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
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 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.
