My Real Life Dolls’ Hospital
They’re not just dolls, they’re a precious part of people’s childhood memories…
Worn joints, failing eyes and broken toes are familiar patient complaints but at a Devon hospital, interior re-stringing and moth damage repair are also part of a typical week!
Thankfully the names on Frances May’s waiting list are receiving care at Dartington Doll Hospital, where the expert doll restorer is one very busy lady.
“It started with a doll called Maria that my grandmother was given as a child in 1901 when living in Portugal,” explains Frances. “She was dressed in immaculate Portuguese national costume and as a child I would be allowed to take her out and dress her. My granny had always said that she would give Maria to me but years later when she had dementia, my aunt sent Maria to a museum and we just couldn’t find out which one.
“I had lots of dolls while growing up in the 60s. I used to go and visit the dolls at London Museum and the curator would take me into their library to see all their books on the subject and also show me the dolls in their archives. I was completely fascinated. I did lots of jobs and saved every penny to buy antique dolls and I was heartbroken one day when the cat jumped up onto the shelf where they were displayed and knocked them down.
“I went on to enjoy a 30-year career in the theatre, much of it spent working in costume and wardrobe. When I retired early, I decided to devote myself to doll restoration and I attended an intensive training course in the States which gave me a deep level of knowledge and an interest in researching doll makers and their techniques.
“On my return home I immediately set about working on dolls needing repair. It was wonderful, in my mid-50s, to be able to pick up on this love for dolls from my childhood that had never really been forgotten.
“I co-founded the Doll Restoration Society to ensure high standards and to establish a network of professionals in doll restoration and repair.
“There is an incredible range of techniques, tools and materials involved. Repairs most commonly involve activities such as re-stringing the elastics inside which hold the doll together and which can come loose over time.
“I also often work on voice boxes or mend the seams in the plastic of the more modern dolls, or replace the wigs – moths can cause damage to the hair, eyelashes and the clothes.
“I re-set lots of eyes; antique dolls shouldn’t be laid on their backs, as the interior weight which works the eyes will pull them backwards and cause damage to them.
“I work on dolls’ clothes too which, with a former career in theatre costume, is an aspect I really enjoy. Sometimes the dolls don’t have any clothes and I’m asked to dress them.
“It’s lovely to be able to research what they would have been wearing originally and then to recreate them. Original clothes are very frail so sometimes I make copies for the dolls to wear, allowing the old ones to be safely preserved.
“My work is incredibly varied. There are never two
days or dolls that are the same. Even with the knowledge of the techniques of a particular manufacturer, every doll has some sort of anomaly to it – you’ll find it has been put together slightly differently, or features such as fingers will be slightly different to the last one.
“Along with the older types of dolls I am now also receiving more of the hard plastic dolls from the 1940s and 50s to work on.
“Dolls are such personal and special items, not only because they may have been passed down through generations, but also because they have been played with, talked to and confided in. I have customers who travel halfway across the country to deliver a doll just because they can’t bear the thought of putting it in the post. Customers trust me with them and I am very much aware of my responsibility to them. I get huge pleasure in seeing their reactions when they collect their dolls – but there is also a great sense of achievement and satisfaction while I’m working on them, seeing them becoming complete again.”
Thankfully, there was also a great sense of satisfaction when Frances eventually managed to track down Maria who started it all.
“Having written to just about every museum in the country I finally managed to track her down to Worthing Museum, which has one of the best doll collections in the country. I have now been to visit Maria there and the museum very kindly let me take her out and see her properly. It was so wonderful to be reunited with her!”