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The Doll Museum at the Old Rectory
50 West New England Avenue
Worthington, Ohio
43085-3536
(614) 885-1247
Fax: (614) 885-1040
Worthhsoc@aol.com
Worthington Historical Society Logo

Open Tuesday - Friday: 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Picture of 19th Century Doll
"Thankful" by Isannah Walker
The museum features a distinguished collection of 19th and 20th century dolls. 

 Parian bisques: The fine unglazed china bisque heads of these dolls resemble Grecian parian marble. The molded heads have elaborate hairdos, usually blonde and are often decorated with bows, flowers and neck frills.
 
French fashion models: These beautiful dolls have real hair wigs, elaborate costumes and all the accessories a lady of the late 1800’s might desire.
 
Milliner's models: These slender French dolls model fashions sent as miniature examples to England and America to show the latest fashions.
 
French bebes: “Juvenile” dolls such as a French bebe by Jumeau, Armand Marseilles or Charles Marsh reflect the recognition of childhood and its own fashions and toys.
 
Portrait dolls: An assortment of the famous, including the fashion setting Empress Eugenie of France (wife of Emperor Napolean III), Countess Dagmar of Denmark (married to Czar Alexander III), French artist Rosa Bonheur and Alice in Wonderland
 
American dolls:  Our diverse collection includes a doll with a papier mache head and a homemade body by Ludwig Greiner, a Joel Ellis doll made in 1873 from rock maple, jointed, with pewter hands and feet and an excellent example of a doll by Izannah Walker with its adorable painted fabric face and original clothing.
 
We also have dolls as small as 1” tall, dolls made with rubber, wood, wax and even a doll made from a wishbone.

A special display case holds the Japanese Hina Matsuri, including the emperor, empress and their court. It was presented to the City of Worthington by its sister city Sayama, (Japan), a town renowned for doll making

Travels with Miss Helen: A Doll Exhibition is our special exhibition. Donated to the Society in 1977, hundreds of pairs and sets of foreign costume dolls tell the story of the journeys of Miss Helen Schoedinger in the first half of the 20th century. Generally, Miss Helen collected a male and female doll from each region she visited. According to her nephews, she began her travels at the age of 10 and continued throughout her life. Her nephews remember one time that they joined her in Europe after having shipped their station wagon across the Atlantic Ocean.

Admission is $1.50 for a self guided tour. Group tours or special group tours for Girl Scouts or children are also available. Group tours can be scheduled for weekdays or the weekend.

Site hosted by the Worthington Libraries