Tuesday, June 3, 2008

german dolls





















I am sure that some of you have heard about the guy who digs up the bisque dolls from an old doll factory. is it an urban legend, a myth or what? well, i will tell, you that it is a fact. i recently got to purchase some of these percious dolls and they arrived from Germany yesterday. I had heard about this guy a few times and found it very fascinating. recently he had some dolls listed on ebay so i was looking at them. he sells in nice size lots and they bidding wars wage on with these dolls. i have never bid on them before and hadn't planned on doing so, until my husband sat down at the computer and said, "what are those"? he loved the story and got so into that he had me bid on them. now i hate bidding wars , just not my thing, but he kept egging me on to outbid, outbid! so needless to say, i won some dolls. i am thrilled with them. they are so cool and interesting. after winning the dolls, i contacted the seller and asked him to tell me more about how he gets the dolls, where he is from, could i blog about him, did he have photos, etc. (probably thought i was a nut!) So "Thomas the mole" emailed me some pictures and then told me a little about himself.
he is 45 years old and calls his family his 2 dogs (susi and strolch), 2 kitties (krumel and felix) and 6 bunnies (paul, paula, heinz, kurt, otto & oskar). apparently susi and strolch love to go on digs with him. Thomas lives in a small German town called Xanten. He use to work in a factory before he started earning a living digging up dolls. one a month, he drives 510km to a town called Thuringia where he and a good friend will dig for about 10 days or so before heading back home with their treasures. the Charlotta dolls that he digs up are from the time arround 1880-1920, and they are dug out on the area of the old Kister Doll Factoty. I've very much enjoyed my communications with Thomas and appreciate him supporting my enthusiam with photos and personal information about himself!
i will be selling a few of the dolls in my etsy shop, so feel free to inquire about them if you are interested in some before i get them listed.

12 comments:

  1. That's awesome and I'm thrilled that you're so curious and can share the details with us. Also, I'd definitely love to talk about getting a doll or two! :)

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  2. Kecia, that is an amazing story.
    Look forward to seeing what they are like once you put photos of them on your blog.
    Have a great week
    Alison

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  3. That is an awesome story. Very cool.

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  4. Wow! That is pretty incredible! And I must admit - when I first opened the post up I thought the first photo of the fellow head-first into the hole was some crazy garden antics and I had no choice but to read on to figure out what the heck you were up to! Turns out it wasn't garden antics at all but a treasure hunter!

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  5. Kecia I LOVE vintage dolls and your story really caught my attention! I am interested in purchasing some! Your Husband was smart to encourage you to keep bidding on them! They are a great find! Sandy:)

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  6. Hi Kecia--thanks for your birthday wishes last week! I love your blog--what a fascinating story! What are you planning to do with the dolls? I'm always at a loss with 3-D things for some reason...have a great day!
    amanda

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  7. Hi kecia! havent been by in a couple weeks or so. wow, Id never heard about those little dolls! I'd love to have one though, I'll have to check to see if youve listed them yet! I think its great that you contacted the guy and told us his story. the pictures are great!
    The jewelry youre making is wonderful as well!! I guess I hadnt been by to see you lately.. youve been very busy!
    hugs!
    vivian

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  8. I never heard of this but I agree its fascinating. I just love the way those vintage dolls look. And they seem very much like your style.

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  9. WOW! What an interesting story! I've never heard of this guy. Someone needs to do a tv spot on him. I found your blog via Amy at Vintage Porcelain Art. I'll be back!
    rosie

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  10. Hi yes this is very interesting. I have just recently gotten crazy over these little dolls and plan to make some myself to sell. am getting a few over ebay to start the experiments. Thanks for sharing the story. They are much like ushabtis from egypt. Mysterious but yet precious to some.

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  11. Neat story. I bought two animal headed dolls from him. I think they are adorable too. I am searching for a photo of the actual Limbach factory. Do you know where one can be found?

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  12. These really are curious little things, and I loved hearing the story behind them - thanks for sharing!

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