The La Porte County Historical Society
owns a large, varied collection of dolls.
Ranging from an early crudely made
wood one carved by a pioneer
for Irish children,
to finely crafted German and French examples from the late 18th century, the collection displays every imaginable type of doll.
Famous makers such as Armand Marseilles, Kestner, Heubach, and Gaultier are represented.
Oddities include an English wax doll, twin Floradora dolls, and a wooden mortise and tenon jointed doll by Joel Ellis of the Vermont Novelty Works. This doll was made only one year, 1873.
Also in the museum is a collection of dolls dressed in reproductions of the dresses of the First Ladies and Official Hostesses of the White House. These were created by La Porte resident Ernestine Bayer.
