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 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, tanks, and tractors. So collecting dolls became, and has remained, something of a guilty pleasure. I think this remains one of the key differences between male and female doll collectors. For a woman who collects dolls it’s really no big deal – the worst she might be accused of is extravagance, or someone who’s very unkind might mutter something about arrested development, but on the whole it won’t be thought of as particularly unusual. For a guy, however, it’s a whole different can of Barbies and many people just don’t get it, which I think is why doll-collecting groups are often well-attended by men as a kind of peer-support.
Then there’s the other typical male obsession with lists and putting things into order, things with which any male collector of anything, whether 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. Women may have a more eclectic approach and might choose a doll based on an emotional appeal. If they like it they’ll pursue it even if it falls outside their habitual collecting remit, like “no big-headed dolls”, or “only vintage”, or “nothing other than fashion dolls”.
Now I must ‘fess up as to my areas of interest – it’s only reasonable. I love to find out the story behind the dolls, then to write about them, fixing them up if necessary, and taking pictures. This maybe sounds a bit cold and analytical (and male?), but it’s not to say that I don’t get passionate about certain dolls, because I do! Nothing gives me more pleasure than 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 (oh no, another guilty pleasure – but that will have to wait for another column). However, within my seemingly random nature of collecting, I do impose a limitation so that it falls within a manageable framework. So – I will only collect dark-haired dolls, that’s it. Slightly odd, I realize, and of course I can get round this and break the rules by adding in a few wigged dolls. I’m also allowed to break the rules by having a tiny number of platinum-haired dolls, as these count as monochromatic in the same way as the raven haired beauties do. Not much of a rule really, I know.
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?
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