Does Anyone Here Own Any Baby Dolls?

[Dakota]

I have a 22-inch, anatomically correct newborn baby girl doll named Dakota-Rhiannon McKenna, and I enjoy caring for her as if she were a real baby as just an enjoyable hobby because I am 41 years old and don't want any real children of my own. Since this is a Forum about accepting the unique differences of other people without shame, judgment, or condemnation, and I'm new here, is it okay for a grown woman like me to play with dolls?

[Daniel]

But that might not count, will it?

I don't think it is unusual to play with dolls at any age. Interestingly, there was an article in the paper yesterday that caught my eye. If your doll ever needs to go to the hospital, well, there is one here in NYC.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/ny...ital%20&st=cse

Irving D. Chais, Manhattan Doll Surgeon, Dies at 83

By DENNIS HEVESI
Published: April 30, 2009

Irving D. Chais, who in his 45 years as the owner and chief surgeon of the New York Doll Hospital in Manhattan reattached thousands of heads, arms and legs; reimplanted fake hair shorn by scissor-wielding toddlers; and soothed the feelings of countless doll lovers, young and old, died on April 24 in Manhattan. He was 83 and lived in Manhattan.

In a cluttered, brightly lighted second-floor workshop at 787 Lexington Avenue, between 61st and 62nd Streets, Mr. Chais and two other doll doctors had hunched over operating tables (well, work benches) since 1965. Stacked nearby were boxes labeled “hands,” “fingers,” “wrists,” “wigs,” “German eyes,” “French eyes,” “American eyes.” Lining the shelves and piled in boxes were thousands of dolls, new and antique, from as far away as Afghanistan and China. Some were the size of a clothespin, others as large as a 4-year-old child.

The hospital drew doll lovers from around the New York metropolitan area. “There are certainly other individuals who repair dolls,” said Donna Kaonis, the editor of Antique Doll Collector, a monthly magazine, “but as far as I know it was the only retail establishment in Manhattan that repaired dolls.” Over the years Mr. Chais was the subject of many newspaper articles.

In 1987, when a New York Times reporter wandered into the hospital, a 70-year-old teddy bear had recently been checked in, the victim of a dog attack. It was missing its nose, eyes and fistfuls of stuffing. It probably cost its original owner $5, but the current owner had agreed to pay $350 for its extensive surgery.

“We reconstructed the whole bear, and it looks fantastic,” Mr. Chais said at the time. “People get very attached to these things. Sometimes you have dolls and animals that have been in the family for five and six generations.”

The New York Doll Hospital had been in Mr. Chais’s family since the early 1900s, located at three other sites on the Upper East Side before moving into the walk-up at 787 Lexington. It started as a beauty parlor and wig store owned by a distant relative who had refurbished her own childhood dolls and was soon receiving requests from customers who wanted their own huggable toys repaired. Mr. Chais, who had worked in the family business since 1945, bought it from his sister Ann Lancet in the early 1960s and continued to run it until a month ago.

“From plush to plastic, we fix it,” Mr. Chais said in 1993, pointing out that he was as likely to be repairing a 19th-century automaton as a Barbie. He said a 90-year-old man had recently come in with a Popeye doll he really cared about. “It was like he was a 6-year-old kid.”

Irving David Chais was born in Brooklyn on Aug. 22, 1925, one of three children of Abraham and Dora Metnick Chais. Besides his daughter Dana, he is survived by another daughter, Alison Hirsch, and two grandchildren. His marriage to the former Rose Kaufman ended in divorce.

After graduating from Lincoln High School in Brooklyn and attending City College of New York, Mr. Chais served in the Army during World War II. He then joined the family business.

On Thursday Mr. Chais’s daughter Alison was at the hospital waiting for the last few dozen customers to pick up their repaired loved ones. The hospital will close by the end of May, she said.

“We’ve been in business since 1900,” Mr. Chais told The Times in 1990, “and never lost a patient yet.”

If a 90 year old man can keep a Popeye doll he really cares about and have it fixed, then I believe you are in excellent company.

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by Daniel

But that might not count, will it?

I don't think it is unusual to play with dolls at any age. Interestingly, there was an article in the paper yesterday that caught my eye. If your doll ever needs to go to the hospital, well, there is one here in NYC.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/ny...ital%20&st=cse



If a 90 year old man can keep a Popeye doll he really cares about and have it fixed, then I believe you are in excellent company.

Cool! Thanks!

[tdogg]

I dont' have a baby doll, but collect Barbie's. I have a couple that I have opened and various outfits, and enjoy dressing my doll once in a while. Outfits will often depend upon season and my mood!

[Jennifer5]

I don't think it's weird at all actually. We all have different ways of getting our needs met.

[Gennee]

Originally Posted by Dakota

I have a 22-inch, anatomically correct newborn baby girl doll named Dakota-Rhiannon McKenna, and I enjoy caring for her as if she were a real baby as just an enjoyable hobby because I am 41 years old and don't want any real children of my own. Since this is a Forum about accepting the unique differences of other people without shame, judgment, or condemnation, and I'm new here, is it okay for a grown woman like me to play with dolls?

I'm 60 and still like teddy bears.

Gennee

[Dakota]

Especially Winnie the Pooh! My doll has a lot of cute girl's/unisex baby clothes in sizes Newborn and 0-3 months that I really like a lot, but it's Winnie the Pooh, Sesame Street, and Elmo that I really like spoiling her rotten with. And right now, although she isn't currently wearing them but will as soon as I use up another brand I'm using, she has Pampers Baby Dry Size 1 diapers, which currently have Elmo, Zoe, Ernie, Big Bird, and Cookie Monster printed on their front panels (one Sesame Street character for each diaper). And as soon as I am able, before I run out of her current diapers, I want to buy her Huggies Supreme Size 1, Pampers Swaddlers Size 1, and Luvs Size 1 diapers (one case each so I'm not buying diapers too often), just because I love and enjoy using disposable diapers and only want the best for my baby. I love being a doll Mommy! Thanks for sharing your posts, guys and gals! Oh, by the way, Gennee, since you're one of my favorites on this Forum, and I'd like to be your friend, can I call you Aunt Nae Nae?