Club News

Martha Washington Questers 1032 met on Nov. 20, at the home of Vickie Ealy, with nine members attending. President Virginia Reighard opened the meeting with the Questers Invocation. The minutes were read and approved, as was the treasurer?s report. Fine money was collected at 10 cents for each pair of shoes in members? closets.

Virginia read correspondence from the state committee working on the International Convention plans. They need volunteers for lots of jobs. Several of the members signed up to be greeters. The convention will be May 20-22, 2016, and the group discussed who would be going and which events they would attend. Virginia, Janet, Jane, Linda, Vickie and Sharon expressed interest in going. They decided to go on Friday and come back on Sunday, and to attend two events ? the River Bend Private Homes Tour on Friday, and the Camp Dodge Military Tour on Saturday. They will also attend the annual banquet on Saturday night.

The club?s next meeting will not be until March 25, 2016, at the home of Marilyn Whitenack, for a 12:30 p.m. luncheon.

The program was given by Vickie Ealy on dollhouses. She explained how the earliest forms of dollhouses were probably made by the ancient Egyptians who buried miniature people, buildings and belongings in the pyramids. Some other miniatures were Nativity scenes, and about 1,544 or more dollhouses were constructed in Germany and Holland for royalty. They were elaborate houses with many rooms and not for children to play with. One of the oldest (1744) is on display in New York City.

After World War II, houses became mass produced and made of plastic or tin. Today many are made of cardboard. Everyone remembered the dollhouses from the 1950s, made of tin. Some notable dollhouses are the 1924 Queen Mary Windsor Castle, which actually has working plumbing and lights. Astolat is a dollhouse castle built from 1974-1987 at the cost of $1 million. It is 9 feet tall and has 29 rooms. Vickie then shared her own dollhouse, a Victorian mansion which she and her husband built and decorated. It is beautifully done and fascinating to look at.

The members ended the program with shared memories of their own dollhouses as well as other dollhouses they had seen.