It's twins!

At Round Top when I saw these adorable cotton wrappers or dressing gowns for infant twins, I was unsure just how to use them but I wanted them much!

A few months later the same dealer had them at a show in Boerne Texas. The price held me off. After leaving the show they were still on my mind and I asked Jack to turn around and let me go back and buy the treasures.

The dresses are both in splendid condition, fully lined in two different brown cotton prints. I date them about 1870, could be a bit later or earlier. At the time I had one 36 inch M and S superior doll, and began watching for another. By a marvelous stroke of luck, a second one arrived in the mail as a gift from a doll collecting friend! So now the two of them wear the wonderful dresses and sit side by side on top of a highboy in my bed room. The age of the dolls matches well with the garments.

Again the shoes tell a similar story, I bought one pair at the Comfort Antique show 2 weeks back and friend Jean saw what I was doing and mailed me a matching pair for the other twin! Little by little, with the help of an understanding and indulgent husband and the generosity of friends, a lovely family of dolls in appropriate clothing is coming to be mine again. Blessings.. Edyth

Hill country party Remember to click pictures to make big!

I like the coverlet border used as a cornice board , and don't miss the great Shaker hat and cloak. The whole house is a lovely tribute to a life time collector.

Party some more.

I will not leave all of these photos on the blog permanently, in the interest of space. Wish you all could have seen all of the magnificent south western jewelry worn by many of these women! In one photo, there is a wonderful Green Calabash bonnet!

A beautiful party in the Texas Hill country

On this past Saturday Jack and I journeyed to the home of a friend, on the occasion of her restored property receiving a Texas Historical Marker. Sharing wild flowers, friends, and antiques by photos would take a lot of posts here! After culling I still have 60 photographs that are keepers. I will begin by showing some of them in groups. I know that many of you who read here share a love of early textiles and great furniture. So I will pick for those. Enjoy! Edyth

My favorite doll museum, was always the Merritt museum in PA. From the dispersal auctions a little while back, I have 3 of my favorite dolls from that museum. I have seen several other large collections, including the Strong and Sturbridge and one long ago on Cape Cod, as well as one at the Wenham in MA. But Jack drove me to enjoy the Merritt over and over. There I met Marjorie Darrah and her daughter Marjorie Ann Yocum, Mary Merritt's Granddaughter. Marjorie Ann was the doll restorer for the museum, and often visited with me in the doll museum shop. So when Jack was able to read the signature on my newly acquired reproduction head, it was like she was coming home to me. The doll maker is Marjorie A Yocum, with a date of 1991. I do not buy reproduction dolls on purpose, but this one snuck in under the radar, the form was so great, I felt it might be a repainted old head, until I actually had it in my hands.
I am not sure just what I will do with her, but I will give her a different paint job. I'll bet she settles in somewhere. E

Greiner doll offered

Sweet little greiner doll is going to a new home, thank you S.

Hope all of you had a sweet Easter

For Easter we made a cake to share with family, wish it was the traditional big ham dinner we did years ago, but there are too many of the family now, and Jack and I have had too many birthdays so the big dark sheath cake is just right. A funny story, once I had a nice collection of old Staffordshire hens, sold all but one when I married Jackie. After a few years we opened a shop in Fredericksburg and I foolishly stuck the remaining and best of the chickens in there. A lady bought it almost immediately, at a strong price, and I instantly wished I had not sold it!! With great good luck she brought it back the next day with her nose a bit in the air, and said she did not know it was English, she only wanted to collect "American Staffordshire hens!" I was delighted to have back my hen, and set her out on the table with a bit of Easter grass for that time each year. The antique business was never dull. Have a Great day! Edyth