Doll museum grew out of childhood passion

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This article was published 31/03/2004 (8174 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

YOU can forgive Vickie Sulyma for playing with dolls at her age. Afterall, the 37-year-old has turned her childhood passion into what has become a lesser-known highlight of the Manitoba tourism industry, the V. Gross Doll Museum & Gift Shop.

Located just north of the city near the town of Warren, the recently expanded museum is home to thousands of dolls, some of which date back to 1898.

It’s an impressive collection that displays everything from contemporary, life-like dolls to old-time Eaton’s Beauty dolls, and it all started when Sulyma was in diapers.

“I got my first doll from my grandmother,” explains the West Kildonan resident, of the home-made doll lovingly stitched together by her grandmother. “I loved it and kept it, and even when she made me other dolls and told me to throw it away, I kept it.”

In fact, she still has it. Or, to be more precise, the museum has the raggedy doll made from a stocking.

Sulyma says her parents noticed her love of dolls at an early age and were instrumental in fostering that interest.

“When I was two or three years old they would go to auctions and buy me boxes of dolls, and I would get such a kick out of them, they would go buy more boxes.”

And those boxes grew into more and more boxes. And more boxes. Until finally, 11 years ago, Sulmya realized that her doll collection was large to the point of nearly being unmanageable.

“I had 4,000 dolls at that point, and they were stored all over the place. It wasn’t the kind of thing you could house in one girl’s room,” she says.

After noticing several doll museums on road trips to the United States, Sulmya, with the help of her parents, decided to erect her own museum right here in Manitoba.

“I thought it would be a great way to share with others,” says Sulyma, whose maiden name is Gross.

A building was constructed on her parents’ property near Warren, and the first 900 dolls were put on display.

“It was a dream come true,” she says. “It started as an idea and we brought it to fruition.”

Last year, another one-and-a-half storey building was erected to accommodate the museum’s current exhibit of approximately 3,000 dolls.

Sulyma says the joy of starting and running the museum is not just the delight in having a legitimate excuse to nurture her passion for dolls, but also in getting to meet people from all over the world.

“We have people come here from places like Japan and Germany, and they seem very impressed,” she says. “And even though they may not speak English, the language of dolls is universal.”

As for local visitors, Sulmya says seniors get a big kick out of visiting the museum.

“They really enjoy seeing the dolls that they had as children. It brings back a lot of memories for them,” she says.

Especially interesting to older adults are the Eaton’s Beauty dolls, a classic line of dolls that was introduced in 1900 and was featured in the department store’s annual fall and winter catalogue each year.

The V. Gross Doll Museum & Gift Shop is open Sunday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from May to October. In the off season, private viewings can be made by calling the museum at 322-5346 and booking an appointment.

PHOTO MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Vickie Sulyma runs the V. Gross Doll Museum and Gift Shop in Warren, Manitoba.