The Murder Room

An interesting point of where literature and criminology intersect:  From The Murder Room:  “But it was Vidocq’s remarkable story of redemption and his belief in the redemption of others that touched Fleischer most deeply. The chief cop of Paris was a great friend of the poor and said he would never arrest a man for stealing bread to feed his family.   Vidocq was Hugo’s model for Javert, the relentless detective in Les Miserables, as well as for Valjean, the excon who reforms and seeks redemption for  his deeds” (Capuzzo 135).  Vidocq was a criminal who became a detective, and who formed an agency even before Pinkerton.  He is considered a father of modern criminology.  This well researched book by Michael Capuzzo tells the story of The Vidocq Society, named in his honor, and of three remarkable criminologists who lead the pack of those who would solve the most unsolvable of crimes.

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Syward 2019; A Very Special Post by David Levy

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Syward 2019; A Very Special Post by David Levy: Skyward January 2019           For those of us who were alive back then, where were you on Christmas Eve, in the year 1968?    I rem...

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: New Year 2019

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: New Year 2019: Happy New Year to all!  May your doll dreams come true, and may we all have peace in 2019.  Publish PostOut of the dark winter night, a light will shine...

A Woman Writes a Thriller and a Male Attorney Collects Toys

I recently picked up another Tami Hoag thriller; love her books when I want to immerse myself in escapist horror and mystery!  She is a friend of my friend, Kim Ostrum Bush, also a romance writer.  Kim was my mom’s student, and a doll collector.  I ran into her one time at the old Masonic Temple Women’s Club Antique Show where Ralph’s Antique Dolls used to set up.  Now, the MT is Terror at Skellington Manor, my favorite haunt, with great animatronics and an extensive doll collection.

 

The novel I’m reading is Dark Paradise, and it takes place in New Eden, Montana.  There is an attorney who is also a collector of many things, including toys.  His name is Miller Daggrepont.  Here are his thoughts on collecting:

 

This is where I keep my collections . .. I collect everything  Signs, toys, farm equipment you name it.  Never know when the next big rage will hit.  I made a killing on Indian artifacts when all the Hollywood types started moving in.  They think they’re going native when they hang an old horse blanket on the wall.  Damned fools, I say—not because of the collecting.  Nothing wrong with collecting.  They’re just damned fools in general!(95)

 

 

Here are some more links if you enjoy large toy collections.  Don’t forget the Strong National Museum of Play. http://www.museumofplay.org/

 

Jerry Greene world’ largest toy collection. https://rockandrolljunkie.com/2015/02/26/4109/

 

 

World’s largest toy museum Branson. https://www.bransonshows.com/activity/WorldsLargestToyMuseum.cfm

 

Toy soldiers: https://www.metro.news/worlds-largest-toy-soldier-collection-makes-a-killing/1038350/

 

 

 

In Small Things Forgotten; A Doll Museum Closes and an Auction Takes Place

Collectibles and collecting appear in Pym's work all the time, especially in the escapades of Leonora Eyre and in the bits of pieces gentlewomen and near gentlewomen keep in their cozy flats.  Pym writes of Cycladic idols, Faberge eggs, obsessions with milk bottles, plastic bags, taxidermy, and soap animals. Her characters appreciate art and jumble sales, and Quartet in Autumn is discussed in Susan Pearce's The Collector's Voice: Modern voices.  Here is a piece about the end of a collector's life and dream.

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This weekend, Theriault’s will be hosting two amazing auctions.  Sunday is a very unusual and complete collection of Barbies and friends.  Saturday involves the sale of the contents of Yesterday’s Child Doll Museum, formerly Vicksburg, MS. Both will be in Chicago ,and Theriault’s.com has all the details.

 

During the late 80s, when I was just out of school, my family and I took a terrific trip down South, which included Vicksburg.  We walked the battlefield, and while I personally do not believe I ghosts, I did sense a presence there.  It was moving and sad to see the Civil War monuments put up by northern and southern states, and to realize how closely camped both sides were on that field.

 

We also saw Yesterday’s Child, just my mom and dad and me.  I’m the only one left.  I think it was the last of our great road trips, though we took a lot of smaller ones in later years.  It was charming, and a very pleasant day.  I still regret we didn’t buy a small composition doll wearing a white faux fur coat, hat, and muff in the gift shop  They did not have much for sale, but the museum was a feast for the eyes.

 

My dad, ever loyal to me exclaimed as we walked in, “she has more than this!” That was Dad; he also built doll houses, hauled us all over to buy dolls while he sat in the car, he brought dolls for me from all over the world, carved little dolls from sticks, carried two very large Italian dolls for me when we were coming back from a trip to Europe.  He often drove back out of his way so I could get a doll I forgot to buy, and he learned what a Jumeau was.  My mom was my partner in crime when it came to finding dolls; she also dressed them repaired them. After a while, it wasn’t “Ellen’s” doll collection; it was “our” doll collection.

 

I hate to see any doll museum close, especially when I am busy creating mine, but this one’s closing is particularly painful for me.  The silver lining is that the dolls will go to good homes, to people who will care for them and carry on the museum’s legacy.  For me, doll collecting has become a lonely hobby, full of lovely memories. 

Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Memories of Autumn

Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Memories of Autumn: From my Dr. E's Greening Tips Blog:  https://dresgreening.blogspot.com/




Something to accompany your rereading of Quartet in Autumn.

An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Online Literary Magazine for CM 220, CM 107 Classe...

An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Online Literary Magazine for CM 220, CM 107 Classe...: Online Literary Magazine for CM 220, CM 107 Classes and Friends of KU: Guest Blogger: Dr. David Levy, Author and Astrono... :   It is an...