Collectible Lenci Dolls were Madame Alexander’s Inspiration

Many of us have heard of Madame Alexander dolls, which are very collectible, but few of us realize that a lot of the inspiration for these dolls came from Elana Scavini and her creation, the Lenci doll. Scavini and her husband started their doll company as early as 1918 in Turin, Italy and became a huge success throughout the world. Although all Lenci dolls are valuable as a collectible, the ones made in the early 20’s and 30’s are the most sought after.

Lenci dolls were very well designed and constructed. Lenci dolls were made of felt and had faces that were painted with oil based paints. Usually the ears were sewn on individually and were made of double felt. What is interesting about these dolls is that they were jointed in such a way that the heads, shoulders and hips swiveled and then they were dressed very finely and elaborately dressed. The dolls also usually feature eyes that look off to the side.

Because the Lenci dolls are made of felt, condition problems may occur which will affect the bottom line of the doll as a collectible. Many of their earlier dolls whose clothing were also made of felt and sewn directly onto the doll are in the worst condition because the clothing is not removable. The Lenci-Dolls.net offers 12 Tips for Cleaning and Care of Lenci Dolls.

Bertoia’s Toy Auction in Vineland, New Jersey

When I was a kid, after living in New York City, my parents moved to Vineland, New Jersey for a few years so that my father could be closer to his family and because my uncle had secured him a job with the public school system there. We lived on Elmer Street, a quiet little street, with a branch of the local library at the corner and Newberry’s five and dime down the street. I attended, Maurice Fels Elementary School, a small four classroom school that housed kindergarten thru third grade.

I still get to Vineland once in awhile to visit my aunts who still live there and I am always amazed at the change of the little town into a bigger city with bustling stores, shops and neighborhoods. When I visit, one of my aunts insists that I take her to our old haunts, the Berlin Flea Market and the Cowtown Flea Market. Even back then as youngster, I couldn’t get enough of the old things.

Vineland will swell with even more people next weekend. Bertoia Auctions, which is based in Vineland, is having a three day Toys for All Seasons auction on Friday thru Sunday, November 7 – 9, 2008. This auction promises to have everything from cast iron toys to board games and Halloween figures. The star of this auction will be a 27” tall Santa mechanical toy store display, which is expected to bring in more than $10,000. Bertoia, which specializes in antique and collectible toys holds auctions in New Jersey a few times a year.