News From the Director

A place to celebrate...that's an idea that just keeps coming back to us as we continue to enjoy the new space your generosity has made possible for our museum.

Many of us are celebrating longer days and warmer weather as spring flowers begin to emerge and birds announce a season of hope by filling the air with their songs.

At the museum, we've spent the past two months celebrating doll collector legacies, incredible histories, art and culture, fellowship, passion, and community.

We have always envisioned our new museum as a place to gather and celebrate.

Whether you are a model train lover, a miniature maker, a youngster enjoying a special birthday, or an international visitor like Jeni Hankins, we hope you will find feelings of connection and joy every time your path leads you to our museum.

In this newsletter, you'll find upcoming occasions to celebrate with us as well as special moments from our community and photo & video highlights from the museum. Your support makes everything we do possible - thank you!

Beth M. Nance

Founder and Executive Director

Upcoming Events

Fill-a-Bag Bonanza

June 14

We're excited that our Super Saturday sales are back (click here for dates) -

but in June, there will be an extra-special shopping opportunity in place of Super Saturday at the same location to support the museum.

Buy an empty bag (or bags) from us and fill up with all the dolls, toys, and miniatures of your choice! It's a fill-a-bag bonanza at our epic June 14 Bag Sale!

Sat, June 14

10 am to 4 pm

at the First Community Center of Spencer

215 5th Street

Spencer, NC 28159

$5 Admission or Free for Museum Members

$10 Per Bag - No Limit!

Pay at the Door (Cash or Card)

World Doll Day

June 14

Free Admission to the Museum!

Before or after you shop the Bag Sale, head over to the museum for FREE ADMISSION and a full day of fun as we celebrate World Doll Day!

Sat, June 14

10 am to 4 pm

Free doll for every guest.

Free admission to the museum.

at the NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures

440 South Salisbury Ave

Spencer, NC 28159

No registration required.

Dates Announced!

Annual Doll Luncheon & Miniature Luncheon

Imagine a room full of people who are as passionate about dolls or miniatures as you are...

Join us for our annual luncheons celebrating the doll community and the miniature community! We will email you when registration opens!

In the meantime, save these dates:

Annual Doll Luncheon (click for details)

Sat, Sept 6

9:30 am to 3 pm

Annual Miniature Luncheon (click for details)

Sat, Oct 25

9:30 am to 3 pm

at Trinity Oaks

(10 mins from the museum)

728 Klumac Rd

Salisbury, NC 28144

$80 for Members or $85 for Non-Members

Registration Opens Soon - we'll email you.

Our Museum in the Spotlight

Our museum got two opportunities to shine over the past month. These spotlights offer a great view of our new space and a celebration of what makes our museum one of the only destinations like it in the country.

Reporter John Le interviewed Beth for Queen City News - Faces of the Carolinas about how her sister's legacy inspired the museum, and how we continue to honor her memory today:

YouTube video blogger Todd Venture visited the museum and took a detailed look at our collection with commentary and even a few historical ads of vintage toys you might recognize:

New in Our Gift Shop

(We Can Ship!)

Our newest museum gift shop additions include weighted warm-and-cool-able plushies, Easter teddy bears & bunnies, squishable Peeps, tea sets, Transformers mystery boxes, and gorgeous high-quality miniatures.

We can ship to you if you let us know what you're interested in and where you are located.

In Our Community

Dolly's Holiday 2025

We loved returning to the annual Land O'Sky Doll Club "Dolly's Holiday" luncheon to connect with old friends, meet new ones, bid on stunning auction & raffle items, and hear two informative programs from Kathy Turner and Elizabeth Ann Coleman.

Land O'Sky did an amazing job pulling off this year's festivities and we're grateful for all the kind comments we heard about our museum.

The annual Southeastern Doll Show & Sale in Asheville is also a favorite, and one of the highlights this year was connecting with our friends in the Carolina Smart Doll Club once again to see what's new in their passionate collector community.

Stay tuned because we hope to have a special chance to collaborate with this club again soon!

Museum Moment:

Sir Spencer Across the Pond

Our board secretary took Sir Spencer on the adventure of a lifetime to the British town of Wells! Rebecca reported while Sir Spencer was not the most avid conversationalist, he was a worthy international Ambassador who maintained a pleasant smile and an agreeable nature throughout the journey.

The Sir Spencer paper doll, lovingly crafted by the extremely talented Diana Vining, is the perfect travel companion - he can be tucked easily into a suitcase, car, or carry-on.

Why not pick up a paper companion for your next adventure? You know we'd love to see photos of your travels with Sir Spencer!

Just $2 in the museum gift shop or we can ship him to you for $4.

Collection Spotlight:

Honoring Two Beloved Collectors

One of the most important purposes that we have the privilege of carrying out through our museum is honoring the legacies of collectors who are no longer with us.

Here are two exhibits celebrating those lives and legacies.

Doll club member and passionate collector Elaine Ford loved reborns, Helen Kish dolls, bunnies, and sewing for her "babies".

"When Elaine Ford moved to Rowan County, she immediately found doll clubs and joined. She was a talented seamstress and dressed many of her 'babies' in smocked clothing.

She shared her knowledge of Reborns, Helen Kish dolls, and much more with club members. She not only loved all dolls, she loved the clothing and accessories that went with them: her favorite items to collect were dollhouse furniture, bunnies of all kinds, and teddy bears.

She considered her dolls to be friends and family.

As Elaine's health declined, she was only able to continue her membership with the Golden Dolls Club. She loved being with her club friends and sharing and learning about dolls.

Her enthusiasm for dolls was still evident as time went on, and even in her hospital bed, she was happy to receive doll gifts. Her indomitable spirit and her sharing heart will always be remember by her many doll friends."

Cathy Wood was a doll club member, museum volunteer, and third-generation doll collector from our county. The display was designed by Rodney Hammond to honor Cathy.

"Cathy Wood was a longtime doll collector and display enthusiast who was born and stayed in Rowan County.

For other 30 years, she worked as a teaching assistance in the Rowan School System. There she met her devoted husband, Gary, a teacher in the same system.

Cathy's mother and grandmother were also doll collectors, so her doll collecting itch came naturally. Cathy loved to rescue dolls and accessories from thrift shops, flea markets, and estate sales. She would research their history, fix them up, and use them for displays or trade them for other dolls.

Sherlock Holmes was a favorite character and she often made displays of dolls dressed as detectives.

Her personal displays were mostly shared in area libraries, and she was a helpful team member of the Rowan Doll Society of North Carolina.

She also volunteered at the museum and donated dolls to support various events, including American Girl dolls for our annual Tea with Mrs. Claus event.

Cathy joined the Rowan Doll Society of North Carolina 20 years ago and served in various positions, most recently as the Devotion Chairperson. Her enthusiasm and caring spirit will be missed by all who knew her."

...and Much More

Collection Highlights

Here are a few of the holidays and special occasions we've been celebrating since our last newsletter.

Black Doll History Month

We shared posts throughout February to celebrate Black History Month by honoring Black dolls, dollmakers, designers, artists, and collectors.

Barbie's 66th Birthday

We shared posts from our 65th Barbie birthday bash last year and celebrated Barbie's history. A trip to Germany in 1957 inspired Ruth Handler to re-imagine the voluptuous Bild Lilli comic character as a modern fashion doll.

Whether kids and parents loved her or found her too “risqué” for play, she was instantly unforgettable. Our museum is a celebration of her story.

...and Bob Mackie's Birthday

Last month, we recognized the birthday of an iconic Barbie designer - Bob Mackie.

Amy Dawn Morris, the inspiration behind our museum, collected Bob Mackie Barbies, and some of her dolls became the museum's first displays after she passed away.

Bob Mackie has dressed A-list celebrities who need no introduction, ranging from Judy Garland to Diana Ross to Marilyn Monroe and Cher. The rising stars of today still seek out his exquisite design work.

Barbie needed a touch of his glamorous design sense, too. Amy had many of these stunning Barbies, from 1994's striking red Queen of Hearts design to 1997's highly sought-after Madame du Barbie.

Madame Alexander's Birthday

We celebrated Madame Alexander's birthday in March along with the 70th anniversary of one of the Madame Alexander Doll Company's most iconic creations: Cissy.

A decade before we got to know teenage fashion model Barbie, there was Cissy!

Cissy is the doll with the grown-up figure of a debutante. Created in 1955, Cissy has a hard plastic head, high-heeled feet, and saran hair—originally blonde, but she got to be a brunette and a redhead, too!

At 21 inches tall, Cissy was designed to showcase glamorus and elaborate fashions.

In 1975, F.A.O Schwarz featured a redhead Cissy with blue eyes, complete with a round travel box that held an enormous wardrobe and accessories, including a pair of bright red mules, a red taffeta evening gown, a long-waisted dress of white organdy with a pleated sash held to the side with six rhinestones, a white taffeta petticoat, a hot pink velvet coat, a pink nightgown, and lingerie, including white rayon underwear, two lacy bras, a lacy girdle, a one-piece teddy, and two pairs of thigh-high nylon stockings.

International Women's Day

On International Women's Day, we shared a brief history of the female entrepreneur behind American Girl dolls:

In 1984, educator Pleasant Rowland was inspired by a trip with her husband to Colonial Williamsburg. Seeing the exhibits bring the American Revolution to life, she began to envision a new way for girls to connect with history—through dolls that reflected life experiences from historical eras.

The Pleasant Company was established in 1986 as Pleasant worked on a series of dolls intended for girls ages 7 to 12. She partnered with the West German doll company Gotz for manufacturing, and the first 18-inch American Girl dolls came to life in 1986.

Samantha, Kirsten, and Molly used a “classic” face mold with variations of eye and hair color.

Over time, the brand took off and expanded to encompass a wide range of stories. In 1998, Mattel bought the line for $700 million.

American Girl remains one of the most cherished doll brands of all time.

Miniature Magic

The New Orleans Mardi Gras House

We celebrated Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday with an exquisite themed miniature. Take a look inside with photos & a video below.

Trains, Trucks & More

A Work in Progress

Our volunteers have continued to work hard to bring our model train layout to life. These photos & video represent just some of their works in progress (from our March grand opening).

Barns and scenery pieces like the ones you see in these photos can be bought pre-built or assembled by collectors with build-at-home kits.

They can be pre-wired for lighting, or modelers can buy kits to add their own lighting to their set pieces.

Scenics and set pieces come in multiple scales to match model train scales appropriately.

In the early days of Lionel model train releases, the brand's target audience was young boys or boys and their fathers. As a result, early releases weren't often concerned with accuracy or appropriate scale.

Over time, however, those boys grew into adults who wanted to create more detailed and realistic model train displays.

More detailed and more accurately scaled models followed to ensure the model train industry could keep up with the times and satisfy those older collectors.

Scenics and model trains don't have to be perfectly realistic to suit every collector and hobbyist. It's up to each model train enjoyer to decide what they prefer.

Here is a look at how our museum's model train layout is coming to life:

Museum Memberships

This membership list was last updated on March 30, 2025.

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!