In a November 1922 newspaper advertisement, just in time for Christmas, the Montgomery Fair department store on Dexter Avenue in downtown Montgomery featured a range of Ella Smith dolls, all for sale priced from .25 to .75 each.
The dolls, marketed as the “Alabama Indestructible Doll” and made in Roanoke, Alabama, were popular for decades at the turn of the century and beyond.
Fast forward to February 2022, when an episode of the popular PBS program “Antiques Roadshow” featured two of the dolls. Although the dolls had minor clothing blemishes, they were given an appraised value of between $1,000 and $1,300. The owner, who’d inherited them from her mother, whose aunts were the original owners, wasn’t a big fan of the dolls, which she described as “terrifyingly hideous.”
Ella Smith might not appreciate that assessment. Her story dates back to 1897, when Verna Pittman, a young neighbor in Roanoke, presented her with a broken bisque doll in hopes she could repair…
…
Continue reading this article at; www.alabamanewscenter.com
Author : Jim Plott / Alabama Living
Alabama News Center
https://www.alabamanewscenter.com/2023/12/24/the-story-of-ella-smith-and-alabamas-indestructible-doll/
Community,1904 World’s Exhibition in St. Louis,Alabama,Alabama Department of Archives and History,Alabama history,Alabama Indestructible Doll,antique dolls,Antiques Roadshow,Ella Smith,Ella Smith Doll,John Tinney,Langdale,Montgomery Fair store,Museum of East Alabama,Opelika,Randolph County,Randolph County Chamber of Commerce,Randolph County Museum,Roanoke Alabama,Roanoke Normal School
#story #Ella #Smith #Alabama039s #039Indestructible #Doll..