| CLARA A Story For Kids About the Restoration of an Antique Doll |
If you've found your way here, you may have read my Antique Doll Page For
Kids. If not, you can go there by clicking HERE
Kids. If not, you can go there by clicking HERE
If you read my page on antique dolls, you'll know that I really love dolls! I
have since I was just a little girl. Even then I knew when I grew up that I
wanted to be a doll doctor. I saw in each old doll somebody's old friend.
Their children were grown and gone...but friends should still be taken
care of by somebody! And if they could talk, they would have such great
stories to tell; yet so often they had been abandoned and forgotten. It's
truly amazing when you imagine that a doll has survived 100 years like
Clara sitting on the well at the top of this page! Long after her little girl
grew up, lived her life and died, she has survived. But she didn't always
look like she does in that photo!
Clara's story with me began when I bought her on an internet auction.
But really, her story goes back about 100 years before we met. She was
made between 1890 and 1910 by the Simon Halbig company of
Germany. She is a very large doll and must have been quite expensive
at the time!
have since I was just a little girl. Even then I knew when I grew up that I
wanted to be a doll doctor. I saw in each old doll somebody's old friend.
Their children were grown and gone...but friends should still be taken
care of by somebody! And if they could talk, they would have such great
stories to tell; yet so often they had been abandoned and forgotten. It's
truly amazing when you imagine that a doll has survived 100 years like
Clara sitting on the well at the top of this page! Long after her little girl
grew up, lived her life and died, she has survived. But she didn't always
look like she does in that photo!
Clara's story with me began when I bought her on an internet auction.
But really, her story goes back about 100 years before we met. She was
made between 1890 and 1910 by the Simon Halbig company of
Germany. She is a very large doll and must have been quite expensive
at the time!
HINT: You can click each photo to
enlarge them!
enlarge them!
After I won the bid, I drove down to the auction house to pick her up and she was a large pile of broken pieces,
as you can see in the photo at the right. As the auctioneer handed me the box, he said "I hope you can fix her!"
Hm. For the first time, I wondered. And I hoped. I had taught myself antique doll repair, but it had been a long
while since I had worked on a bisque doll (if you read the other page, you know what "bisque" is.) But I
thought....I'd never know unless I tried, right? So I took it on! Two of my kids decided to help!
as you can see in the photo at the right. As the auctioneer handed me the box, he said "I hope you can fix her!"
Hm. For the first time, I wondered. And I hoped. I had taught myself antique doll repair, but it had been a long
while since I had worked on a bisque doll (if you read the other page, you know what "bisque" is.) But I
thought....I'd never know unless I tried, right? So I took it on! Two of my kids decided to help!
First, I'll tell you a little about how these very old dolls are made. The heads are
made of "bisque", which is a ceramic porcelain type material. It is VERY breakable
of course! But it was the best way to make a "pretty" doll many years ago before
there was plastic. Making bodies of bisque would be extremely heavy and
breakable, so the bodies on these old dolls are made from pressed cardboard that
is painted and shellacked many times over. Through the body runs thick elastic
cord that holds the doll together. Of course, after 100 years, elastic wears out, and
poor Clara fell all apart.
However, the first thing to do was to examine her head closely. Any chip or even
fine line crack in her head would seriously hurt her value, so the auctioneer let me
make sure her head was perfect as he advertised it to be. (Advice for young or
new doll collectors: a good seller will ALWAYS let a buyer examine for damage!)
Bisque heads should be perfect, even if the bodies are not! The top of her head is
open, so that you can see inside. There's a reason for this. Here in this photo, you
can see that someone has used putty to hold in two eyes (the white things).
However that is not right for this doll. The little piece of cork below them give us the
indication that at one point this doll had open/close eyes! At some point, they
broke and someone just glued the eyes in, not understanding how to repair the
sleep eyes. So, now we have our first project on our list! Fix those eyes!
made of "bisque", which is a ceramic porcelain type material. It is VERY breakable
of course! But it was the best way to make a "pretty" doll many years ago before
there was plastic. Making bodies of bisque would be extremely heavy and
breakable, so the bodies on these old dolls are made from pressed cardboard that
is painted and shellacked many times over. Through the body runs thick elastic
cord that holds the doll together. Of course, after 100 years, elastic wears out, and
poor Clara fell all apart.
However, the first thing to do was to examine her head closely. Any chip or even
fine line crack in her head would seriously hurt her value, so the auctioneer let me
make sure her head was perfect as he advertised it to be. (Advice for young or
new doll collectors: a good seller will ALWAYS let a buyer examine for damage!)
Bisque heads should be perfect, even if the bodies are not! The top of her head is
open, so that you can see inside. There's a reason for this. Here in this photo, you
can see that someone has used putty to hold in two eyes (the white things).
However that is not right for this doll. The little piece of cork below them give us the
indication that at one point this doll had open/close eyes! At some point, they
broke and someone just glued the eyes in, not understanding how to repair the
sleep eyes. So, now we have our first project on our list! Fix those eyes!
So, what do Vaseline, plaster, epoxy putty and a crayon have in
common? They an be used to make sleep eyes! I soaked Clara's
head to carefully remove the hand blown glass eyes that were inside.
They are almost as thin as a lightbulb and have to be handled carefully.
Once that was done, I attached them to a thick wire with a lead fishing
weight at the bottom. I used epoxy to build a "rocker" (you'll see why it's
called that soon!). Then the top is dipped in clear candle wax that is
tinted using a pink or flesh colored crayon. Since we only dip the tops,
this makes eyelids! And we get something that looks like THIS!
common? They an be used to make sleep eyes! I soaked Clara's
head to carefully remove the hand blown glass eyes that were inside.
They are almost as thin as a lightbulb and have to be handled carefully.
Once that was done, I attached them to a thick wire with a lead fishing
weight at the bottom. I used epoxy to build a "rocker" (you'll see why it's
called that soon!). Then the top is dipped in clear candle wax that is
tinted using a pink or flesh colored crayon. Since we only dip the tops,
this makes eyelids! And we get something that looks like THIS!
Oooo...how
scary! My
kids thought it
was funny -
like an alien
from outer
space!
scary! My
kids thought it
was funny -
like an alien
from outer
space!
Now it's time
to set them in
the head!
to set them in
the head!
Here is where the plaster and Vaseline come in handy!
The edges of the eyes are coated with vaseline and
plaster is poured around the edges to make sockets in
the side. Then the eyes are moved very, very carefully
every couple of minutes as the plaster sets. Inside, the
cork keeps the weight from banging the head and
cracking it. Here she is alseep!! See her new eyelids
that were made by dipping in the candle wax and crayon?
The edges of the eyes are coated with vaseline and
plaster is poured around the edges to make sockets in
the side. Then the eyes are moved very, very carefully
every couple of minutes as the plaster sets. Inside, the
cork keeps the weight from banging the head and
cracking it. Here she is alseep!! See her new eyelids
that were made by dipping in the candle wax and crayon?
After repairing several breaks and missing spots of paint
on her body parts, now it's time to put her altogether! The
elastic cord inside must be attached to each leg and then
to a hook at the bottom of the head. Then the hands and
arms are strung on a separate cord. The kids had fun
helping by holding the cord to keep it tight!
on her body parts, now it's time to put her altogether! The
elastic cord inside must be attached to each leg and then
to a hook at the bottom of the head. Then the hands and
arms are strung on a separate cord. The kids had fun
helping by holding the cord to keep it tight!
Now she can stand!
Time for clothes and a wig! Dolls that were made many years ago
had human hair wigs That might sound strange, and pretty gross
actually, thinking about someone's hair surviving long after they
died....but that's they way they dolls were made and it's always best
to try to stay as original as possible and not add many "new" things
to an old doll. Human hair wigs were made when ladies would sell
their hair to wig makers! Luckily, I had an old human hair wig here!
It needed to be washed and conditioned like real hair but the color
matched her eyebrows very well!
Clothes for Clara were easy. Long ago, small children and babies
wore a lot of simple white dresses. Even baby boys would wear
white dresses! One of these dresses, about as old as Clara herself,
works well and is belted with a ribbon.
had human hair wigs That might sound strange, and pretty gross
actually, thinking about someone's hair surviving long after they
died....but that's they way they dolls were made and it's always best
to try to stay as original as possible and not add many "new" things
to an old doll. Human hair wigs were made when ladies would sell
their hair to wig makers! Luckily, I had an old human hair wig here!
It needed to be washed and conditioned like real hair but the color
matched her eyebrows very well!
Clothes for Clara were easy. Long ago, small children and babies
wore a lot of simple white dresses. Even baby boys would wear
white dresses! One of these dresses, about as old as Clara herself,
works well and is belted with a ribbon.
Here she is all done! Clara lives here now and sits on a shelf unit
that holds video games, a TV and a DVD player. When Clara was
made, these things weren't even a dream in anyone's head yet!
IF dolls could see, they could certainly tell us a lot about what life
was like a long time ago. But as it is, we can only imagine. We
are their caregivers for a little while, to pass them onto future
generations!
that holds video games, a TV and a DVD player. When Clara was
made, these things weren't even a dream in anyone's head yet!
IF dolls could see, they could certainly tell us a lot about what life
was like a long time ago. But as it is, we can only imagine. We
are their caregivers for a little while, to pass them onto future
generations!
I hope you enjoyed Clara's story. Doll collecting is a fun
and educational hobby. If you're determined to learn about
something, you will learn it! Nobody taught me doll repair - I
read about it and taught myself with "trial and error". You
can do that too, with just about anything you are
determined to learn about!
and educational hobby. If you're determined to learn about
something, you will learn it! Nobody taught me doll repair - I
read about it and taught myself with "trial and error". You
can do that too, with just about anything you are
determined to learn about!
