The Story of the Columbian Dolls: How the Adams Sisters saved the family farm - Paperback

by Diane Doyle Parrish (Author)

More than a story about a doll, this is a memoir of a family and a tale of two women becoming entrepreneurs in an era when most women did not work outside the home. Of those who did work for pay, very few owned their own businesses. The feature of the story is the Columbian Doll which is much prized by doll collectors everywhere, and the only doll to travel solo around the world. She was named for the Columbian Exposition, the 1893 World's Fair held in Chicago to commemorate Christopher Columbus' discovery of this land. The Columbian Dolls were given their name because they became widely known at the Fair. After being displayed in the Women's and Children's Building, the orders poured in including a large one from the famed Marshall Field and Company in Chicago. More than 4500 cloth dolls and their clothes were hand-made in the small hamlet of Oswego Center, near Lake Ontario, by two enterprising women and their helpers. This story is related in the first person by Diane Parrish, granddaughter of one of these women. Included is a history of the family in the time before and after the Civil War, and the journey of their famous doll to raise money for children's charities.

Author Biography

Diane Parrish grew up in Utica, New York and is a graduate of St Lawrence University. She has a master's degree from The University of Southern Connecticut in special education. Diane has been a Religious Education Director and a special education teacher for dyslexic and for neurologically impaired children. She has two children, Lisa and David. Upon her retirement she learned about doll clubs. Since then, she has belonged to six doll clubs. She has spoken on the history of the Columbian Dolls to doll clubs, historical societies and women's clubs. Diane has had articles published in doll magazines and has presented slide shows to many organizations. Doll club members encouraged her to write down the history of the Columbian Dolls made by her grandmother, Marietta Adams, and great-aunt, Emma Adams. In 2013 she completed a definitive history of the Columbian Dolls and the family that made them.