Favorite hat

I have this strange fascination for doll-hats. Strange it is, as I've never worn a hat, nor do I suit them (whenever I get brave enough to try one it generates amusements from those around....so every now and then I will comply as I like to make people smile).

This wonderful hat is worn by my big Bebe Phenix. Both the French Bebe and her hat is from around 1890. The hat was very dusty when it arrived and was treated with a generous sprinkling of odorless talk-powder. I used a hairdryer (on cold setting) to blow off the powder (a sight to behold; standing in the shower cubicle to minimize the amount of dust everywhere :D).

The gift

I first noticed the drawings around a one year ago. They hang in the corridor of our local Childrens hospital. The date on these wonderful drawings made me wonder of the "why's and who's and how comes".

I found that our local Children's hospital had been given as a gift from Sweden to Norway after the liberation in 1947. The drawings was also part of that gift. They were all made by Swedish primary (elementary) school children in 1947.

A new little lady

She is my little Kestner girl and she's also my Cinderella; the owner of one little shoe. She is unmarked except for a number 4 at the nape of her neck. I could tell who her maker was as her plaster pate was all intact. She also has that little smile around her mouth that so many dolls from the Kestner factory has.

Once upon a time...

....there were two little girls; growing up together. 

They were not sisters, yet they felt like they were. They lived with their old grandfather; once a fisherman and smallholder, and their mothers; Kristine and Monsina. Their mothers were true sisters, growing up in Øygarden (a small kingdom of islands).

The sisters and their father, Mons, moved to Bergen around 1898 and the two ladies found work at what was termed in their time; an eatery establishment. They also did laundry to make ends meet. As family history recalls; Nina Bull, the niece of famous Norwegian violin player Ole Bull, was one of their customers. Nina Bull was very fond of Alfrida and Ingeborg and treated them with items from her own childhood sent her by her uncle when he was touring Paris.

The dark haired girl is Alfrida Constanse who was to become my grandmother. She was born in 1905 and the younger girl in the photo is Ingeborg Elvilda Amanda; her cousin. 

 Monsina died young and her sister Kristina becoming the mother and caregiver of two little girls instead of one. Thus the two little girls became real sisters.

Itty bitty babies

Dessie (Medina Odessa) and Chloe, cernit/clay mix OOAK's by Lorna Miller Sands;

No antique clothdolls yet

It is not entirely true. I do have one little cloth doll. She's our Mrs. Santa and she lived in the Christmas tree every year, throughout my childhood. I can remember spending  so much time playing in the Christmas tree. My mother was endlessly patient and never once complained, or even commented, on the shower of pine needles.

Mrs. Santa has been passed down the generations and now lives with us.. I know little of who made her or even when she was made and there are no family elders to ask.These days she spends her time in the doll cabinet but join the other tree decorations every Christmas.

My lady of Shalott....

My lady Jumeau is my only French fashion doll. She has a leather gusseted body and leather arms and hands with sewn fingers. Charlotte is wearing the tiniest, most beautiful fashion boots and although her dress is worn, it is quite correct for her day. Her bonnet is old, like she is, I am sure, from the same period of around 1870 as the fine lady herself. Her eye-color is most stunning. 

I sometimes wish she had a lady companion, but she insists that she is most pleased that a China lady lives in the same cabinet. Charlotte befriended her upon her arrival and they are now standing side-by-side peeking out through the glass.