Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 1980)
Doll collecting isn’t just for kids anymore By JIM GERSBACH Of the Emerald Baby-blue eyes stare fixedly out of decapitated heads as crowds mill about stacks of naked bodies and assorted limbs. A well-dressed woman picks up a child’s foot and asks, “How much is this?" Such body trading was a fea tured attraction when Eugene area doll clubs recently held their sixth annual Doll and Toy Festival at the Lane County Fairgrounds. Doll festivals bring together dollmakers and collectors from around the West Coast to buy and sell dolls, doll accessories and toys of all sorts. Dolls are one of mankind's oldest toys. Prehistoric Indian girls played with dolls made from cornhusks. In the 18th and 19th centur ies, dolls and dollhouses were considered fine art, and girls received elaborate dolls dressed in the fashions of the time. The Eugene doll convention, however, caters to the adult who collects dolls. Skylight Refectory jum I French Roast COFFEE l sn Small .30, Large .50 lEUGENEI 115 W. Broadway On the Downtown Mall 343-1288 Mon-Fri 9-5:30 Sat. 9-5:00 BAGS Nike $15.95-19.95 Adidas $9.00-32.95 New Balance $21.95 Head $25.95-50.95 Check out our soft luggage— Diamond Brand Caribou 9he Swiss Colony Payless Drug Store Willamette Plaza 57 W 29th Ave Eugene Gifts ready to take home or mall! Great gifts to choose from! Great Gift Ideas! Everyone Enjoys Country Favorites $9.95 Ask for Gift 102 Fabulous foursome includes our delectable Beet Log and Summer Sausage that go so well with the delicious Cheddar and Brick Cheese. Season’s Surprise Christmas Cheer $8.95 Ask for Gift 340 Zesty Smokey Beef, Beef Salami, Cheese and Sharpy Cheese. Cheddar . "The doll thing is very under ground,” says Susan Denham, a dollmaker from Cottage Grove who has made porcelain dolls for four years. "It's a quiet thing. Dolls are sold from one person to the other with no advertisements in the paper.” Denham says doll collectors range from those who buy dolls ready-made to those who pur chase only the finished body and make all the clothes them selves. Like most dollmakers, Den ham purchases molds of an tique dolls from companies in the Southern and Eastern Unit ed States. She then makes rep licas to paint and dress ac cording to her clients’ whims. Most buyers choose dolls with the same hair and eye color as their family members, Denham says. Prior to World War I dolls were numbered, Denham says. And beginning in the 1920s they were given names. "They found out that dolls with names sold better so nat urally they began naming then, Denham explains. Another dollmaker at the fes tival specializes in dolls with personalities. Sharon Hays, from Joseph in eastern Oregon, makes dolls out of fresh Red Delicious apples that shrink to the size of a walnut when dried. She peels them with a house hold paring knife, carves out a face, dips them in salt water and dries them for a week. After molding the shrunken and wrin kled face into its final shape, Hays inserts wooden beads for eyes, tints the apple faces with watercolors to add a life-like hue and sprays them with acrylic to preserve them. Hays says she finds most of the characters for her apple art in the cowboys, farm wives, ranchers, trappers and Indians of eastern Oregon. One is an old school marm reciting from a book. Her eyes peer sternly over the tops of her spectacles. A bright red apple stands on her miniature desk, a present from an unseen student. Quality*you can taste. In this era of mass produc tion, 55 days is a long time. Many major breweries think it’s too long to wait for beer to brew. To get more beer faster, in some cases less than two weeks, some brew ers are willing to make sacrifices. As a result, the use of additives, foam agents, malt syrups and hop extracts has become common in manv beers today. Theodore llantm Hamm’s Brewmasters aren’t willing to cut these comers. They start with the finest raw ingredi ents and artesian water, and allow a full 55 days for natural fermentation and brewing. The result is a full, fresh, robust flavor found in every glass of Hamm’s brewed today, just as it was when Theodore Hamm poured the first one in 1865. But don’t take our word for it — ask for Hamm’s today, and taste our quality for vourself. A tradition of quality since 1865. Coast Distributors, serving Lane County since the repeal of prohibition. SPECIAL DIAMOND THREESOME For the bride1 En chanting wedding set features 4 dazzling diamonds 18990 Impressive mat ching 3 diamond wedding band for the groom. 12990 Save on all 3 rings 29900 See our beautiful selection of affor dable bridal sets Student Accounts Welcome DOWNTOWN Dai|y 9 3O S 30 VALLEY RIVER Fr'dtjy Night til 9 686-1787 the Diamond Peopie .JOMF O* KktfSMl DltMtWO V*! ut S JEWELERS
