October 29, 2008

Denver Museum of Dolls, Miniatures, Toys

It was another beautiful warm sunny day. We don’t like this RV park much, it is crowded, small spots in a not that great an area but decided to stay another day anyway because we don’t feel like moving. We drove downtown to see a museum and I enjoyed looking at the old buildings like the mint, State capital building and large historic houses. We checked out a Camping World and then relaxed in the motor home.


Denver Museum of Dolls, Miniatures, Toys

The museum is in a nice historic Dutch-Colonial home built in 1899 called Pearce McAllister Cottage. There several dollhouses, one in particular were a huge mansion with a large landscaped yard. There were lots of dolls; some were dressed as well known women in outfits that they wore for special occasions. There was a very large collection of raggedy Anne dolls. I love looking at the really tiny things, like clothes, pictures, ornaments, food, dishes. I bought a tiny cake mix master and a book for my own dollhouse. One of their prized exhibits is some Japanese friendship dolls. In 1926 a gentlemen collected over 12,000 blue, eyed dolls that said “mama” and sent them to Yokohoma in Japan for the Japanese children. In return Japan sent 48 dolls (known as friendship dolls) to the USA, one for each state. Some of the dolls are 2 feet high and came with their own furniture and tea sets and are in traditional costumes. They were put in museums then in WW II they were put away. There is a society, who is trying to locate the dolls and restore them.





























2 comments:

goooooood girl said...

your blog is very good......

Isla Deb said...

My mom used to make Raggedy Ann dolls. Thanks for the memory...great photos!