B2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 13,1982 81-ym-oM greaf-great-grandma says Too old for dolls? BY PATTY GROSS Staff Correspondent Mildred Nocks likes dolls. That may not sound unusual lor a young girl, but the Tyrone woman will celebrate her Kind birthday next month. Mildred doesn't have time to play with dolls. She is far too busy making them instead. The vivid colors of the “boys and girls’’ adorn Mildred’s apartment. She has no idea how many of the dolls she has made over the years, however, hundreds have found life through Mildred’s nimble fingers. The demand and popularity of her products have grown immensely since the first doll she stitched-up backmthel9so’s. The great-great grandmother has not trouble selling or t 'ng away the dolls. Her 44 giv grandchildren keep the supply low, and Mildred admits she can't keep up with her growing family, which spans 5 generations. The woman, elderly in age only, likes to keep busy. “I don’t like to sit around holding my hands,” confides Mildred. At Christmas time she bought herself a new sewing machine. Many tunes the Blair County woman designs the dolls herself. It is obvious that Mildred enjoys her work as she lovmgly sews the dolls, taking tune for the smallest details. One proud pair looks as new as the day she made them 22 years ago. The dolls, so very lifelike, are freckle-faced and complete with ears, painted finger nails, and hair. An example of the tedious 4 V' and hair. No truer dedication to her task can Never! tasks. Mildred says, is the 12 hours she labored securing the hair. * Mildred explains that she has bought felt hats at rummage sales, washed and pressed than, and uses the material to make shoes and hats for her dolls. She com pletes the dolls with ruffled un dergarments and sheer and feminine dresses. The wide-eyed boy is dressed in short pants, covering his striped legs. The 81-year-old woman has been making her own clothes since she was 12 years old. She learned to sew in the early 1900’s by making doll clothes. Mildred says she was ten years old when she learned to crochet. Known as “grandma,” Mildred remembers her very first doll. It was 72 years ago that she received a |3 doll from Germany for Christmas. That doll with the china head and long curls on a kid body is still around today. Mildred trusted it to her oldest daughter. She never wants to stop her facmation for the dolls. “I hope I never get too old to like dolls,” jokes Mildred. Even when she was in a car accident years ago and came away with severe 1 broken bones she never slowed down. Mildred enjoys telling the story of one of her “girls” going to college. She has made three dif ferent dolls for a girl. While the others had a time surviving childhood, the most recent one was wisked off to a college dorm. “I hope she gets a better education than her creator,” muses Mildred. She explains she never finished high school. \ ' i ) * - 'Jr v* * y i' Mildred Nocks of Tyrone . y OL ever too old to appreciate dolls, and she is her own proof of this belief - the great-great grandmother celebrates her 82nd birthday She may not have a diploma, but she says she feels she has everything of real value in life. The mother of eight has family not only in Pennsylvania, but Arkansas, Virginia, Flonda, North'Carolina, (Turn to Page B 4) , , -N This great-great-grandmother says "I hope I never get too old to like dolls." Perhaps the two characters above are a couple reasons why. They are cute, playful and huggabie and will be scooped up very fast by one of Mildred’s 44 great grandchildren. wmesiead next month. A. . says, jas made so many dolls through the years, she has lost count. V" . "S'
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