Rose Marie

This is Rose Marie. When my Mom was about 6, she got a letter in the mail from Rose Marie, who had been her grandmother's doll. It said that Rose Marie was travelling to my Mom's house on her way back from the Doll Hospital, after getting a new hairstyle and some new clothes, including a pink party dress and some new underwear!



When my Mom moved to a smaller home recently, she didn't really have any place for Rose Marie, so I said I would take her. She is in need of some professional repair, and she is headed off to a doll restorer in Virginia. She has a cloth body and a composite head. I think it might be a Shirley Temple head. Her arms, from the elbows down, were white kid gloves, which need to be replaced.

Her clothes and the letter from Rose Marie to my Mom came in this wonderful old wooden trunk. Unfortunately, one of my nieces stepped through the lid of the trunk while playing hide and go seek, but I think it can be repaired.

This is the pink party dress referred to in the note. There are some wonderful old hand made clothes, including this black velvet jacket, that were made by my great grandmother, Bertha. From everything I've heard about her, I think we had a lot in common. She loved to sew also.

I found a book at the library called The Doll's Clothes Collection, which has wonderful patterns for period doll's clothes, even shoes and hats. After Rose Marie returns from Virginia, I hope to have a little blue and white sailor suit waiting for her, and some new shoes. I hope that my grand daughters and my friend Lucia's daughter Lucy might like to play with her. If not, there's always Carmine!