Don’t throw out that broken, dirty doll….call the doll doctor!

Scattered around the world are many folks who repair and restore broken dolls and toys. We take in your beloved toy who has suffered an unfortunate accident or is just suffering from the ravages of time and restore it back to its former beauty (or as close as possible).

I am one of those folk. I am a doll doctor. Or, I am a restoration artist when I want to sound fancy.

I have been repairing dolls and many other types of items since I was a teenager. There is something about a broken, decrepit object that calls to me to help it. Where some people see a scary or haunted old doll, I see an object that has a history and is deserving of a second chance.

I discovered my love of restoration while following my antique dealer mother through endless flea markets. Boxes of decrepit dolls intrigued me and I dragged many boxes home to learn how to fix the ‘treasures’ inside.

Then life progressed….I went to medical school and became a human doctor. I met a wonderful man, got married and had a couple great kids. Needless to say, there was little time left for doll work!!! But, still, I was able to sneak in a bit of doll fixing here and there.

When I retired from human medicine it was natural to get back into doll restoration. I had decades of new products and techniques to learn about. And I had a backlog of my own dolls waiting for repairs. I happily dove into updating my skills.

I found the Doll Doctor Association, a group of folks who were equally passionate about restoring dolls. I joined, learned many things, practiced many things on my own dolls, and then started taking in other peoples broken dolls for restorations.

There might be a doll doctor in your neighbourhood if you have a doll or toy with issues. There are many doll doctors listed with the Doll Doctor Association.

And, many doll restorationists have their own website which can be found via a web search.

The eyes of a doll are often the first thing people notice. Doll and toy eyes can develop many types of problems that require a trip to a doll doctor so I will present a couple of my recent ophthalmology cases.

Case #1  ‘Arrabelle’

Arrabelle was made in the 1930’s or 40’s when doll’s eyes were often made with a celluloid iris. Celluloid was an early plastic material and many plastics degenerate with time. Dolls of this era are often found with cloudy, shattered eyes. Arrabelle’s irises were so far gone that chunks were missing. She needed an iris transplant.

The first step for her was to remove the shattered irises. This can be done without removing the head but in Arrabelle’s case the eyes were removed as she was getting a full restoration.

You can sometimes buy irises of the right size and color or you can shave down acrylic eyeballs to harvest the irises. Arrabelle received pre-made irises and also got her eyeball paint renewed. 

She also got an eyelash transplant. So once her eyes were replaced in her restored head she looked like this:

This is a German bisque headed doll that dates from 1900-1920. One of her issues when she came for repairs was a broken eyeball. 

It may look like you should buy some new eyes and replace the whole thing but even 100 year old thin glass eyes can be restored with some glue, filler and paint.

A piece of glass is missing but the defect can be filled.

These are the eyes after filling the defect, painting the filler to match and replacing her eyelashes:

And, installed back in the doll: