Dollhouse

Kalispell woman surrounds herself with rehabilitated and new creations

Mary Dene Stocking has made hundreds of friends who live with her in Kalispell.

"I'm never lonely," Stocking said as she sat surrounded by her doll creations.

Stocking, who turned 90 in April, started her hobby after she first moved to the Flathead Valley from Helena in 1958 to marry Robert Stocking.

"I fell in love," she said. "I was a widow with three children."

Unfortunately, Robert died about five years after he and Mary Dene were married.

Always good with her hands, Stocking said she helped finish two houses. But she supported herself with her natural people skills, selling family home products for seven years.

"My mother said I never met a stranger," she said.

She later earned her insurance license and

made a career of selling Northwestern National Life, now called ReliaStar owned by ING. Stocking met her million dollar goal many times, earning trips around the world to places such as Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Italy.

Stocking's love affair with dolls began when an abused one caught her eye at the Salvation Army in Kalispell. Stocking carried her home, washed her hair and body and dressed her up.

Thinking back, she said her impulse to rescue battered dolls may have developed from her childhood when the toys were in short supply. She recalled her misery when her little sister failed to take proper care of the family's two dolls.

Stocking began collecting as well as rehabilitating many antique dolls over the years, including Madame Alexanders, Chatty Cathys and Shirley Temples. She named only one - a large antique doll she christened Mary Elizabeth - after her mother.

Even more than collecting dolls, Stocking enjoys building her own creations.

Her work has multiplied to decorate every room and fill two large display cabinets in her work bedroom. They range from porcelain-faced beauties to soft Raggedy Annes and Andys, to Santas with delicate wax faces.

She held up her princess and pauper dolls and then pointed out her two cherubic Campbell Kids creations. Her dolls representing seasons decorate her own bedroom

"You make one and you're inspired to make another one," Stocking said.

She said she learned the craft through trial and error and picking up techniques described in doll-making magazines. Stocking also traveled to attend seminars.

She met some famous artists in the field, including Cindy McClure. Stocking pointed out a doll inspired by that meeting.

"She gave me the head for this doll," she said.

For her elegant porcelain creations, Stocking begins with a mold. She pours the face, has it fired then handpaints the features.

"You look at their faces and they'll all look different to you," she said.

She made dolls for her daughter Susan (Storfa), including one that looked like her daughter's twin. Stocking made a mold for the face based on a picture taken when her daughter was 2 and 1/2 years old. She keeps the photo near the doll for comparison.

She based her Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls on a pattern that dates back to 1928. Stocking still has that pattern.

"That's probably worth some money," she said.

Some of the Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls have painted faces, some with the additional touch of embroidered eyes. Stocking said she found a ready market for these dolls, which require at least a week to produce.

"I can make a pair in a week but I have to work at it," she said. "The hair takes a lot of time."

According to Stocking, her dolls sell just by word of mouth. She has a difficult time parting with them, judging from the many carefully tucked around her apartment.

"They're like people and I love people," she said.

But Stocking faces a major downsizing of her collection as she has decided to move in with her daughter in just a few weeks. People interested in purchasing some of her varied collection should call Stocking in the afternoon at 755-3213 or her neighbor at 756-7405.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.