It's Mother's Day Madness at the Millennium Museum!

Today's Museum update goes out to moms and grandmas all around the world. Raising children is a lot of hard work, and it often seems like a thankless task. So, just for you, here are some all-new Millennium Items to go with that breakfast in bed.

(Or: "Girls, if you're reading this, he's single!")



(The one on the left was a picture taken with my camera; the one on the right was scanned)


Dolls and Doll Reader were two special-interest magazines for serious doll collectors. They were, that is, until 2012, when the two merged into Dolls. The two titles share in common their theme and journalism, so joining forces would seem a natural move. My mom has an extensive collection of both titles, going back to 1992 or so; in January of this year, I realized that there had to be at least one Millennium issue for each.

I wasn't disappointed! Both titles celebrate the New Millennium in a major way--these issues are jam-packed with advertisements for Year 2000-themed dolls, ornaments, and other collectibles. Surprisingly, Doll Reader cracked the bubbly later than Dolls: its Millennium issue came out in February 2000, compared to December 1999/January 2000. 

Besides the wealth of advertisements, which I will post separately in later Museum updates, Dolls ran an article in two parts called "Vision Quest." In this feature, Dolls writer James van Maanen asked seventeen high-profile dealers, including Chicago native Gigi Williams of Gigi's Dolls and Sherri's Teddy Bears fame, about their thoughts on what the new century might hold for the world of doll sales and collecting.

Therefore, without further ado, I will summarize each dealer's thoughts and predictions.

The first dealer to share her thoughts is Alisa Benaresh of New Jersey, whose primary specialty is (was?) contemporary doll art, "which evolved from the worlds of dolls and fine art and has emerged as an art form unto itself." She cites artists such as Hanna Kahl Hyland, Liz Shaw (no, not that one), Peter Wolf, and Japanese artist Takahashi.

Esther Bright, also of New Jersey, believed that trends lie in the materials dolls are made of. For example, she mentions that porcelain dolls sold well 15 or 20 years prior to 2000; as the porcelain trend gave way to vinyl dolls in the 90s, the pendulum would either swing back towards porcelain or forth to new and unusual materials--she conjectures that titanium might be a possible trend.

New York's Louis Camilleri, owner of Dear Little Dollies, felt that the future of doll collecting and retail lies in the Internet. A full five years before Youtube became popular, Mr. Camilleri predicted the rise of "video exposure" as a means of establishing one's presence.

(I should point out that, in 2000, it was possible to watch video online thanks to Apple QuickTime, RealVideo, and other programs, but there was still a lot of untapped potential.)

But, he warned, two other factors must be considered: "refinement and sophistication." Doll buyers have become more educated over the years, and as this trend moves forward, "the hobby of doll collecting will continue to move...into the realm of sculptural art."

Maryanne Corbett Gorman, again of New Jersey, held a different viewpoint from either of the three previous dealers. In her mind, a doll's play value is the most important trend. Interestingly, she brought up the Lee Middleton Company's toppling of American Girl--then a giant in the doll industry--as proof. In her mind, American Girl fell from the #1 spot because its dolls' personalities were too defined, and girls could not use their imaginations in the same way that they could with a "blank" doll.

Still, Ms. Gorman knew of the huge collectors' market, and she nominated Robert Tonner's doll, Tyler Wentworth, as Doll of the Millennium, citing Tonner's no-holds-barred approach to creating Ms. Wentworth's clothing. "He uses cashmere and silk in a coat, beaded silk in a dress. It's all couture quality," she wrote.

Marie Gardyne of Albany, CA, agreed with Maryanne Gorman's assessment of Tyler Wentworth, but noted that Effanbee's then-upcoming doll of newspaper comic heroine Brenda Starr, could give Tyler Wentworth a run for her money; Ms. Gardyne also believed that cloth dolls, such as Raggedy Ann and Andy, could prove to be a significant trend. But she also expressed her distaste for doll discounting, especially when it concerns dolls made by high-profile artists. In her view, discounting undermines a doll's collectibility.

Deborah Hellmann of Chicago, IL, felt that 21st Century collectors might look to broaden the range of their collections with "character" dolls; also, like Marie Gardyne above, Ms. Hellman saw potential in dolls made from fabric, wood, and materials other than the usual porcelain and vinyl.

New York retailer Brigitte Hess predicted (somewhat vaguely, I thought) that dolls would continue to move into fine-art sculptures, and that only the finest, most original artists would survive in the years to come.

Kim Malone, who owned (still owns?) the Dollery in Massachusetts' Merry Christmas Shoppe, firmly believed that vinyl and resin would be the dominant forms of expression in the new century, if only because high-quality dolls can be made from them less expensively than from porcelain. (Not cheaply, mind, but less-expensively.)

In the world of doll artists, Ms. Hess held that the two most important artists would be Hildegard Gunzel and Annette Himstedt.

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Well, I think I'll "close up shop" for now. It's been a long day, and a long week. Tune in tomorrow for my summary of "Vision Quest, Part 2," analysis of the article, and the "On This Day" feature.