Maxine’s Doll Museum is a dream come true.

Maxine did not get the doll she wanted until she was grown-up. Now she has over eight hundred dolls!  Her daughter does too. They have opened a doll museum.

Maxine Wyatt wanted a Shirley Temple doll when she was a girl. She did not get one. But her daughter knew her mom’s disappointment. She gave her mom the doll many years later. Then Maxine started collecting dolls. She has dolls of T.V. stars, musicians, presidents, and Barbies.  Maxine’s daughter collects dolls too. Together they have opened a doll museum in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.  — Psalm 37:4

Video Story• Maxine Wyatt wanted a Shirley Temple doll when she was a girl. She did not get one. But her daughter knew her mom’s disappointment. She gave her mom the doll many years later. Then Maxine started collecting dolls. She has dolls of T.V. stars, musicians, presidents, and Barbies.  Maxine’s daughter collects dolls too. Together they have opened a doll museum.

• Dolls from 2,000 years before Jesus was born have been found in Egyptian tombs. Some were made of baked clay. Others were brightly painted and made of wood.

• A doll maker named Ott worked in Germany about 1413. He made wooden dolls from a pattern so that they all were the same. Later, peasants made large numbers of wooden dolls during the long German winters. Soon traveling merchants were selling them all over Europe. These dolls were called peg dolls or Penny-woodens.

• Dolls have been made from many other materials. Wax dolls became popular in the 1800s. An Italian woman named Madame Montanari set hairs into the wax strand by strand using a hot needle. Dolls have been made from china; hemp, straw, and braided flax; and cornhusks.

• The earliest cloth dolls probably were made from a rolled napkin or handkerchief. The top was knotted to form the head and features were drawn on with pencil or paint. Rag dolls were sewn and stuffed with rags or other soft material. Stocking dolls were filled with rags or sawdust. Strands of colored wool were sewn on for hair. And a happy face was stitched on.

• You could visit Maxine’s Doll Museum and Gift Shop in Hutchinson, Kansas, for a tour of Mrs. Wyatt’s collection.

We do not know if Mrs. Wyatt knows Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” But we do know that God has been gracious to her.