WHAT first comes to mind when you hear about dolls?
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If you’re like most people, you probably think of a favourite childhood toy.
But for Thornton mother Sue Turner, it’s all about restoration – and it’s much more than a hobby.
It’s a passion that developed when she needed it most, pulling her out of a dark place.
Initially the restoration process was a good distraction for Mrs Turner – her father was dying of cancer and she was caring for him, and also her chronically ill son.
“I got really bad depression, I went badly downhill,” she recalled.
“I started working with the dolls and making my mind go elsewhere.
“I just didn’t want to think about what was making me sad and doing the dolls up made me so happy.
“I look at them and go ‘you deserve to be here, you’ve got a lot of history’.”
Today, she has a lounge room packed to the brim with 39 old dolls, from different centuries and continents.
She is currently working at restoring another seven, and has boxes more on their way from the USA.
“I love history and I became really intrigued,” she said.
She often finds herself wondering where the dolls came from, what their story is.
“Eventually, I started looking at deceased estates and seeing that there were just poor little dollies that were left in antique shops and they looked dirty, filthy, horrible, and in a bad way,” Mrs Turner said.
“So now I restore dolls; I love it, it’s like restoring history.
“I like seeing something that’s been left out for a long time, not been looked after, or been in a box or cellar and bring that life and history back.”
History is certainly rich with this array of antique toys – her oldest dates back to the 1700s, and is among others from the 1800s, 1920s, and 1930s.
They all come from a range of places, with their own story before she found them, and how they came to be with her.
One of her friends from the United States lost her grandmother to brain cancer and offered Mrs Turner first pick of a box of dolls from the cellar.
It wasn’t just any old collection – the dolls hadn’t seen the light of day in 80 years.
“I opened the box and there was a pre-war Nancy, a pre-war Suzie and a 1920s Shirley Temple doll.”
Mrs Turner will be exhibiting some of her dolls alongside other collectors on Saturday in Newcastle.
If you are or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, contact Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14, or online at www.lifeline.org.au