- First of all, a little bit about you. Are you originally from New York City?
- I’m from Wilmington, Dalaware, but I’ve been living in New York a long time, 36 years. I came to New York to work in the fashion industry. I still work in the world of fashion. I love it.
- So, how long have you been collecting dolls?
- Hmm… it must be about 25 years. Yeah, 25 years.
- So what led you to having such a love of dolls. Have you always loved them?
- Well, no, I didn’t play with dolls much when I was a girl, but uh these aren’t children’s dolls that I collect.
- No?
- No, they’re really works of art. When you say the word “doll” people think of a toy for little girls, but these are not. When I opened my business, Dolls-at-Home, 2 years ago, that was the message I wanted to get across to all art lovers – that dolls are another art form.
- I can see that these are not dolls for little girls. Some of them are really quite amazing. How many dolls do you have in your collection?
- Oh, I would say – um I think maybe three hundred
- Wow! And where are they all?
- Well, I had to buy a new apartment …
- You bought an apartment for the dolls?!
- Yeah, I really did. My son, he’s 33 now, he went off to college and I filled his room with dolls in 2 minutes so I realized that I needed a different apartment. I wanted to show off my dolls.
- So, you have what, you maybe 4 or 5 rooms, all with dolls …
- Actually there are dolls in every room, even the bathroom and the kitchen.
- I was going to ask, is there one room where you don’t allow dolls.
- No! Oh no, they’re part of my life, I mean sometimes when people visit there’s nowhere to sit. It’s a problem.
- So, what about keeping them clean? Dusting them?
- Erm, yeah, that’s problem, too. New York is dirty. Erm, I suppose they should be under glass but I don’t want them under glass, I want to enjoy them. I dust them occasionally.
- Well, they look immaculate.
- Thanks.
- That’s a very unusual doll. It’s in valuable?
- No, not really. But that doll over there … It has an elephant mask. That’s my favourite.
- Really?
- You see the mask goes up and it’s a little boy’s face and it goes down and it’s an elephant’s face. It’s made by one of the best doll makers in the US, Akira Blount.
- And how do you find your dolls?
- I travel all over. I go to doll shows, and now that I have a website and I’ve started my own business, doll artist find my. As I said, it’s been going in for 2 years now, and I have a mailing list of nine hundred people.
- Wow! What does your son think off all this?
- You know, he thinks I’m sort of … crazy. He loves this apartment but he can’t understand
- Why you fill it with dolls!
- Yeah, but two weeks ago he came to one of my dolls shows, it was his first time, and I think he was impressed. Yeah, I think so.
- So, do you think you’ll ever stop collecting them?
- No, there’s always room for another doll. If you’re a real collector you always find room.
- I’m sure you’re right. Well, that’s great Andrea. Thank you very much.