He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
April 22, 2009
That song will be stuck in your head all day now. You can thank me later when you involuntarily belt it out in public.
When I was a child I had a doll collection. I never wanted a doll collection. What I actually had wanted was a Madame Alexander Alice in Wonderland doll like my best friend had. Somehow that request morphed into an expensive doll collection. Every holiday I would get a doll for the collection as my big present. I hated those stupid dolls.
To make it even worse they were dolls that I was not allowed to play with, or even touch, I could only look at them inside their glass case. Though truth be told when I was home alone I would take them out and brush their hair. Oh, such a rebel.
Remember, this was back in the old days when it was perfectly acceptable to come home from school and spend a couple of hours all alone at 8 yrs old. Don’t want you to think I was 15 and secretly playing with dolls on a Friday night. Though that might have been more exciting than what I was actually doing, which was watching Dynasty and eating ice cream drowned in Hershey’s chocolate syrup.
One of my sons has a vintage globe collection. But really I think I love the collection more than he does. In an effort not to turn completely into my mother, however, I never buy him globes as a present. I just buy them and bring them home announcing, “Hey, I got another globe for my our your collection!” So it isn’t as if he is getting a globe in lieu of a Ripstick or Nintendo.
He does seem to enjoy them, just not quite as much as I do. I love the subdued blues and greens.
These tiny tin globes are my favorite. They are the size of gumballs. I suppose that once upon a time they were used in gumball machines? I am not really sure.
So the contest for the printer is coming to a close today. But, come here and I’ll tell you a secret. Come closer…. closer…. Holly is doing the same contest on her site this week. So why not go over there and enter to win on her site. You can also see the fabulous project she did using the printer. A project involving vintage maps, another thing of which I have an irrational love.
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Mine was vintage postcards. When I was a kid, I said that I liked to collect postcards. I meant the postcards that people sent me from their vacation spots, but what it translated to in Adult Speak was that I liked vintage postcards.
It only took me fifteen years and countless boxes of vintage postcards to correct that misunderstanding.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:43 amuhm, the contest post says it closed last night at 11:59. do I still have time to enter?
Chris says: Yes, you do. The post was not up and running until the evening, therefore I have extended the entry time by the same amount. When I get home from baseball tonight the comments will be closed and it will be over
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:46 amWe have a very similar collection here… And I, too, claim that the globes are for my son’s collection when it’s pretty clear who they’re really for. The vintage maps I give my husband as gifts (in the spirit of giving what *I’d* like to have). Don’t tell, but I’m getting a map case for Father’s Day this year!
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:49 amMy sister bought a wonderful map of the world shower curtain for her sons’ bathroom - it was an easy way to force geography down their throats.
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:15 pmWe just bought our first home and what did my folks bring me? My Madame Alexander Doll collection of similar fame to your own… now instead of cluttering their garage, it clutters ours… sweet. The difference is that these are available for play should any small children come over and need entertainment. Love the globe collection though.
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:21 pmi use to collect drinking glasses the kind that jelly would come in or that they would have at mcdonalds i loved those glasses.
over the years i got away from collecting glasses so at this point i have none of the glasses except in the past two months i have started buying a type of canned oranges that come in a mason jar with measuring marks on them and Yes i have started keeping them I am not calling it a collection but usefull tools for the kitchen (they also make great vases and drinking glasses) So thanks for the walk down memory lane.
Okay enough about me. My kids also have collections
oldest daughter has dolls (not expensive ones) but we do get her one every year and sometimes i think they were her big gift oooopppps. Son collects key chains his goal is to get at least one from every state. He displays them o his wall. He took push pins and put them all up in a grid
yes i was a little upset at first but then again he likes them he takes care of them and if we ever move a little wall work will take care of the many tiny holes. ( we will live here forever)
third child collects rocks but she may have outgrown that
and she collects clothes. when she was very little she would pick out clothes as a treat instead of toys or candy. To get her to give something away is a struggle.
GREAT PICS
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:29 pmPS Thank you for my singing enjoyment today. We all will know who reads your post as we will be mouthing the words ALL day. My kids will LOVE it (not)
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:32 pmChris,
OMG OMG OMG! I had the exact same thing with those stupid Madame Alexander dolls. Whole shelves of my room that had dolls I wasn’t allowed to touch. After all, they would be WORTH SOMETHING SOME DAY.
Yeah. And then my parents got divorced, they were tossed into boxes and years later, they are utterly destroyed and are useless, moldy reminders that childhood is MEANT TO BE LIVED.
I always swore I would never, ever, EVER do that to any of my kids.
So I don’t buy them anything really nice. LOL
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:37 pmI had those Madame Alexander collector dolls that some people seem to think are “worth thousands on ebay.” Um, not the ones I have. I got about $20 for one of mine. Why give a little girl a doll they can’t play with?
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:46 pmMy son collects globes too! Love the gumball sized ones. Where did you find those?
Chris says: I found them a few years ago on ebay.
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:17 pmI got a doll…one time. It literally looked like it was possesed and I immediately shoved it into the far crevices of my closet, never to be seen again. Until I moved out and promptly gave it to my little sister to “take care of.”
The globes are a really unique and neat collection idea and those dimples on that kid are killer!
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:18 pmMy mom buys my daughter those holiday Barbies and tells her to put them on her shelf. They are so in her toybox half naked with tangled hair…but she loves them. Shhh…don’t tell my mom. ;o)
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:19 pmI was never a big fan of globes or maps UNTIL we adopted our 2 kids from Kazakhstan. Where??? LOL, so I use my globe and world map a lot. There are very few maps that show both my childrens birth cities. Those are very cool. And yes, thanks for the song in my head. They will love me at work tonight.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:27 pmI love that vase of globes. Also, wanted to say I have this printer and it is indeed fabulous. It doesn’t take up that much space and since it is wireless it can be stashed anywhere. As far as printers go it’s pretty decent looking. Thanks for the link to Holly’s printer project. Now my creative wheels are spinning.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:32 pmWe have a globe that I picked up at a rummage sale that has the USSR on it. Which is fun except when it sparks a discussion on the entire history of Europe/Western Asia with an 8 year old.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 pmYour kids and their dimples just kill me.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:52 pmI am alllll about the vitange maps, too. Really, antique papers or pictures of any kind, but especially maps.
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:07 pmAww, Chris - I love that you buy him globes, just because…
I agree that one should not give what they love to collect in lieu of a gift. I am positive I had that very globe he is holding, well one like it. It has a weird silver closure thing on the bottom. Is that one a bank? NO, I will not scour eBay for it and get re-addicted to recreating my childhood!
Chris says: yes, it IS a bank!
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:21 pmsadly I have Womanizer by Brittney Spears stuck in my head
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:23 pmSo…what happened to the dolls????
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:25 pmOh. My. God. I too had a Madame Alaxander doll collection as a child that set behind a glass case that I was forced to receive for every birthday and gift giving holiday. Once I was finally deemed old enough to have them ( when I had my own house) I boxed them up and sold them on eBay, for much less than you would think I would get for such expensive dolls (at the time). My mom still doesn’t know I sold them, she would be beyond crushed and upset. I would never tourcher my daughter that way, heck I let her take her American girl doll into the barn with her if she wants too ( my mom feels it should be in a case behind glass).
April 22nd, 2009 at 6:34 pmWhy…why in God’s name would you do this to meeeee???
I’m going to have that song stuck in my head for weeks now.
Nice globes though.
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:45 pmHere’s my favorite kind of globes…
<a href=”http://www.metrocandy.com/WORLD-GLOBE-BALLS”
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:42 amAs a child I collected dolls from around the world. cloth badges — that I planned to pin on a denim jacket but never did.
My prized collection — newspapers with headlins form the Falklands War in 82 and Princess Diana’s engagement and weddding and death. I also have all the papers commemorating the elections of recent presidents. On a personal note I have the Wash Post from the day my engagement was posted, and one each from my wedding day, and the births of my children.
I’ve never seen those small gumbal size collection.
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:48 amAs a teen I collected Ken dolls and displayed them in their boxes in my room, dorm room, home. My husband HATES the Ken dolls, so in this house I put them in a closet. A month or so ago I checked to see if any had increased in value. One is worth $60, so that one is staying boxed, but the rest aren’t worth any more than $10 so I started pulling them out for my 4 year old son to play with.
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:34 amLove the globes - maybe I’ll encourage that. My sons collect rulers! They want rules from wherever we travel. Last year I was in Cuzco hunting around for a rule for my son… I get to see Machu Pichu - he gets a ruler - cheapest present I bought on the trip.
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 amI think collections forced on a child (like Xmas ornaments, dolls, birthday cake toppers, etc) become guilt in a box. Why do that to people you love!?
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:44 amI had the Madame Alexander doll collection too. It was my mom who loved them. But they weren’t cool. I was so happy to finally say goodbye. I’m not a collector type; I’m praying that my daughter won’t be either.
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:14 pmJust Because gifts are the best of all.
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:43 pmDo you still have the crazy dolls?
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:48 pmI had a doll collection too. Only problem was, my mom kept getting them for me long after I had out grown the stuff. I hated having them in my room as a 12 year old. I tried to bring up putting them away, and my mother had an immortal fit over it. When I was 21 I moved out and she got it, when I left them at home, lol. A few years ago she bagged them up and brought them to my house. I donated them the next day. It was glorious!
April 25th, 2009 at 9:16 amI always wanted to take the dolls down from the collections and comb their hair too. And dress them up and…I had a friend when I was about 9 and she had a huge Barbie Doll collection. They were lined up all along her walls. Hundreds of them with their shoes glued on and on stands. she was not allowed to play with them. At all. I always felt that was so warped, even though she did have a collection of those she was allowed to play with. Her mom had a glass eye too that she took out at Brownies one time…ah, but that’s a different story all together.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:46 am