween dolls, all handmade by Janet Markle, who has hand-sewn each doll, and has hand-painted their faces and the detail is extraordinary.

There are so many dolls from the past that I am sure you will find something that attracts your eye. One of my favorites is the Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer dolls which will put a smile on your face, for sure. Go and see for yourself. You won't be disappointed if you are a fan of doll collecting.