14 Herald - Lantern - Dispatch 12 February '86

Antiques

1 By Arthur H. Schwerdt

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There is no doubt that dolls are big business. With prices ranging in the thousands of dollars, investors will continue to be attracted by the generous profits to be made. But the heart of the doll world, both in Cape May and across the globe, will always be with the casual collector. Yes. dolls will always be important to little children, but more important is the little child inside each of

the thousands of casual doll collectors. THESE ARE the people , who own about 20 or so dolls and have little or no. idea what their collection is worth. Love lights in their eyes, i not dollar bills, when they i see a doll in a shop, and j they will purchase that doll I on instinct rather than on i any critical appraisal of its markings and pedigree. | Millions of dolls are sold <

this way each year, and beautiful collections are assembled. The fact that these small collections have .increased in value over the years is gratifying to their owners only because they have

managed to indulge a passion at the same time. ANTHROPOLOGISTS j have found that making ' and possessing human images is as old as the human 1 race itself. These images 1 have traditionally been > associated with hope, fer1 tility and abundance. » A primitive man or i woman would make a doll > baby as a way to inspire a > mate to get together to f make the real thing. Young women made beautiful doll I children when they were I pregnant, feeling that her I imagination and hanI diwork would help to develop a healthy child inside them. When the child was born, it would be this doll which would often become its first plaything. WITH FEW exceptions, dolls are usually associated with girls, and their forms are usually female. In fact, the Greek work for doll, I "kore", is also one of the | words for girl. In classical times, young 1 Greek maidens would offer I their dolls to one of the Olympic goddesses. Which goddess she chose could have a profound effect on the rest of her life: Venus - Love , ] Hera -Wife/Mother; Artemis = Chastity/Independence. Doll accessories have been around for a long I time too. The recently discovered body of a young Roman girl buried about 100 B.C. was found to have been interred not only with her doll, but also with a full line of doll's clothing and cosmetics. FROM FRENCH fashion dolls to rag dolls, dolls are as varied as the people who collect them. If you are interested in starting a collection of your own. here are a few tips: Start your collection with less expensive dolls until you can learn more about the market. Shop with your heart. You can begin by \ placing a classified ad in your local paper and pinning up some cards at the I 'local supermarket or laundryTell people that you are willing to give a good home j to the old dolls they were I thinking of discarding, or that you are willing to \juy

their dolls for a modest price. GARAGE SALES, yard sales and flea markets are a good place to find dolls at a reasonable price, too. Local antiques shops, even if they don't specialize in collectibles, are bound to have some dolls around that they will be willing to part with for less than the market value. I have seen dolls in just about every shop in the county, many of them are great values; they just need a good home. You should also do some reading. , I CAN SUGGEST: Doll Collecting For Fun and Profit by Mildred and Colleen Seeley, The Collector's i History of Dolls by Constance Eileen King, and Dolls - The Wide World Over by Manfred Bachmann. All are available at the Library in Court House. THERE IS also a market for broken dolls and doll i parts. I recently received a letter from a couple in i Villas asking if I knew of anyone who repairs dolls 1 and needs parts, or who has 1 doll parts that might help 1 them to restore some of the broken dolls in their < collection. ' If there are any other 1 such people out there, 1

please drop me a line and I'll be h&ppy to put you in contact with one another LAST WEEK I listed the prices of some of the more expensive dolls on the market. Here's a list of some of the more reason-ably-priced dolls for the new collector to consider: EFFANBEE, Cinderella, storybook (11 in.) $20. EFFANBEE. Tinkerbell $35. TASTYCAKE advertising doll $15 CHATTY CATHY, original tagged dress $35 TINY TEARS. 1956 (11 in.) $25 IDEAL, Toni, Original dress < 15 in. ) $55 EFFANBEE is a good name to look for in moder-ately-priced collector dolls. Black dolls have/ skyrocketed in price lattfCy and their value will cao/ tinue to increase. Also, be on the lookout for character dolls, e.g.. Eskimo, Farmer, Chinaman. Ballerina; they're a very good value these days. (Arthur Schwerdt. coowner 0/ The August Farmhouse. on Route 9 in Swainton. invites questions c/o this newspaper.)

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