What is it about dolls that makes otherwise sane adults devote so much time and energy to their collection? As a small boy, growing up in a 1960s British seaside town, my fairly-liberal parents allowed me to have a doll or two to play with. I think their hope was that I would grow out of it. They probably realized there were plenty of doll-playing opportunities with the neighborhood kids, maybe they felt it was safer to keep it under one roof, where they could monitor the situation.
But even from an early age, I was aware that this wasn’t what was expected of me as a boy. It wasn’t something either of my male cousins or indeed my little brother went in for – they were more than happy with their trains, trucks, and tractors. Collecting dolls became, and has remained, my guilty pleasure. Particularly for a guy, doll collecting is a different can of Barbies and many people just don’t get it. I think this is why doll-collecting groups are often well-attended by men as a kind of peer-support.
There’s also a stereotypical male obsession with lists and putting stuff into order, things with which any male collector, whether of snowglobes, stamps, or scrimshaw, will identify. Ranking, tick-box completion, and an obsession for detail might all be included here. While I’m not saying that all men have a trainspotting tendency when it comes to collecting, maybe there is an inclination for us to find a subject area and then stick with it compulsively to the exclusion of all others: whether it be acquiring all of the Sybarites, or every single Fashion Royalty character, or the entire Silkstone range.
For myself, I love to find out the story behind the dolls, then to write about them, fixing them up if necessary, and taking pictures. Many collectors love the excitement of finding an old forgotten doll languishing in a garage sale or on eBay, especially if a bit of minor restoration is needed.
But I do tend to become obsessive about a particular line for a brief period, or maybe I’ll find some vintage knitting patterns that I can adapt for modern dolls (another guilty pleasure). I’m also a fan of wigged dolls for the added possibilities they offer.
Nowadays I’m not too bothered if folks don’t get it, and I’ve been lucky enough to meet a great gang of local collectors who get together every month to talk dolls and get the skinny on what’s new. They are a great source of inspiration and I would encourage everyone to join a neighborhood group, or set one up if none exists.
So… I didn’t ever grow out of doll-collecting. How about you?