Attendance was light at the Molalla Historical Society’s annual toy and doll show held at the Molalla Museum Complex last weekend, but those who showed up viewed childhood favorites from various eras.
QUESTION FOR BLOG READERS: Why do you think attendance was down for the doll and toy show? What do you think the organizers could do differently to draw in more people?
Some of the items on display were from the museum’s permanent collection, but many toys were on loan for the weekend from private collectors.
The display included a rag doll that supposedly accompanied a young pioneer on the Oregon Trail, said Molalla Historical Society vice president Maria Vaughan.
Rachel Wallace, a Molalla High School freshman, was on hand to answer visitor questions, dressed in a historical replica hoop skirt and blouse.
Wallace is a history buff, especially enjoying the Victorian and pioneer eras, and has been involved with her family in the Historical Society for as long as she can remember.
“I’ve been coming here to the meetings since I was probably two or three,” Wallace said. “I love the olden time history.”
Wallace’s grandparents, George and Ella Pittman, sold their handmade wooden toys at the show.
“These are all toys from the late 1800s to early 1900s. They’re reproductions,” Ella Pittman said.
The Pittmans said they began making toys 15-20 years ago.
“He does most of the woodwork and then both of us paint,” Ella Pittman said.
Besides their handcrafted items, the Pittmans also brought along some of their own historic toys for display, including a pillowcase doll from an unknown era.
“At that time they did a lot of embroidery on pillowcases,” Ella Pittman said. “When pillowcases started getting old, they wanted to preserve the embroidery.”
The toy and doll show is one of three fund-raisers the Molalla Historical Society holds throughout the year. Next up is their quilt show in May, followed by the Apple Festival in the fall.
