ON THE COVER
Giving new life to broken and discarded dolls
When Jane Burk Smith was 9 , her mother bought her a baby doll and told her it would have to be her last one because she was getting too old to play with dolls .
Smith recalls being heartbroken at the news because she loved playing with dolls and escaping into the world that she created when she was with them .
“ A year later , Barbie came out ,” she said , laughing . “ I asked and asked for a Barbie doll but my mother still said that I was too old . She wasn ’ t going to change her mind .”
Today , Smith is 72 – and she has decided that even though she has been eligible for an AARP card for more than two decades , she is most definitely not too old to play with dolls . In fact , Smith is so serious about her doll hobby that she has an expansive room in her home dedicated to her passion .
For about the past two years , Smith has been buying dolls in need of repair , fixing them up , and then either giving them away or selling them at flea markets and other events . She keeps her favorite dolls , adding them to her cherished collection .
She primarily works on 18-inch dolls , such as the American Girl sized dolls . She also sometimes repairs baby dolls and other collectible dolls . The most common improvement she makes is to doll hair . She often uses wig shampoo and conditioner to clean the hair . She then styles it – sometimes by simply combing or brushing it , and
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