05/03/2026
Sandra, a recent visitor to the doll collection sent us a story about a very special doll in her family. Enjoy!
I was introduced to Miss America as a young child. She was sitting proudly on my grandmother's bed, in her faded red, white and blue stars and stripes hat and gown. She must have been about 30 years old when I met her. Miss America was not a doll to be played with -she was a bo***ir doll-meant to be used as a bed accessory. Though I could not play with the doll, there were other things to occupy my interest at Grandma's house. She loved gardening and would pick bouquets for us to take home. She also had a salt and pepper collection; I loved opening that antique display cabinet to browse through the pairs of shakers whenever I visited her.
Grandma was definitely not a doll collector. She was patriotic though, so it's not surprising that she treasured Miss America. Her three sons, plus her only son-in-law, served in the Army during World War ll.
When grandma got too old to maintain her home, she gave Miss America to her daughter Nancy. Nancy loved bright colors. Her bedroom was green and purple. Her spare bedroom was sunny yellow and featured a white canopy bed. Nancy had her dressmaker create a new outfit for Miss America - a bright yellow dress and hat, which she wore as she sat elegantly on her new bed.
Eventually Nancy became too old to stay in her home. When she moved to a nursing facility, she auctioned off all her possessions. But she did not sell Miss America; Aunt Nancy passed her along to me. Since my bedroom is blue, I changed out the doll's attire once again to reflect her new surroundings.
Where will she go next? Only time will tell!
