Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week

By Helen Mitchell
Vigo County Historical Society

Dolls have special place in history

Come with me and meet one of the Storybook Dolls found in the Vigo County Historical Museum.

The dolls were created by Nancy Ann Abbott in the years between 1935 and 1965. The Doll House closed shortly after the death of The Doll Lady, Abbott.

The doll in the picture is "My Maryland" and is No. 308 of the Operette Series. Her dress is of black-and-white striped taffeta trimmed with black and white laces and a deep color of ribbon. A large picture hat of black felt trimmed in the pink completes the costume.

Abbott began her work with dolls while she was doing small parts in several motion pictures and had lots of time waiting off stage. She started with small Japanese bisque dolls. She fashioned their clothes from small scraps of costume fabrics.

The dolls were an immediate success but she could not keep up with the orders, so she left the movie production and bought a small bookstore. She placed her dolls among the books.

Abbott sewed days and half of the nights but still could not keep up with the orders. Her hobby had turned into a booming business. She had to enlarge or go out of business.

She chose a business partner and they bought a large building, hired several expert seamstresses, a few designers and good honest office workers.

They also hired shoppers who scanned the shops for fine materials and trims. She gave up using the Japan dolls, as there was a high percentage of breakage, and bought two potteries.

Nancy Ann’s factory was one of the few which remained open during World War II. She did this by using half days to make pottery for Naval hospitals and the other half to make her dolls. The factory was limited to 4,500 dolls a day. After the war, in 1950, the company was turning out 12,000 a day.

The United States government considered the dolls important as morale builders. Servicemen bought dolls in Hawaii that had been made on the mainland and shipped to the island, and they sent them back to the mainland as gifts for their loved ones.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.