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Our age-old fascination with the human form in miniature must be acknowledged when we refer to dolls. The concept of a doll encompasses much more than a child's toy, and the charter members of the Granite State Doll Club were well aware of its broader meaning back in 1951 when they wrote the statement of the club's purpose.
Believed to be the oldest doll club in New Hampshire, the GSDC has been meeting regularly for 47 years, working to promote interest in doll collecting, and for the study and philanthropic use of dolls throughout the community.
Members of the club study dolls not only as playthings, but as decoration, antiques, historical figures, fashion models, and religious figures (such as crèche ornaments). Puppets and marionettes, automated dolls, china figures known as half-dolls which were made to be fastened onto some useful object (like a tea-cosie or pincushion), and dolls produced as useful items themselves, have all been examined by the club during monthly meetings both educational and entertaining, and, to quote more than one member, "a lot of fun!"
Founded by a small group of enthusiasts, the Granite State Doll Club was the outcome of a June, 1951 meeting in the Peterborough home of Major and Mrs. Erland Goyette. The first officers were Ethel McDonnell, president, and Ruth Whittier, secretary.
The club is affiliated with the United Federation of Doll Clubs, Inc., which currently claims approximately 15,000 members worldwide. Delegates from GSDC attend yearly federation conventions, and members have often contributed to the UFDC official quarterly publication, "Doll News" magazine.
The UFDC has 15 Regions in the United States, with GSDC belonging to the north-east Region 15, and several times the club has hosted successful regional conventions. Members have also taken an active part in the Federation, serving as Regional Directors and as judges and clerks for national exhibits, contributing to the national convention souvenir books, offering door prizes and acting as hostesses at convention events.
Each year at least one program is on a subject that has been researched and prepared by a member to give in-depth information on a particular aspect of doll collecting. These topics have had a wide range, including evaluating antique dolls, keeping doll records, learning the origin of Chinese "Door of Hope" dolls, and recognizing the construction and materials used in doll-making at various periods. New insights are constantly shared.
Programs are balanced, with member- planned presentations alternated by workshops, outside speakers, field trips, slide programs, and an annual auction. This year, GSDC is under- taking a doll show and sale on Oct. 11th in Concord, NH, which is planned as an annual event.
Other topics explored during meetings have been dolls made of wood, celluloid, china, metal and papier-mache. Paper dolls have been studied, as well as black dolls, baby dolls, dolls in foreign costume, and dolls manufactured here in America. As dolls have been made of a wide variety of materials, including combinations of different substances for head, body and limbs, new information constantly adds insights to under- standing the role dolls have played in history, commerce, religion, entertain- ment, fashion and the arts, and, of course, in their secure place in toyland.
Over the years, members of the Granite State Doll Club have followed the development of a special category of dolls handmade by modern doll artists. Several notable artists have been associated with GSDC. The present treasurer, Norma Mellen, is a member of the National Institute of Doll Artists and her work is cherished by collectors. Another doll artist member of GSDC was the late Gwen Flather whose highly original "needle-sculptured" cloth dolls are said to "tell the American story."
Dewees Cochrane designed dolls that have been successfully mass produced by the Eff-An-Bee Doll Company, and she is also known for her charming Portrait Dolls. Another favorite New Hampshire artist associated with the club in the past is Tasha Tudor who wrote and illustrated a number of delightful books that are widely read and loved.
Besides Tasha Tudor, there have been many writers among GSDC members, authors who have contributed to the ever-growing body of information about dolls. Their work has appeared in numerous publications featuring antiques, toys, and collectibles, as well as in books.
A notable example of books authored by GSDC members is the three-volume set of Handbooks of Collectible Dolls by Madeline Merrill and Nellie Perkins. Madeline Merrill also contributed carefully researched features to a number of publications such as "Doll Reader", "Hobbies Magazine", and the "Maine Antique Digest". Her final work, The Art of Dolls, published posthumously, is a comprehensive book, illustrated by her photographer husband Richard Merrill, who was also associated with the Granite State Doll Club for many years.
From the beginning, the purpose of GSDC was wider than studying dolls and spreading information about them.
The charter members had committed the club to community involvement and philanthropic action. Appropriate to the doll theme, projects at Christmas time were initiated which have grown over the years so that hundreds of children have received dolls and toys and other gifts during the holiday season.
Some of the charities the club has worked with are: the Child Guidance Center at Winant Home in Concord; Crotched Mountain Center in Greenfield; Veterans' Hospital in Manchester; Cedarcrest in Westmore- land; and the Laconia State School. A long-term project has been collecting and dressing dolls to be distributed each year by social workers of the State Welfare Department, and the club also makes annual donations to a number of worthy charitable organizations. Community involvement and charitable donations overlap, such as the Christmas project of decorating a tree with small gifts for the residents of the Merrimack County Nursing Home where a long time member, Marjorie Cooper, has been a nurse.
Dolls and related items have been loaned by the club for displays at the Visitors Center in the New Hampshire State House; the Concord Public Library; the New Hampshire Historical Society; the former Mt. St. Mary's College in Hooksett; and the Laconia Public Library.
Membership in the Granite State Doll Club is open to persons sincerely interested in collecting and preserving dolls, and the monthly meetings are held on the second Saturday, usually in Concord, NH. Membership chairperson is Helen Dyment, and anyone who might wish to join is advised to phone to ask for particulars and request an application form: 603-224-3372.
Current officers are President - Magel Burgard; Vice President - Brenda Thomas; Recording Secretary - Charmaine Rose; Corresponding Secretary - Gerri Cote; Treasurer - Norma Mellen.
Ruth Whittier, former charter member and president, wrote a history of the GSDC in 1981, on which this account had a firm and accurate base. Miss Whittier, a librarian at the New Hampshire State Library for many years, is remembered for her quiet enthusiasm, her warm friendship, her generosity, and her concern for truth and accuracy. At the end of her work about the club, she comments that it "commands respect from the public who no longer think that women who play with dolls are in their second childhood," and she goes on to say, "Probably the most valuable contribution the club has made to its members has been the enrichment of the lives of all both past and present through the hours of companionship spent in a mutual hobby and in many instances diversion from ones own problems at a time when most needed."
Let's hop that she was right in saying the Granite State Doll Club appears to be well on its way to observing a golden anniversary in the year 2001!
ED. Note: The First Annual Granite State Doll Club "Doll Show & Sale" is slated for Sunday, Oct. 11, from 10am to 3pm at the Bektash Temple at 189 Pembroke Street in Concord, NH. Doll appraisals and door prizes will be offered and lunch will be available. Admission is only $2 for adults; $1 for children under 12. Dealer inquiries should be directed to 603-472-3523. We hope you'll make an effort to attend this "first" doll show slated for the state's capital. May they have many more!
1998. What a year so far. Disastrous ice storm! Flooding rains! 6 mph speed limit on Lake Winnipesaukee!
What's Next?
Well, we'll tell you what's next. Something exciting. Something FUN! The 16th Annual Lakes Region Doll, Bear & Miniature Show and Sale. Follow the signs from Route 11A to the Gilford Middle High School on Belknap Mountain Road in Gilford, NH, on Sunday, August 16th. It's just a short distance from the Gunstock Ski Area. From 9:30 am to 3 pm you will find dealers from just about everywhere with tables piled high with dolls, bears, miniatures and accessories to tempt and delight you. And you never know where a Beanie Baby will turn up!
For your enjoyment, the club members' display this year is the NEWEST entry in the "Fashion Doll" arena. Move over, Barbie - here comes Gene!
Gene is a doll designed by Mel Odom, manufactured by the Ashton Drake Gallery. A young starlet of the 40's and 50's, she has taken the fashion world by storm. The Lakes Region Doll Club members are excited to introduce her to you, and hope you will take the time to see this special display.
This year's raffle is of an 18" child fashionable doll called Colleen. Tickets will be available at the show for a chance to win not only the doll, but her wardrobe. The winner of the raffle will be drawn at the end of the show.
Admission to this "ray of sunshine" show is only $2 for adults, and $1 for children under 12. Door prizes will also be drawn and lunch is available on the premises.
Instead of thinking "What's Next?", go to one of the best thing's happening all year in NH's Lakes Region...the 16th Annual Lakes Region Doll, Bear and Miniature Show & Sale. You'll be GLAD you did!
For more information, call Alice Ortakales at 603-524-0129 or 603-524-2925.
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©1998 Unravel the Gavel