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Oh! You many beautiful dolls

Childhood memories and adult business sense fuel the opening of a shop dedicated to those who love their Barbies, babies and collectibles.

By TERRI BRYCE REEVES
Published September 22, 2006

BELLEAIR BLUFFS - She's 47, has worn high heels all of her life, juggled dozens of careers, and still manages to maintain a drop-dead gorgeous figure.

Yes, even in middle age, Barbie is being pursued - mostly by wistful baby boomers who remember the highly accessorized fashion doll from their childhood.

One of them is Jacki O'Connor, 53, whose passion for the plastic princess ultimately led her to open ABC Dolls in March. The shop is in a charming antique and collectible marketplace known as Antique Alley, off Indian Rocks Road.

"I loved dolls when I was young," O'Connor said. "Barbies, paper dolls, baby dolls - I played with them all."

O'Connor was working in the Clearwater Main Library 28 years ago when she started perusing an encyclopedia of Barbie dolls. The book spurred a renewed interest, which turned into a hobby, which turned into a mail-order business, which turned into a shop.

"Opening my own store is just something I've wanted to do for a long time," she said.

At her cozy store, visitors will find hundreds of new, antique and vintage dolls and clothing. They will also discover oodles of dainty dollhouse accessories and a case of collectible Steiff mohair bears.

"This is the only doll and miniature shop in Pinellas," O'Connor said. "Of course you can find dolls in toy shops and antique stores but this is the only one exclusively dedicated to them."

O'Connor said people tend to pick out dolls that remind them of their childhood. And there are some regional variations as well.

"The vintage Barbies are very popular with tourists and Northerners and the locals like the antique and composition dolls (typically made from wood, pulp and sawdust and produced in the first half of the twentieth century)," she said.

Her customers come in all ages and are mostly women, though some men do collect, she said. Doll collecting is considered one of the top 10 hobbies in the U.S.

Her new dolls include Adora dolls, with various eye color and hair combinations and a baby-fresh scent; realistic looking Lee Middleton dolls; and Madame Alexander dolls, prized for their exquisite costumes.

There are plenty of vintage dolls like Barbie and her friends, and "celebrities" such as Twiggy, Sonny and Cher , Shirley Temple and Elvis.

Some will recognize "pincushion" dolls often seen on grandma's dresser. Popular in the late 1800s to about 1920, these porcelain ladies are just a few inches high, half-bodied, and were sewn atop billowing skirts, which covered pincushions, teapots and powder boxes.

Here, dollhouse decorators will find itsy-bitsy appliances, furniture, and lamps that light up. And there are many little touches that make a dollhouse a home: from gardening tools to feather dusters, to Jell-O molds and sewing machines. A large assortment of flooring and wallpaper options are available as well.

And food? What doll can go hungry with teensy turkeys, dinky deviled eggs and wee wedding cakes?

O'Connor showed the inner workings of one of her favorite antiques - a 16-inch doll manufactured in Germany by Heinrich Handwerck. The doll, more than 100 years old, has a bisque head with glass eyes that roll back with a metal rocker mechanism. The composition body has ball-jointed knees.

The wig, made from human hair, is removable.

"Just think, children played with these dolls and they are still here today," she said. "Many of them only had one doll and they took good care of it."

One of her most expensive antique dolls - priced at $795 - wears a red sailor dress.

"It's the rarity of the mold that drives the price," she said. Other factors are the doll's condition and original body parts.

The doll loses value if her hair has been cut, her face paint or lipstick is missing or faded, if her ears are green or eyes are cloudy. Still, that may mean a bargain.

"I have many people who buy dolls at a lower price and fix them up," she said.

For novices who may be considering buying a doll, O'Connor has this advice: "Buy something you like, something that speaks to you," she said. "Consider it a hobby, not an investment. If you make money, well, that's a bonus."

[Last modified September 22, 2006, 00:25:34]