DOLL MUSEUM

Paris and middle-American-highways have something in common.  Both are littered with strange and sometimes wonderful private museums on very specific things.  In Paris the volume of tourists must allow for a constant overflow into these individually curated spots and I imagine on route 66 there is little competition from public institutions.  

I visited the  Musée de la Poupée today and it reminded me of the Wizard of Oz museum in Wamego, Kansas and the Billy the Kid museum in Fort Sumner, New Mexico for its earnest and handmade presentations and obvious passion for the subject matter.  I had mixed feelings finding the place swarmed with not just little girls but some very intent adults (doll people), and realizing that I was one of them.

Over 600 dolls in the permanent collection date from 1800 to 1959, and it's fascinating to see changing ideas of beauty and style as represented through these tiny people. It's hard not to imagine where they have been and what they have seen with their glass, wood, porcelain, or celluloid eyes.

BARBIE OF MY ERA

Today I came  across an unusual sight at the St. Lawrence market, a table of Barbies (and other dolls) circa the late 80's - mid 90s.  This is my era of Barbie.  I'm not sure how Heather would feel about this, but I definitely wasn't the only 30-something reminiscing while sifting through and recognizing old friends.  Nobody was buying, but the table was popular.  I had the Perfume Pretty Barbie featured above.  She came dressed in a pink, nylon tube dress that could be worn long for evening or short for cocktail, trimmed with ruffles made of netting, and embellished with a large bow.   Also included was a mini bottle of perfume to be worn by her and I.  Here is the tv commercial.

As a little girl, and most likely against my mother's feminist beliefs, I was enamoured by the outlandish glamour and unrealistic, perfectionistic image of Barbie.  In hindsight, I think the only Barbies I owned might have been gifts from other relatives and/or family friends and not from my parents.  My younger sister humoured me by bathing Barbie and friends in large bowls of sudsy water, though I knew she would have rather been doing something else.  These engagements with Barbie were quintessential to my fanciful ideas of adult living in a metropolitan city, attending fashionable events and enchanting dinner parties.  I can't say my experience has been as glamourous as Barbies.

You might also spot here an Olympic themed figure skating version of Barbie and Ken from the Nagano winter games in 1998.  I thought it would be fitting to include them as the winter games in Sochi are currently unfolding.  

COMPOSITE DONKEY

It is perhaps their raggedy and forlorn appearance that give composite animals their charm. You can read about the history and manufacturing process in a previous post here.  This donkey, found at the Porte de Vanves Flea Market today in among a pile of toy soldiers, was too inexpensive to leave among his more violent brethren.  He reminds me of the tale of Napoleon's journey through the alps. While Jacques-Louis David's flattering painting of the event shows the emperor on a rearing white stallion, the true steed, a mule, was depicted later by Hippolyte Delaroche to mixed reviews.