Introduction
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Hello! Welcome to the fourth issue of British Doll Showcase, a magazine in which two collectors invite
you to view some of their dolls - a kind of internet museum! Susan and Jenna are
collectors on a budget, and so most of our dolls are modern vinyls, but we also
have some hard plastics, compositions, and bisques. In each issue we'll be
describing a few of the dolls, and their marks, history and costume. There will be
plenty of illustrations, too. We hope that visitors to our website will enjoy reading
about the dolls, and maybe our information will help them to identify some
strangers in their own collection. By the way, the title - British Doll Showcase - just
means we're based here in Britain. Our doll collection is international!
Perhaps we should tell you a little about ourselves - we are a mother and daughter who both love dolls. Susan (mother!) has several of her childhood hard plastic and composition dolls, as well as a large collection of costume dolls - both foreign and British. She also collects old bisques and modern porcelains. Jenna (daughter!) has all her childhood vinyls, as well as many Sindys, Barbies, Amanda-Janes, Lady Lovelocks and various teen types. She has also built up a large, themed collection of dance dolls, especially those dressed as ballerinas, as she is studying ballet as a career. The collection is also home to numerous teddy bears - so they will need a special page too. You'll notice that the majority of our dolls have names - this is partly to help with our indexing system, and partly because we believe dolls need a name to feel loved. Each new acquisition is given a name (usually lightly pencilled on the foot) and then entered under that name in a notebook, complete with full details and description. Another notebook lists the dolls in date order, and a third lists them under manufacturer, so it is relatively easy to look up any doll. It might sound complicated, but we've found the system works well for us. Each new arrival is photographed too. |