Antique Dolls and Dollhouse Rooms,” a new exhibit at the Historical Society of West Windsor’s museum at the Schenck House on Southfield Road, debuts on Sunday, February 10.
Joan Parry, a longtime West Windsor resident, co-founder and past president of the organization, is coordinating the exhibit. She and her husband, Scott, who live at the Castle on Bear Brook Road, have an extensive collection of dolls and dollhouses.##M:[more]##
This exhibit features dolls from the collection of Scott’s grandmother, Florence Scott Blackburne. “Her doll collection was quite famous in the early 20th century,” says Joan. “She had more than 600 dolls that she collected from around the world. When she died in 1957, she requested that her collection be sold to doll collectors rather than moldering in some museum’s basement. Her two daughters kept quite a few of the dolls and we have most of them at the Castle (the Parry’s Bear Brook home).”
When Kiki (Joan and Scott’s daughter) was young, Scott’s mother, Claire Parry, took us to the Mary Merritt Doll Museum near Reading, Pennsylvania,” says Joan. “We were able to see many of the dolls collected by her mother.”
The dolls that will be exhibited at the Schenck house are the small, more portable dolls. One domed collection includes three small dolls, two to four inches, from the 1700s. Two German dolls date from the mid-1800s. There is also a dollhouse room featuring six dolls from the late 1800s to early 1900s.
Antique dolls owned by other members of the organization will also be on display. Mary Schenck’s collection features a bisque-headed doll.
Dollhouse rooms include small versions of the double parlor, 1790 kitchen of the Schenck House, and a Victorian parlor, all of which were created during the restoration of the house.
The War of the Worlds exhibit remains on view to celebrate the upcoming 70th anniversary of the famous Orson Wells’ radio show. The doll exhibit will also be viewable on Sundays, April 6, and June 8. — Lynn Miller
Open House, Historical Society of West Windsor, Schenck House, 50 Southfield Road, West Windsor, 609-799-1278. Self-guided tour of 1790-1830 kitchen and Victorian double parlor. Exhibit of West Windsor history in museum rooms. English-Dutch barn, outhouse, corn crib, and other farm buildings on view. Donations welcome. Sunday, February 10, 1 to 4 p.m.
