Retired nurse collects dolls of all sizes, shapes
BUTLER TWP — As a child, Cleo Clark always loved dolls. Things haven't changed much: As an adult, dolls still occupy the rooms in her home.
After working as a nurse for 37 years and retiring as a nursing instructor at Butler County Community College, Clark's collection has come to include many dolls from that helping profession.
Clark started with a figurine that was presented by a friend and rapidly moved into doll collecting. From her collection of around 275 dolls, Clark said about 50 are "nurse dolls or nursing-related."
Her collection ranges from tiny figurines to life-size, including porcelain, cloth, stockinette, hard plastic and vinyl dolls from the early 1900s through the present day.
"I've been collecting since the early 1970s," she said.
"It started slowly, but you get interested and it just escalated from there."
She was drawn to nurse dolls, and soon began receiving nurse dolls and tiny nursing uniforms as gifts. As a member of two clubs, the Butler Doll Club and also a doll club in Morgantown, W.Va., Clark gives presentations on her collection and uses her dolls to illustrate the history of the nursing profession.
"When I give a program, I give a history of nursing, starting out with the Catholic nun because early nursing was done in the monasteries," Clark said.
She moves on to the mid-19th century, illustrating the period with the likenesses of two of history's most famous nurses, Florence Nightingale, a social advocate and pioneer of modern nursing, and Clara Barton, who founded the American Red Cross in 1881.
Clark said she has dolls representing all the various eras of the nursing profession.
Although occupational dolls such as nurse dolls don't make up a large portion of the collector doll market, such specialty items can be difficult to find, according to Donna Boal of Worsley's in Butler. Boal has worked in the store's collectible doll department for six years.
"We can look through books and books and not find anything available," she noted. "It seems like some years, there are a lot to choose from, and then in two or three years, you can't find them anymore."
Boal noted that most people who collect occupation dolls such as nurse dolls are in the profession themselves or are looking for a special gift.
"When we get one in, it goes right away. People who collect nurse dolls, who are nurses themselves, or to give as a gift, they look for it and buy it up right away."
Clark said many of her dolls have been acquired as gifts over the years, and others she has purchased at doll shows. She recently began shopping at Internet auctions. The American Federation of Doll Clubs, a national organization, has both national and regional shows, she said, "and at those places, they have the really, really good dolls."
One of Clark's most unusual dolls is not even a doll at all. It's a life-sized mannequin that was used as a training aid for nursing students. Mrs. Chase, as the mannequin was dubbed, was designed by American doll-maker Martha Jenks Chase of Pawtucket, R.I. First produced in 1911, the mannequins provided what was then state-of-the-art medical training."They had a hole for a trach," Clark said, "and a pad for practicing injections."Clark said she remembers practicing on a similar model as a nursing student in Watertown, N.Y., in the early 1960s."The nursing students always had to call her Mrs. Chase and I never knew why," she said. The current Mrs. Chase was acquired from BC3 when the school was updating its training equipment."She was being displaced by the newer model," Clark said, but added that the vintage mannequin was still in use when she joined the college's staff in 1990."She is probably 50 to 60 years old. I don't imagine the new models will be as nice as her in 50 years."The life-sized likeness is dressed in Clark's student uniform and nursing cap."The nursing profession has always been popular with little girls," Clark said. "There used to not be as many choices for occupations for girls. You could be a teacher or a nurse, and of course, nurses wear a distinctive uniform."While Clark said a few current dolls are produced wearing modern scrubs, most nurse dolls still sport the traditional white uniform and instantly recognizable cap.Clark said she is hard pressed to pick a favorite from her many dolls.As she points to the various dolls that fill shelves and display cases, she shares a snippet of its history. She proudly shows her first childhood doll. The doll's original outfit has been replaced by a handmade nurse uniform, including a nursing cap from Clark's nursing school days. The cap has been cut down to doll size."She also has on my nursing pin," Clark noted."Each one of them has a special story," she said. Clark also said in retirement she is "young enough to play with dolls again. They keep life interesting," she added.
