DOLLS, they're a category: Part 1

I'm a doll collector and have been since I was a child. Years ago I had to stop because there was simply no room left in the cabinet. I have too many to count.

For awhile I was buying paper dolls because a small amount of space can accommodate a decent collection.

Now, I collect photos of little girls with their dolls when I see one that strikes my fancy. How fortuitous that this weeks Sepia Saturday is a little girl in a beautiful shot with two dolls. I can handle that theme, though I cannot match the beauty of the shot Alan has posted.

So for the next week I will feature a photo each day containing a doll. Stay for just this one or drop back in to see what others I show between now and next Monday.

And if you like paper dolls you might want to check out my post at Tattered and Lost Ephemera where this week I'll feature paper dolls.

WHEELS LOOM VERY LARGE in our lives

This is Connie. Other than that I know nothing about her. These photos were bought at the same estate sale where I bought the shot of Frank Sinatra in purple golf sweater and pants. The home where I found Connie had all sorts of interesting things, though the condo itself was pretty dreadful. Very odd use of space. But that's okay, because I found a small box of photos so I was happy. And of course when I got up to the table to pay suddenly the people holding the sale realized there was a photo of Sinatra and the price for him went up. Okie dokie, whatever. I wanted Frank in purple. Frank was the star of the sale. Connie was just a little girl with an affinity for wheeled vehicles.

Can you remember all the wheeled vehicles you've had? Carriages, tricycles, the first two-wheeler with and without training wheels, the first car? Wheels play a very big deal in the lives of many of us in this country. 

Horses also seemed to play a very big part in Connie's life. As did golf. That is if the other photos in the box were here as an adult. I didn't buy any of the shots of her on horses. They were all dressage and jumping shots. Not particularly interesting except to someone who likes dressage and jumping. I have enough photos I took myself in England of jumpers to last me a lifetime. I don't need to buy any. 

Anyway, I enjoy looking at Connie's evolution with the wheel. Reminds me of my own childhood, though she was born decades before me. This last shot specifically reminds me of a little car, a little blue Cadillac convertible, in some sort of a car place in Hawaii. I don't remember why my folks went there. I don't think it was a dealership, could have been an auto parts shop. I don't know, but they had this kid size Cadillac on a shelf near the ceiling. It was a peddle car and I longed for it. I imagined myself tooling around the neighborhood in that pretty little car. I don't believe I ever told my folks how much I longed for it. I knew it was way out of our price range. It was a rich kids toy. Funny thing is it was always there. I don't ever remember going in and seeing it gone. 

Click on image to see it larger.

Oh yes, I have another shot of Connie, I think, when she's older in a golf cart. Yes, wheels played an important part in Connie's life. At least from my limited perspective.