“The American Doll, 1900-1950” — The Ursula Mertz Private Collection, Part One - October 17, 2026

It is curious, yet somehow fitting, that the first comprehensive study of the American doll would be undertaken by a German Immigrant to America. After all, it was a French man, Alexis de Tocqueville who had visited, studied and written about America in the early 1800s that many people consider one of the most insightful historians of American culture.  So it is with Ursula Mertz, who arrived in America as a young adult immigrant after WWII, bringing with her memories of her German childhood dolls. Nostalgia overcame her. Deciding to collect some of the dolls that she remembered from this childhood, she soon realized the wish was futile. She could find few German dolls here in American in late 1950s, and those she found she could not afford. Then she discovered the American made doll of the early 1900s. Fascinated by its evolutionary history from earlier German dolls, she enthusiastically turned to this not-yet-blossomed collecting category. As she relates “I wanted to collect dolls, I thought American doll history was intriguing, and also, these were the only dolls l I could afford because no one else wanted them at the time”. So began a serious fifty-year study of the American doll that was shared with collectors in her important two volume work, Collector’s Encyclopedia of American Composition Dolls, 1900-1950, in innumerable articles in doll journals and as guest lecturer at international doll conventions. Several years ago, Ursula donated a selection of her dolls to the UFDC Doll Museum where they remain one of the museum’s most sought displays.

Her extensive collection will be offered in two parts. Part I is scheduled for October 17, 2026, to be followed by Part II on March 6, 2027. The full color catalog of the more than 300 dolls featured the October 17 can be pre-ordered today.