TWO NEW 2012 LAWTON DOLLS
These to new dolls for 2012 were introduced at our Wendy Lawton Tea

Sophie loves her sock monkey, patterned after an antique lisle monkey Wendy Lawton found in a shop many years ago.  Not all sock monkeys were made with the famous red-toe stockings but because Sophie is just crazy about monkeys she wears a sweater reminiscent of those monkeys. Redhead Sophie wears a pair of red overalls under her favorite hand stitched sweater.

Wendy Lawton long-admired Tasha Tudor, writer and illustrator. Tasha lived life on her own terms, from the antique clothes she preferred to wear to the primitive lifestyle she adopted. When she died in 2008 she left a legacy and this doll is a tribute to a life well lived. She is dressed in one of Tasha’s favorites— delicate batiste with inset cotton lace. A lace-trimmed lilac silk bonnet completes the look. She has brown hair and violet eyes

The book, Caddie Woodlawn, the story of a girl growing up in the wilderness of Wisconsin, is now celebrating its 75th anniversary. The author, Carol Ryrie Brink was a favorite of Wendy’s from childhood when she discovered Baby Island. Caddie with the golden red hair wears her cotton dress and sunbonnet—always too tight for the adventures she found.  Caddie is wonderfully moveable with her spring-jointed wooden body. She would have liked that.

One of the things I’ve noticed as the years pass,” says Wendy Lawton, “is what a big hole is left by those friends who are no longer with us.” As she mentioned the doll friends she missed, she often found herself ending with “...especially Elinor.”  Elinor Bibby was a friend to many. Growing up in East Texas, Elinor had so many a story to tell from her days living in Big Mama’s Inn in the Piney Woods. Wendy remembers Elinor, and all our much-missed doll friends with Especially Elinor.  She stands only 9” tall but like her namesake, there’s a lot of personality packed in a small package.  She wears a print cotton dress—with a nod to the Lone Star State—under a raspberry corduroy coat and tam. Elinor has hand-tied strawberry blonde human hair and blue eyes.