About Us

In 1982 a group of students of Tasmania’s first porcelain doll-maker, Pat Midson, got together to put on an exhibition and sale of dolls in the Cathedral chambers’ public rooms.  A small entrance fee was charged to help the Lady Nell Seeing Eye Dog training funds.  They enjoyed themselves so much that the following May they decided to form The Hobart Doll Club Inc, which officially started in June 1983 with 22 members agreeing to meet every second month in each other’s homes.  Our aim was then, and still is, to further our love and understanding of dolls – and each other.

In 1983 another showing of dolls was held at the Storybook Castle; two well known doll collectors, Eileen Hepworth and Kathy Taylor, agreed very tentatively to judge the exhibits and so the present type of show began in a very small way.  The following year we drew on the mainland for technical expertise and help with the judging, feeling that our isolation needed some help from the wider world of dollmaking.   By 1985 the Show had grown and the Club hired the Hobart Town Hall.  That year, stallholders were invited to participate as well, allowing us to expand our friendships and gain new insights into the world of dolls.

Since those early days, the Show was held for many years at City Hall (opened very honourably by the Lord Mayor) and, then the Hellenic Hall, before recently relocating to The Grandstand Pavilion at The Royal Hobart Show Grounds.

We continue to meet regularly, with our meetings being held at Kingston Linc, Room A2, “A” Block, Hutchins Street, Kingston.  We meet, share lunch, discuss business that may have arisen from the last meeting and then settle down for some fun, usually in the form of a workshop conducted by one of our members, with a small fee to cover material costs.  Recent workshops have been Miniature Fans, Drafting Doll Patterns, Silk Paper Making, How to Make Doll Shoes, Making a Wired Bonnet – and “Surprise Workshops”! We also have Show and Tell and a trading table.

Everyone is welcome!  If you would like to come to the meeting as a guest, please speak to one of members, or contact Sue on 0407 489 411.  If you would like to join the Club, please download an application membership  from the Link at the bottom of this page.  As well as attendance at meetings, the annual membership fee also entitles you to admission to the Hobart Doll Show in August and our regular newsletters.

 

Our office holders are:

President:	Anne Kennedy	Vice President:	Sue Lyden
Secretary:	Hilary Harris	Treasurer:	Donna Spong
Committee members:	Shirley Anderson Lil Webberly Dot Denison Libby Murray	Publicity Officer:	Sue Lyden
Newsletter Editor:	Hilary Harris

 

 

Would you like to join The Hobart Doll Club?

Click Here to download an Apllication Form.*

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