"DAILY DIARY FROM THE UFDC DOLL COLLECTORS CONVENTION 2000" > Page 1, 2
Diary of a Mad Doll Collector: Daily Diary From The UFDC Doll Collectors Convention 2000--Part II
WEDNESDAY-- JULY 19, 2000
First thing this morning at 8AM I took one of the Highlight Tours of the Competition
Rooms. Three tours are given in Antique and three in
Modern--none cover the same
areas. In past years, I have taken 3 back-to-back hour tours. This year,
because of teaching my Dolls and the Internet 2000 Seminar in the afternoon, I decided to
only take the first tour. The tour is a MUST for anyone wanting to learn about the
dolls in the competition room (its a bit like a docent tour at a museum!) usually given by
judges or well-known doll experts. The tour I took (4 15-minute segments) covered
China dolls, French bisque, German bisque and Kewpies. It was very sad that only a
few Kewpies were entered this year--they are so easy to fit in a suitcase for competition!
After the tour, I visited the Special Exhibits. Every year, the Special Exhibit
rooms are a
delight--like the competition rooms, the displays of dolls are
comparable to
doll exhibits in the best museums in the world. All the exhibits were exceptional,
but my favorite this year (and a huge undertaking) was "Two Hundred Years
of Dolls and Their Wardrobes." In this
exhibit, Lynn Murray assembled dolls from 1835 to 2000 along with their
wardrobes and accessories--everything from wax and papier mache in the mid 1800s, through French Fashion dolls,
onto composition Patsys and all the way through Barbie, Gene and Tyler Wentworth.
Since my collection
specialty is fashion dolls, I was thrilled by the exhibit and its historical breadth.
The other exhibits, UFDC Souvenirs, a retrospective study by Susan
Sirkiss, Robert Archer and others, and 50 years of American Composition Dolls by
Ursula Mertz were
delightful, and I spent considerable time learning from and enjoying each one.
Then I reviewed and prepared for my seminar. I always enjoy teaching my seminar, and I am especially amazed at how much the material I teach changes each year--the internet and the doll industry on the internet is a constantly moving target! I am also thrilled that each year the students in my seminar are more and more knowledgeable--this year, almost everyone in the class had some preliminary Internet experience, and I had several students well-schooled in eBay. I even had some students very interested in starting their own doll web sites! A great class, and time just flew by (UFDC Seminars are in-depth courses--they are 3 hours long!)
After my seminar, I had another ticketed event--the Madame Alexander dinner. Again, a lovely program was given on Madame Alexander coats throughout the years. The souvenir doll, "Susan", is a 8" Wendy with bent knees, with an outfit with pinafore, and additional nightie, slippers, carry-case and lovely lined coat and hat! After the dinner, camera time in the competition and exhibit rooms (the ONLY times photography is allowed).
THURSDAY-- JULY 20, 2000
Hard to believe that convention is down to the final two days! This morning was
the annual business meeting of the UFDC--really, the main reason for the convention.
LAFRIEND (my roommate) was an alternate delegate, and ended up serving as delegate
of her club when the original delegate couldn't attend due to illness. I am very
pleased to report that the motion to allow online UFDC clubs passed overwhelmingly!
This is a wonderful thing, and I am very happy that people who cannot physically
get to doll club meetings for any reason, and also international members, will now
find it
easier to join a UFDC club!
After the meeting, it was "public day" in the salesroom--the only day that the UFDC salesroom allows in the general public at convention. I spent a bit of time in the salesroom (matched some fantastic vintage hats to some outfits I had earlier purchased for my fashion dolls) and then was monitor for the Doll Conservation Seminar, given by UFDC President Bettyanne Twigg. I cannot say enough good things about this seminar--Bettyanne is a true conservationist, which is my philosophy for doll restoration and repair. Bettyanne's motto for conservation is "Do Nothing That Cannot Be Undone," and I couldn't agree more. For instance, some restorationists feel that it is OK to use bleach or starch on doll clothes. I don't think that is OK at all, and neither does Bettyanne. Bettyanne (who has done doll restoration and conservation for major museums) passed along many great sources for restoration and conservation supplies, and also told us about her favorite products to use. Look for this information in a coming article on Restoration and Conservation
After the seminar, I felt a little like school was out--nothing left to do but hang out with my good doll friends and shop! I shopped a bit till the salesroom closed at 6, then met up with my friend Diane for dinner. LAFRIEND attended the Betsy McCall dinner. Diane volunteered as a "monitor" in the competitions rooms (both Diane and Pat spent countless hours helping as volunteers--without volunteers to act as monitors and competition clerks and help in the helpers room, etc., convention could NOT happen!). I attended the Publisher's Preview, at which collectors can visit with (and often get free samples) from magazine, auction cataloging by and book publishers in the world of dolls. I ended the evening by spending some final time viewing the Competition Room dolls and Special Exhibits (last evening to view both). I also bought and deposited tickets for the convention "helpers." Helpers are a giant doll lottery where clubs and companies and individuals donate hundreds of dolls and doll-related items for which a drawing is held for each at the end of convention. "Helpers" are great fun, and they defray huge amounts of the cost of convention (50 helper tickets for $20). SO many spectacular prizes are offered that it is hard to know where to deposit the tickets--50 tickets goes fast (I get 100 tickets each year--after all, its a tax-deductible donation!).
FRIDAY -- JULY 21, 2000
I toy briefly with finally getting in some Chicago sightseeing (word at convention has it that the American Girl Place is phenomenal, as are the special Titanic and Star Wars exhibits at city museums). Exhaustion gets the better of me, and I vow to try to visit the city again when I am not so pressed for time! Instead, I sit quietly with my lap top at the back of the ballroom where the Helper Drawing is held, and start to write my articles for About! The drawings are so numerous they take2 hours to complete--and, as tradition has it, I didn't win even one Helper. Neither did LAFRIEND or CWEATHER. There's always next year!
Afternoon is spent wrapping up convention business and preparing for departure--last few hours in salesroom (not that I had any money left to spend by now!), getting dolls out of the Competition room, and the ugly job of packing (I brought an empty trunk, but it wasn't enough--I had to ship back two boxes of dolls, books and other items). The worse part was packing my roll-on carry on, since I hoped that my best competition dolls AND the bisque dolls I bought this week would fit in there, to prevent having to check them in luggage (although I have packed many dolls and breakable items well in trunks over the years and then checked them, and I have not suffered any breakage in the past).
Drinks with friends, and then the convention Banquet--this year entitled "You've Got Male." The theme was the ending of the millennium, and tables were decorated as if for New Years Eve, complete with noise makers and New Year Hats. LAFRIEND was our wonderful table hostess, and presented each of us with a lovely antique-look miniature baby buggy as a table favor. A paper doll artist at our table gave each of us a delightful paper suitcase, and I gave About.com luggage tags (OK, not very exciting....). Dinner was lovely if not exactly intimate with about 1,500 attendees! The program was a slide show of male dolls throughout the ages--everything from early bisque and cloth males all the way through to GI Joe and Ken. There was a short (if not very visible) presentation about new UFDC patterns that will be available to costume male dolls--then the presentation of the Convention Souvenir--this year, a male doll. Upon lifting the box open, the doll is a traditional-looking father time. But wait--the old man face is a mask, and underneath is a young man named Marcus (all ready for the new UFDC patterns to costume him appropriately). My only regret is that Marcus is too short for Gene and Tyler!
The convention ended, as always, upon an up note and promises to keep in touch, and see each other next year! I am STILL in the process of unpacking all my treasures (which I will be sharing in various Galleries and articles) and writing several articles from this convention that truly was a fitting Fin du Millénaire!
First Page > Daily Diary from the National UFDC Convention 2000--Part I >Tyler Wentworth Seminar, Dinner, Theriault's Auction, Grand Opening of Show Room and more! > Page 1, 2
Did you attend the UFDC National Convention? Did you wish you did? Have you attended any of the other doll conventions this summer--the Barbie convention, the Doll Artisan Guild Convention, or others? Lets discuss in the Dolls Forum!
How did it compare to last year? Read the 1999 Convention Diary
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©Denise Van Patten 2000
All Rights Reserved.
Photo #1 of Antique Competition Room
Photo #2 of blue-ribbon winning all-bisque
Photo #3 of blue-ribbon winning papier mache pair
