Ode to Salesroom Doll Dealers at the UFDC Convention

Stunning Japanese doll offered by dealer Alan Scott Pate at the UFDC National Convention

Doll dealers who sell at the UFDC National Convention really don’t get enough credit. I was a dealer only once at Convention, in 2011, and it was exhausting work.  First of all, you have to transport–often by several thousand miles–dozens or hundreds of dolls. You also have to figure out an attractive  display for those dolls, and transport and rent what you need to make that happen.  Then you have to haul it all to the salesroom and set it up. In effect, you are setting up a small store that is only going to be in existence for a few days.

Then the salesroom opens! And you are going to be mobbed.  In a happy melee of collectors, you answer questions and make sales.  Of course, many of the dealers are also collectors, and even when they bring help for the salesroom, they end up missing a significant portion of the convention.  And, of course, at the end of the convention, you have to tear it all down, pack away the dolls you didn’t sell, and haul it all home.

The result of all this hard work is a salesroom that delights collectors and visitors alike (the salesroom always has one day when it is open to the public).  In effect, the salesroom has a museum-worthy collection of dolls and related items, and its a veritable candy store of dolls for buying customers.

This year I especially want to thank Diane and Rachel Hoffman of Turn of the Century Antiques for the outstanding doll…wait, I just remembered my husband reads my blog….um…LOOK, A SQUIRREL!  Perhaps I’ll talk more about this doll after I bring my husband up to speed.