And so it begins...

In the beginning, there was the Doll. And the Doll was alone, and wanted company. So the Doll created a group of women out in the Void known as Western Illinois, and the women were friendly and of good spirits. And it was good.

Warren County Doll Club has been meeting, now, for more than a quarter century, with members coming from places inside and outside Warren County.

I've been a member of the club, now, for roughly seven years, and treasurer, now, for three. I'm not the most orderly person on the planet, but, since we're a small group with small income, I don't have to worry about major accounting issues like taxes and investments and the like.

It is, indeed, my pleasure to be a member and officer of this little group.

For the record, my name is Rebekah. I'm middle-aged and collect a narrow field of dolls -- mostly those representing the more embarrassing elements of our history as regards native Americans. In other words, the dolls and figurines I have gathered under my roof are the sorts which would once have been labeled as "Injuns," or even "Redskins." I started collecting them because I didn't want our decorative history whitewashed or adulterated in any way. Some people collect "pickaninny" art. I collect "Injun" art.

Some of the members of this club have known me since I was a schoolgirl, just past the days of playing with my Barbies (actually, Mom never encouraged me to have an actual Barbie doll -- that one was too misshapen. I had Casey, Francie, and a half-dozen others of that Twiggy-style, as opposed to the Jane-Russell-to-the-nth-power girl everybody else knows and loves). Even then, I was actually more interested in cowboys and Indians.

Now that I'm older, I prize a handful of toys: the Lone Ranger and Tonto (with his tipi and accessories, and both horses -- Silver and Scout, with tack), Annie Oakley, and a fifteen-inch skookum, among others. I also have an obscenely extensive collection of glow-in-the-dark crap (and I do not use the term lightly. Most of what is in that collection is toys and tshatshkes originally valued at under a dollar apiece, some at under a dollar per gross. Very little of it has increased in value over the past few decades). None of these has a high market value, right now, but I don't really give a hoot. As one may gather, I'm not inclined to spend lots of money on the finer things in life. I like stuff I can play with, even in the bathtub.

I'm remarkably mature, that way.