Yuma Doll Club presents its 23rd Annual Doll Show

For Geri Shaw, dolls are not just playthings, but works of art.

And they're not toys for Lois Owens either. She keeps dolls as treasured mementos.

While doll collecting has been a tradition for generations of little girls, it is also a passion of many adults like Shaw and Owens.

They and other members of The Yuma Doll Club will have their passions on display on Saturday in the Yuma Doll Club's 23rd Annual Dolls Timeless Treasures show. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Yuma Civic Center, 1440 W. Desert Hills Drive, and the public is welcome.

The doll club show will include antique and modern fashion dolls, as well as doll clothes and accessories, along with stuffed and antique toys.

The Miniature Guild, whose members build doll houses and doll house furniture, will be in attendance, and they will have a display of miniature doll houses and accessories.

The show is part of the club's efforts to educate others about preserving and collecting dolls. Club members do not restrict collectors to antiques, but rather encourage collections of modern, paper, hard plastic, cloth and wood dolls.

"As a child, I collected dolls," Owens, the president of the club, said. "I have pleasant memories of my mother and father giving me dolls for Christmas."

Shaw, vice president of the club, said she sees the dolls not only as toys but as art. However, she said, "When I buy them and re-dress them it brings out the little girl in me and keeps me happy."

They also bring Shaw "satisfaction that we maybe rescued a doll. We can bring her home, dress her up, and put her outside," she said.

Shaw collects both modern and antique dolls. She has a Shirley Temple doll made in 1935 and a Saucey Walker doll from 1956. She also has a 1975 18-inch vintage Barbie called the Super Size Barbie.

Shaw finds her dolls through doll shows, yard sales, doll company catalogs and auctions. Shaw buys a doll when she falls in love with it at first sight.

Yet love at first sight is not the only criteria for buying a doll. The condition of the doll is just as important. Shaw's Shirley Temple doll's hair has never been combed and the shirt has the original button. Her husband said that collectors should look for original items.

"Lots of dolls have given love to children. That's why we like to rescue them, because they have meant a lot to people," Shaw said.

Shaw recommends that people looking to start their own doll collections attend the doll show and club meetings.

Shaw said that the doll club is important because "it is an outlet for us. It's fun to find a treasure, a number one doll."

Owens said that the club allows people to associate with other doll collectors who understand their passion.

"The general conversation of dolls ... is enjoyable to us. At the doll meetings we have different programs ... on toy trains and doll houses and miniature furniture," she said. "Members give programs on what dolls they collect. I give programs on Shirley Temple dolls, so we learn a lot with our different programs."

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Jennifer Lovell can be reached at jlovell@yumasun.com or 539-6850.

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ANNUAL DOLL SHOW

The Yuma Doll Club will hold its 23rd annual doll show and sale, Dolls Timeless Treasures, Saturday at 10 a.m until 4 p.m. It will be held at the Yuma Civic Center, 1440 Desert Hills Drive, and admission is $3. There will be miniature doll displays, model railroads, re-stringing of dolls and hourly raffles.

For more information, call Gerri Shaw at 726-9646 or e-mail her at shaw@digitaldune.net. If you are a Barbie doll collector you can also contact Shaw for The 11 1/2 Inch Doll Club of Yuma or you can phone Pamala Yoakam at 726-5296 or e-mail her at daypamyuma@aol.com.