Sign up for our free newsletter:

With exuberence and gratitude, Wendy Lawton creates collectibles that have garnered nine Doll of the Year awards

by Barbara Curtis

Wendy Lawton, who as a child loved more than anything to play with dolls, came by her calling earlier than most. "Because my mother collected dolls, I always had a shelf lined with dolls," she says.

Growing up in San Francisco, Wendy and her younger sister Linda looked forward to Christmas each year—to give and receive—and their annual trek with their mother to the fire station that collected Toys for Tots. The girls knew each year they would find two new dolls under their own tree.

In anticipation of their new dolls—and of the trip to the fire station—the girls spent hours surrounded by boxes of clothes and hair ornaments, putting together the perfect outfits, preparing their dolls for a new home in another little girl's heart.

"My sister and I liked to sew so we specialized in adding all kinds of trimming. Now I look back and wonder what the recipients thought of those overdone dolls!" Wendy says ruefully. But if one of those dolls could be found today, it would be snatched up in a heartbeat by a savvy collector. Nowadays the porcelain dolls sculpted by Wendy and handmade at her factory in Turlock, California, sell for hundreds, even thousands of dollars. Lawton Dolls have been nominated for 61 industry awards and have won nine Doll of the Year Awards as well as three Dolls of Excellence. Collectors eagerly await Wendy's new creations and travel for miles to hear her tell the stories behind them and to have her autograph them.

"My first doll award came 40 years ago when I was 10 years old. We had just moved across the Bay and I entered the Union City Rec Center contest. I won first place for the biggest doll. Not the prettiest, or best-dressed, but the biggest. Now that's humbling for someone who loved dolls the way I did!

"I received my first Barbie doll at 13 years old, and spent years collecting clothes. My sister and I designed hats for Barbie, selling enough of them to get money for our mom's Christmas present. I never outgrew my passion. When I got my first job at 18, I spent my first paycheck on a Furga doll from Italy that I spotted in a Montgomery Ward catalog."

"It was a pretty ugly doll. Not because my daughter was ugly," she laughs. "I had limited skills at that point." Recently, that ugly doll caused a bidding flurry on e-Bay for its rarity—sold to a fortunate collector for approximately $750.

"A typical collector of my dolls is around 58 years old, a grandmother, well-educated," says Wendy. But Lawton Dolls are not for display only; Wendy hopes they'll be loved and played with. The current promotional slogan for the company, "It's never too late to give yourself a happy childhood," says it all.

"About four years ago, I started making travel dolls. Travel dolls have been around since Victorian times. Each comes with a trunk and a travel book. A girl would take her travel doll with her whenever she went away. She'd make a special dress for the doll to represent where they had been and write about the trip in her book. The doll became autobiographical. It told the story of her life."

Many Lawton Doll collectors now carry those dolls with them on their journeys.

"In the quiet, solitary act of reading," Wendy explains, "the story begins to come alive. The tale becomes so real, I can't bear to let it go. The doll that I create is my expression of this longing to make the story my own." Wendy admits that her favorite doll over the years is her depiction of Anne of Green Gables because she loved the character so much.

Wendy's initial sculpt—the actual modeling of the doll's features—is followed by a 12-hour design session in San Francisco (a two-hour drive) with the dressmakers she has worked with for 20 years—Betty Rodriguez and Mary Martin.

Once the clothes and accessories are designed, the doll goes into production at the Turlock factory in the skillful hands of 13 employees, all of whom have worked for the company for at least eight years.

Wendy likes to refer to herself as an illustrator whose love of words and life adds meaning to her creations.

"I illustrate the things we love—the seasons, music, childhood literature, life's circumstances, things that link us together," she says.

Wendy's journey of faith began when she was 7 years old at her mother's church. One morning during children's church, the leader gave a straightforward invitation to accept Jesus. Wendy decided that's what she wanted to do. Not long after, her father who was Jewish did the same. The whole family became active in church.

Today at Hilmar Covenant Church, Wendy teaches the senior high Sunday school class. With others at church, Wendy has also developed a personal ministry of keeping current with persecuted Christians worldwide and writing letters on behalf of imprisoned and suffering Christians abroad.

She and her husband Keith run the doll business together (they also grow almonds). On their honeymoon, they bought their first Kewpie doll together, one doll collection that Wendy continues to expand upon.

Daughter Rebecca, 23, is currently teaching school in Palestine, and Rae Lynn, 14, a freshman in high school, is a talented artist. Son Patrick, 17, isn't interested in dolls at all—it's not exactly a guy thing. He used to identify his dad as a farmer rather than someone who owns a doll company. One thing the whole family agrees on though—Wendy makes great homemade clam chowder.

Sometimes that means taking a step in faith by giving raises when they are merited, even in the midst of an economic crunch, and watching God take care of the rest. The company has sold more than 75,000 dolls.

"At the Toy Fair in New York City last year, Betty and Mary and I prayed that God would allow us to connect to each person, to let them see Christ in us. It's important to us to focus on relationships rather than sales." Sometimes that means listening and caring about the joys and sorrows their collectors experience, sending an encouraging note with Bible verses, offering a word of hope.

For Wendy, she's glorifying God in the actual creation of a beautiful doll. She strives for excellence in every last detail.

Beyond the beauty of the dolls themselves, there is the beauty of the stories that inspired them.

Like the Legend of the Poinsettia:

"Each child at Christmas brought a gift to lay at the creche of the Christ-child. But one girl was so poor that she had nothing. She bound some sticks with a rag and stepped into the aisle with her gift. As the other children laughed at her, her burden seemed to grow heavier. Still she found the courage to move forward because she so wanted to honor the Christ-child—even with her worthless gift. And, as she approached the creche, one by one the brittle sticks burst into the most beautiful blooms anyone had ever seen."

In past years, Wendy has created dolls as diverse as the Little Drummer Boy with baby Jesus, Joseph with his colorful coat, nursery rhyme characters like Polly Put the Kettle On and Little Miss Muffett, Jane Austen's Emma, Alice in Wonderland, a doll from Zaire (with a missionary's input), and a Ukrainian doll whose dress was embroidered by Ukrainians.

The 2001 line will include Laura Emeline Lives Above (she lives above the emporium and loves to go down to see the clothes). Wendy is thinking of tapping the creativity of her clientele with a writing contest for the Laura Emeline collectors—asking them to make up a story about her life.

This year a new series of One Nation Under God dolls will be launched, featuring historical and period characters (like Betsy and the Patriot, a Betsy Ross doll with her patriot friend). Wendy hopes to eventually include a Ruby Bridges doll—capturing the 6-year-old black girl's courageous story of breaking through racial barriers to go to school.

After all, for Wendy Lawton, a compelling story deserves nothing less than a beautiful doll.

Check out www.LawtonDolls.com to learn more about Wendy and her family of dolls.

A Christian Reader original article.

	What did you think of this story?
	Please to give us your feedback.

Home  |  People of Faith  |  Stories of Hope  |  Today's Culture
Build Your Faith  |  Laughing Matters  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

				Try an Issue of Today's Christian Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Subscribe to the Today's Christian Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help