News From the Director

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

We hope you're feeling the love today, whether you're surrounded by bonbons and candy hearts, rose petals, or Beanie Babies!

In this monthly recap newsletter, you'll enjoy a preview of the museum's Valentine's Day decor, photos of our latest exhibit, a close-up look at one of our favorite miniatures, and a whole lot more!

Read to the end to see some fabulous photos from our Rowan Doll Society monthly doll club meetings at the museum, too!

With so much love,

Beth M. Nance

Founder and Executive Director

PS - be sure to check out our 2026 event calendar on our website, because we've added new events for spring and fall, including a virtual webinar on February 22.

New Photos: Super Saturday Sale

We have some new photos to share from today's Super Saturday sale.

Highlights this month include Raggedy Ann, Madame Alexander, and lots of goodies for model train enthusiasts:

Happy Valentine's Day!

We love decorating the museum to reflect upcoming reasons to celebrate. Of course that means a whole lot of pink, red, hearts, cards, and even paper dolls on display right now.

Take a look!

New Exhibit

Doll Beds & Bedding

Special thanks to Julia Bowden and Terri Correll for setting up a doll bed & bedding spotlight exhibit at the museum.

Doll beds and bedding may seem like a simple topic, but Julia highlighted the strong emotional connection they can make:

"The accordion bed was recently donated to a thrift store close to me - I thought it was so unique, as I had never seen another doll bed like the one I had as a child.

My father's parents made the bed and bedding for me - it has a handmade patchwork quilt. My niece and daughters both used the bed, too."

We also received these sweet reflections from the 1940s double decker bed donor Lois:

"My sister, Susan, and I got the beds one Christmas when I was 4 or 5 years old and she was about 8 years old. For years, we each got the same things.

As a teenager, I did use my double decker for my stuffed animals to sit on.

The double decker bed is one of those items that it seems like I had forever. My three granddaughters, Erin, Abby, and Sarah, all enjoyed playing with them until they’d outgrown dolls, so we downsized and donated them to the museum."

For the photos below:

Dressed by Ally Kat with some additions by Terri. Far-right bed made and dressed by Connie Campbell. 

Both 1-inch beds made by Lorraine Scuderi. 

Toys, Trucks & Tractors:

Ertl Toys

February features National FFA Week (FFA stands for Future Farmers of America), including Drive Your Tractor to School Day! It's a great time to enjoy some of our John Deere classics.

While helping us out with this newsletter spotlight, Ed left us this tidbit:

"Reminds me of the time I drove a tractor on the road for about 10 miles, back about age 16 or 17."

Vintage Ertl toys on display at the museum include a wide collection of John Deere toys. Here are some photos and a little history from our audio tour:

Frederic "Fred" Ertl founded the Ertl Company in 1945. He made his own toy tractors using the furnace in his home by melting down defective aircraft engine cylinders and pouring the aluminum into molds

He moved to a small manufacturing facility in 1946.

Some of the first toys made by Ertl were Allis-Chalmers WC and International Harvester tractors. The rarest Ertl models are worth thousands of dollars to collectors and enthusiasts today.

Fred Ertl Senior became ill around 1948, and Fred Junior took the reins of the company at the young age of 18.

He would continue to lead the company until 1992!

Ertl produced the first John Deere toy tractor in 1952. In the years since, the company has made millions of John Deere farm equipment toys! In 1982 alone, Ertl produced over 60 different John Deere farm equipment items.

In 1959, Ertl moved its manufacturing to a larger facility in Dyersville, Iowa, which is now the home of the National Farm Toy Museum!

On different occasions, Ertl has acquired licenses to produce die-cast vehicles and figurines as well as model kits for Thomas the Tank Engine, DC comics, and Star Wars.

In the early 1990s, Ertl made the “American Muscle” car line. Limited editions of 2.500 were very popular and are now worth up to $500.

Drive your tractor down to the museum in February and see these pieces of toy history for yourself!

Collection Spotlight:

Vogue Dolls

A spotlight on Vogue dolls and their history, including Ginny (and Ginnette), Jill, Jan, and Jeff - courtesy of our audio tour:

Jennie Graves, a 30-year-old mother of three, opened the Vogue doll shop in 1922. She bought and sold German bisque dolls that she dressed. During the late 1930s, she began producing her own composition dolls.

When her daughter Virginia Graves Carlson took over creative design in the 1950s, she gave the versatile doll her own name. 

Ginny was tough, portable, and affordable with an extensive wardrobe and wide availability from doll shops to drug stores.

Jill was Ginny’s big sister, a fashionable teen glamor girl. Debuting in 1957, she was 10.5 inches tall with high-heeled feet and three hair colors in a Sandra Dee-style angel cut flip ponytail.

Like most dolls, Jill existed to enjoy a huge wardrobe—everything from overalls to prom dresses to horse riding habits and swimsuits. And don’t forget the bags, hats, furs, jewelry, and custom furniture!

Like many other sisters of that long-ago world of elaborate fashion, Jill and Ginny often wore matching outfits.

Another sister, Jan, who had a slightly more modern look, appeared in 1958, along with Jill's boyfriend, Jeff. He was half an inch taller and had enough clothes suitable for escorting Jill anywhere.

As you can imagine, 1959 was a rough year for the fashion queen and her entourage as Barbie entered the scene!

We're lucky to be able to share these dolls with fans, collectors, and newcomers. We hope this history will let you see the museum's Vogue doll collection with fresh eyes the next time you stop by!

Miniature Magic:

Rachel's Southwestern House

You will love escaping into this warm Southwestern miniature on a cold day - and the story that goes with it will warm your heart, too.

“I knew I owed my friend a completed project…” 

Rachel’s Southwestern Dollhouse was completed by our Board Chair Lynn Frank and donated by the estate of Rachel Bonney.

Rachel Bonney was a professor of anthropology at UNC Charlotte. She researched and taught about Southwestern Native American culture. 

In her free time, she was a miniaturist. She belonged to the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts (NAME) for 38 years. 

In the 1990s, she began her plans for a 1:12 scale Southwestern doll house. She wrote articles focused on Native American artists who worked in miniature, including woven rugs, pottery, and baskets.

Despite all her inspiration and many other miniature projects over the years, Rachel’s Southwestern miniature house was never fully completed. Rachel passed away in May 2023 with the Southwestern house still a completed shell without paint, details, and floors—but with a huge collection of Native American artisan pieces, furniture, specialty lighting, and even landscaping supplies. 



She left the home to our museum Board Chair Lynn Frank. Lynn was amazed by what was still available to bring this vision to life.

Lynn filled in the gaps and created an absolutely breathtaking final concept that carries on Rachel’s passion and legacy in stunning miniature detail. 

Two miniature artists' visions become one completed project within the fine details of this truly magic work.

We agree with these reflections of our Board Vice Chair Kathy Gregg:

"The thousands of intricate miniatures fit so well into the theme. Lynn did a masterful job of completing this treasure."

See more of the exterior in this video:

Museum Moment:

A Lotta NIADA

Speaking of Kathy - here's a great museum moment that kicked off a celebration of the museum's NIADA collections, past and present.

“When this art doll became available, I knew the museum needed to own it...”

Kathy became interested in doll artist Helen Bullard because of her pioneering work in the doll field—including helping to start NIADA, or the National Institute of American Doll Artists. 

Helen Bullard began her career in 1932 as a writer in Tennessee and became interested in carving wooden dolls. She sourced clothing from her crafty neighbors. The project became so successful so quickly that Helen was soon teaching her neighbors to carve dolls, too! She was able to release and market a successful regional wooden doll line called Holly.

In 1963, she founded NIADA as its first president along with fellow handmade doll artisans Gertrude Florian, Magge Head, and Fawn Zeller.

During her career, Helen was also the director of UFDC Region 8, which includes North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and the editor of Doll News, the UFDC magazine, while serving as a member of the Chattanooga Doll Study Club.

So, what happened to NIADA? Well...

Decades after its 1963 founding, NIADA is still thriving today!

NIADA is now a global community of doll artists and doll art lovers.

From anthropomorphic dolls to automata to organic material dolls, methods used by doll artists have expanded, but the mission has remained the same: to preserve the love and art of handmade dolls. 

Art doll makers have an opportunity to attend an annual conference, request an artist critique, and apply to become an elected NIADA artist. NIADA Academy offers online courses, too. 

Here's a video tour of some of the NIADA creations we've been able to display at the museum:

Some of the featured artists in these photos and video include: Helen Kish, Goodie Bennett, Irma Park, R. John Wright, Betty Curtis, Bernard Ravca, Joyce Stafford, Maggie Iacono/Maggie Made Dolls, and Herta Forster. 

Last Look:

Rowan Doll Society

We are excited to share that the Rowan Doll Society has been growing as our monthly meetings continue inside the museum.

If you have helped us to spread the word about our hometown's UFDC club, thank you! Just look at all the joy that comes from connecting with fellow doll collectors.

Museum Memberships

This membership list was last updated on January 29 2026.

Your annual membership provides critical funding for our maintenance, acquisitions, and programming. To see the different levels of membership we offer and sign up, click here.

You can pay your dues by mailing in a check, or you can pay online.

Thank You! 

Thanks to you, our mission continues to preserve history, enrich the community, and spread joy.

Reply to this email if you’d like to connect with a member of our staff, volunteer, share feedback, or make a suggestion. We love hearing from you!