Turner Sisters (African American) wealthy sisters from the Cape Cod
region wrote 4 books on Peddler Dolls and Made the Dolls themselves. The
Turner sisters were members of the Doll Study Club of Boston.
(Not for sale, but for Yesteryear's Museum of Sandwich, Mass.) They are truly one of a
kind with a wonderful history that goes along with them.
Marie Celeste Turner and Grace Briscoe Turner collected
a lot of original fabric of families of Peddlers that was handed down
from generation to generation. The Museum is no longer in business and the
Sisters are gone but we have the dolls and stories to study.
Their dolls are 10 to 12" tall. For the armature or frame they
used pliable copper wire. This they padded to give contour to the figure.
The heads are ceramic, plastic wood, bisque or carved wood. They
copied with as much accuracy as possible the old costumes found in paintings
& prints of those early centuries. The fabrics to make them as authentic
as possible, old materials were gathered from far & near. Many of
their friends contributed hard to find materials from their attics &
ancestral chests. The carts & other pieces of equipment were made
from light-weight wood & cardboard. The horses they bought.
It took many hours as well as time & labor, perseverance & research.
Hope you enjoy. There is only one of each peddler. I bought as
many as I could. These are truly one of a kind.
Most of the items which the
peddlers carry are antique miniatures. When these were unobtainable they
made them.
