Oklahoma Today Winter 1983-1984 Volume 34 ... - Digital Collections

Winter
In the years since, the ribbons, and the skills, have
been piling up. It seems that nearly every doll in the
cases wears a ribbon-from the First Houston Iloll
Club, Rocky Mountain Doll Fantasy, the State Fair of
Oklahoma, the Doll Collectors of Irving, Texas.. .. Betty
has no idea how many awards she's won. "I have
them on the dolls," she says, "but I have them stuffed
away in drawers, too."
nf she doesn't seem overly interested in
the awards, that doesn't mean she's lost
interest in the dolls that won them.
A tour of the cases includes a detailed
commentary-concerning French pout-
ers, wire-eyed Steiners, open- and
closed-mouth Jumeaus, a little mohair-
wigged Schmidt modeled after a doll
/ that was a flower girl in a wedding
group.
In one case stand a pair of dolls in brown velvet,
reproductions of a boy and girl made by A Marque
about 1916. "The body for these two was specially
made," Betty says. "See how narrow it is. It's like a
gangly teen-ager, a sweet little body .... And look at
these bisque forearms, and the way the thumbs curve
down."
She tugs back the soft hair of the girl doll, to reveal
ears that stick out slightly. "Just look at those ears," she
says, smiling. "It makes you laugh when you see some-
thing that pleasing." (Betty then tosses in a slightly
staggering fact: The original of this sweet little doll
recently sold for $38,000, the highest price paid for a
doll so far.)
Betty's reproductions are much more reasonable; the
range is $150 to $450. She produces them at work
stations scattered throughout her house. "I pour molds
at the kitchen table," she says. "I have a large kiln in
the garage for porcelain firing, and a small one in my
workroom for the china paint firing."
It's quite a step from the elegant finished products in
the cases to Betty's workroom. She apologizes in ad-
vance for the mess, but in truth it's not so much messy
as crammed with the parts and parcels of dollmaking.
Beside her work table stands a bin full of unfinished
heads for Jumeaus, Brus, ATS.. . . You could say some
were standing on their heads, if they had bodies to
make the remark relevant. Others stare from the spaces
where eyes will be.
Scattered on the table are the pieces of a little
"French wrestler" doll Betty's painting, an arm here, a
high-booted, fleshy leg there. If the dolls in their whim-
sy and beauty have made you smile, the workroom will