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Doll and toy show offers array of nostalgic delights

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By Dawn Feddersen | Monday, November 13, 2006 |

The Fisher Price Snoopy pull-along toy from the 1960s was there. So were Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears and other friends from the 1980s.

At the 23rd annual Wonderland Doll, Toy and Bear Show on Sunday, 140 tables full of old-fashioned fun awaited visitors at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, Davenport.

“A lot of people like the nostalgia of seeing things they played with as a child, things their mother threw away a long time ago, and they want to get them back,” said Nora Pitts, the show’s promoter.

Some toys were more likely to have been played with by someone’s grandmother.

Antique porcelain dolls, faded Raggedy Anns and even Shirley Temple, America’s sweetheart, lined many display tables.

Jo Ann Reynolds, of Oregon, Ill., knows how to dress up an old doll.

She was busy at the sale giving advice to many of her customers. One woman brought in a small African-American doll that would fit in the palm of a hand. Reynolds told the woman she could get almost $100 for the doll, but she needed to take off the green dress the doll was wearing, put her in a red dress, add a red bow to her hair, and rubber band a tiny white baby to her hand to return the doll to her original appearance.

For others looking to dress up their treasured dolls at home, Reynolds had more than 100 expertly tailored doll clothes of all sizes to offer. But they weren’t just any doll clothes.

“They were made by a man in England. He’s a tailor, and he just does these to relax,” Reynolds said with a laugh.

The doll clothes feature such adornments as hand pleating and even come with undergarments and lavish Victorian bonnets.

“He finds old material and lace, and he models them after the older dolls’ clothes. You just can’t find anything like these over here. He’s a real English gentleman, and in his profession, you don’t cut corners, like some people over here might do. You can’t even find these kinds of old material over here anymore.”

The outfits model the clothes worn by Bisque dolls, which were made in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Brandon Peterson, 12, of Davenport, and his 10-year-old brother, Jordan, didn’t want anything to do with the frilly dolls at the show. Jordan was busy begging his mom for a Hot Wheels dump truck, while Brandon eyed the Star Wars figurines, looking to add a much-wanted Princess Leia to his collection.

“I like to collect them all,” Brandon said. “I like to collect the ships, the people and the different creatures. Yeah, they’re really cool.”

The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.