News From the Director

It's the back-to-school season, and those of you with children and grandchildren may have sharpened pencils, football games, and even homecoming & prom on the brain.

In case you missed it on our social media pages, we shared a lovely school-age memory from my sister, Amy, from deep in the archives!

In the photos below, Amy wears her Bob Mackie-inspired custom senior prom dress alongside best friend Cindy and her prom date Denny.

Thanks to your support, Amy's legacy continues to grow - in fact, these photos have already introduced over 147,000 new people to Amy's story via TikTok!

I am grateful to everyone who continues to join my mother and me in celebrating Amy's life, personality, and impact on others. I'm holding these memories particularly close following the loss of Bob Mackie.

(Pictured above is my dear friend Terri from the Detroit Motor City Doll Club. More on that further in this email - along with miniature magic, our luncheon recap, Barbie, American Girl, and more!)

With love and thanks,

Beth M. Nance

Founder and Executive Director

America 250 Spotlight:

Annual Doll Luncheon

Our 2026 doll luncheon was held in Spencer, NC on Saturday, September 12, 2026. This year's theme celebrated America 250 with special guest presenters Sandra Wright Justiss and Theresa Pierce.

The engrossing historical presentations were paired with sensational art dolls, a surprise serenade by a colonial-themed band, colorful decor, and (as always) warm doll community camaraderie - all captured in vivid color thanks to our talented volunteer photographer Jim Ryser.

New this year: a doll & guest "best dressed" contest! This feature was a hit and we plan to bring it back again in the future.

Save the date, because the one and only Robert Tonner will be joining us next year on Saturday, September 4, 2027!

NC History Spotlight:

Miss Row Ann

This is Miss Row Ann, a doll with a job: she helps us to capture the history of Rowan County, NC, from the time of the early settlers onward.

Several prominent figures make appearances in our local history, including Daniel Boone, Andrew Jackson (who studied law here in Salisbury NC), and George Washington.

Between March and June of 1791, Washington traveled along the eastern seaboard from Maryland to Georgia, and then took a western return route from Georgia to Virginia. During his 1,700-mile tour he sought to emphasize national unity, understand the region's political sentiments, and learn about the southern economy.

Miss Row Ann wears a handmade dress replica of a real dress worn to George Washington’s southern tour inaugural ball in 1791. The original was donated to a museum in Rowan County.

At the time, Salisbury was the nation’s farthest settled point in the west.

Train Talk:

New Extension Coming!

Thanks to Ed Klebaur for sending the following exciting updates from our volunteer train team.

As Ed explains, because our museum’s train layout has become so popular, and thanks to several generous train donations, we are adding an extension to the layout.

Coming soon, the new section will feature an operating Lionel “Standard” gauge train set, an operating HO train set, and several static train displays.

Lionel’s Standard gauge trains were made from 1907 to 1940. These trains played an important role in Lionel becoming a well-known name in the model train world.

Standard gauge trains are larger than the more familiar Lionel “O” gauge trains. Standard gauge track is 2 1/8 inches wide, compared with 1 1/4 inches for O gauge.

Until a few months ago, our museum did not have any Standard gauge trains in its collection. Thanks to donations from museum members, we now have a complete train that can run on the new layout extension.

One member donated a No. 384 Standard gauge steam locomotive, made from 1930 to 1932. Another member donated freight cars and a caboose made between 1926 and 1940.

The new table extension will also include an operating HO train, thanks to donations from another museum member. HO trains are much smaller than Standard gauge trains, with a track width of just over 5/8 of an inch.

HO trains were first introduced by Bing, a German toy company, in 1922. Because of their smaller size and more realistic scale, HO trains became the world’s most popular tabletop train size by the middle of the 20th century. The earliest HO trains were powered by clockwork, but by 1924 they were mainly powered by electricity.

The museum is grateful to the members and other supporters who have donated trains. Without these generous donations, our growing train display would not be possible.

Miniature Magic:

Carolina State Day

We gathered the miniature community for Carolina State Day in September hosted by our Mini Reflections Miniature Club at the First Community Center of Spencer.

The project this year was a 1/2" modern Tiny House design. Take a look, and special thanks to Terri for providing some of these photos:

Museum Moment:

The Doll Doctor

We are so grateful to volunteer doll doctor Allison Jewell for stopping by the museum to offer repairs and restringing to collectors from near and far this September. We were amazed by the turnout!

Dozens of visitors showed up with dolls in hand, including Terri, all the way from Motor City Doll Club of Detroit (WOW!), and a family with 3 generations of doll collectors!

We promise our Doll Doctor will return to the museum again in the near future.

If you'd like to get in touch with her in the meantime, reply to this email and we will share her contact information with you. She is based in Virginia.

Museum Moment:

Stellar Volunteers

A big volunteer shoutout this month to Julia, William, and Linda!

Julia comes to the museum once per month to help with the American Girl exhibits.

We are so grateful for the assistance and the generous contributions to our collection from AG lovers like Julia. Check out Addy in her meets dress, Bitty Baby, and a stylish ride!! These lovely items will be kept in tip-top shape thanks to a little dusting and elbow grease from Linda.

And some great news: Julia will join our next Doll Doctor Day at the museum to restring American Girl dolls!

William is a new volunteer who turned us into a "full-service museum" with homemade pizza.

Meeting Recap:

Rowan Doll Society

Our UFDC chapter Rowan Doll Society doll club meets inside the museum monthly. Both new and legacy members get a chance to share their love of dolls and their deep knowledge on special parts of doll history.

September's meeting included a special presentation on Babyland Rag Dolls. We have a video of some of the highlights, plus Bruckner doll details, handmade cloth dolls, and more. We'll see you again on October 20!

Collection Spotlight:

Barbie, Barbie, Barbie!

Those of you who follow us on Facebook know that we've been holding "Barbie parties" each weekend on social media to showcase new parts of our collection.

In case you've missed out on the fun, here are a few highlights:

Legacies:

Bob Mackie

We lost Bob Mackie, a dear friend to the doll community, in September. The favorite of Amy Dawn Morris, who inspired the museum, Bob Mackie Barbies have been a part of the museum since the day we opened our doors in 2012!

Filmed in our first location, this video offers a close-up look at some of these treasures in our collection:

Special Spotlight:

Josefina's World

Step into American Girl Josefina's World with us as we celebrate American Heritage Month now through October 15 thanks to NM resident, retired teacher, and Josefina/doll collector T. Robert.

Author Valerie Tripp used El Rancho de Las Golondrinas, a living history museum 15 miles south of Santa Fe for her research for Josefina’s story. All photos of El Rancho de Las Golondrinas, the Josefina doll, and her collection belong to and were photographed by T. Robert.

We'll provide a recap of this special series in our next newsletter, but you can follow along with our posts using the hashtag #JosefinasWorld on Facebook or Instagram!

Celebrating the Season:

September Holidays

We started off September with a special birthday: our reborn friend Jules by Land Otter Art!

On September 2, we wished a happy birthday to Mel Odom, who grew up here in NC!

Mel introduced the legendary 16-inch fashion doll Gene Marshall in 1995 - made to fit in an adult's hands and provide a huge range of stunning fashions for a movie star's glamorous lifestyle. 

"I've had dolls since I was a small child," he explained. When Barbie entered an era of big hair and big skirts in the late 80s, Mel missed the early days of her reign as a true fantasy-fashion icon. Starting with a single drawing, the idea for Gene began to grow.

As for her Hollywood arch-rival Madra? "I dreamed the name," Mel revealed!

As the production passed from Ashton Drake to Integrity to Jamieshow, Mel was dedicated to ensuring that every doll made could fit prior fashions. 

Though she retired to a life of leisure and indulgence in 2010, Gene Marshall is still collected today, and we're proud to include her in our museum.

Mel is also an award-winning illustrator and artist. You can get to know more of the creative mind behind Gene Marshall and more in a short but fabulous interview with SureshNY:

September 5 was the International Day of Charity, the perfect opportunity to highlight an extra-special part of the museum: The Columbian Doll, created as an ambassador of goodwill and charity fundraising in the 1890s.

Mrs. Elizabeth Horton, a wealthy woman who raised money for children’s charities, wanted a special doll made that could travel around the world. 

She asked Marietta and Emma Adams to create the doll. Marietta sewed, and Emma painted the doll’s face with her background in portraiture. 

They took the Columbian Doll to the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893 and received a Diploma of Merit for their work. 

The Columbian Doll’s worldwide trip took off in 1900. Over 3 years, she met countless people from multiple countries with a journal documenting her travels and story. 

Marietta and Emma made their dolls out of unbleached muslin with faces in white sateen. The bodies are stuffed with fine wood shavings and cotton called excelsior. Their cottage industry allowed them to sell to large department stories across major cities. 

Emma passed away suddenly at age 42. From then on, the dolls were sold under Marietta’s name with help from family and friends. 

We’re so grateful to have a Columbian Doll in our collection with her rosebud lips, blushing cheeks, and sparkling blue eyes, all painted by Emma.

September 7 was an extra-special Raggedy Ann-iversary as Raggedy Ann turned 111!

Raggedy Ann made her debut in 1915 when Johnny Gruelle wrote and illustrated a book titled "Raggedy Ann Stories."

Unlike pristine porcelain dolls of the time, Raggedy Ann was made to look well-loved, with her characteristic button eyes, triangle nose, and a sweet smile. Her clothes were made from colorful calico fabric, and her yarn hair was unmistakable.

In addition to her appearance, Raggedy Ann's personality is what truly makes her special.

She is a kind, caring, and adventurous doll who always looks out for her friends, particularly her brother, Raggedy Andy, who was introduced in 1920. Raggedy Ann's character embodies qualities of love, compassion, and the importance of simple joys in life.

Raggedy Ann quickly became a beloved character in children's literature. The Raggedy Ann Stories were followed by numerous other books and adventures, each filled with heartwarming tales that taught valuable life lessons. These stories often featured Raggedy Ann and her friends, including Marcella, the little girl who owned her, and various other dolls and toys that came to life in their imaginative world.

Raggedy Ann's influence expanded beyond books and dolls. She became a symbol of comfort and reassurance during difficult times. During World War I, Raggedy Ann dolls were given to soldiers as a reminder of home and a source of comfort on the battlefield.

At the museum, we are fortunate to have a Volland Raggedy Ann with the original brown hair that came before their signature red locks.

September 9 was Teddy Bear Day and the observed anniversary of Steiff!

Steiff was founded by Margarete Steiff, who began as a self-made clothing shop entrepreneur in the 1870s. In 1880, she founded the Steiff manufactory and created their first iconic plush: Elefäntle.

By 1893, the toy factory includes 4 sewers and 10 home workers. Two years later, their plush would appear in Harrods in London.

The Steiff teddy bear was born in 1902 and designer Richard Steiff, Margarete’s nephew, presents his bear at Leipzig Toy Fair. By 1907, they would produce 1.7 million toys and over 970,000 teddy bears.

The Steiff button in the ear trademark arrived in 1904 – the earliest design featured an elephant. 

On September 17, we recognized the birthday of dollmaker Käthe Kruse.

Katherine Simon was born in 1883 in the city of Breslau, Germany, in the Eastern Province of pre-war Germany. She graduated from high school at age 16 and showed interest in acting, which led her to the big city of Berlin to study acting and where she met her husband Max Kruse, a prominent sculptor of his time. They had a large family of 7 children together.

She was not happy with the cold china and porcelain dolls of the era, so she set about creating something original for her daughter. 

Legend says she created a doll out of cloth over a carved potato and used sand in a dishcloth for the body. She sketched out eyes, mouth, and nose with a burnt match. 

Her daughter became a devoted mother to this doll Bambina. Kathe decided to make more dolls and enlisted the help of her husband to form a mold that could be used to create cuddly cloth dolls. The likeness of each doll is a memory of one of her children and, later on, her grandchildren.

In 1910, she displayed her work at a department store and completely sold out! A year later, she received an order from the United States for 150 dolls and later for 500 more.  

She continued to make the dolls by hand with multiple branch factories started by 1946 for inexpensive play dolls.

Her household was decimated by war—she lost 2 sons, and her factory was closed.

Even as her health declined, she insisted on designing the dolls and ensuring the dolls were still being made by hand, even if she couldn’t fabricate them herself. 

120 years after Käthe came up with her first doll concept, in addition to playline produced dolls, the Käthe Kruse Manufactory still makes collector dolls by hand today.

Last Look:

Goodbye, Summer!

These two fabulous young ladies wanted a picture with Sir Spencer when they visited the museum this week! Kennedy and Ember both won a prize by completing our scavenger hunt. A perfect way to round out a summer full of fun and learning here at the museum.

Museum Memberships

This membership list was last updated on September 26, 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!