1789. Sasha’s collection

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Sasha had collected quite a large number of dolls over the years. It began when she was in Fiji – as a tourist. She wanted to purchase something as a memento and the doll of a Fijian woman in traditional costume was the perfect reminder of a wonderful trip.

The following year Sasha and her husband visited Austria. An Austrian doll was the perfect souvenir. The next year it was Peru. Then Jamaica.

“I didn’t realize we’d been to so many countries,” remarked Sasha one day. “So far I’ve collected seventeen dolls from our trips overseas.”

But then things started to get a little loose. At the local market Sasha spied the most beautiful doll in a Moroccan outfit. It was perfect for her collection, even though she hadn’t been to Morocco. The collection built up quickly after that, and last count Sasha had over two hundred dolls. For her forty-seventh birthday, Sasha’s husband laid out the plans to build a room extension to the house. It would have lots of shelves and be perfect for a doll collection. And indeed it was!

By her fifty-eighth birthday Sasha had lost interest in the dolls. She had taken up quilting and with the removal of the shelves from the house’s extension it was the perfect size for a quilting room. Next time they travelled Sasha went from one quilting place to another.

And then she saw it! She just had to have it. It was in a quilting shop in Hong Kong. A small brass duck. It would be an admirable memento of their visit. Ornamental ducks would be the perfect things to collect.

30 thoughts on “1789. Sasha’s collection”

  6. umashankar

    Passions of Sasha are intense and consuming while they grip her. Clearly though, she is not one for monotony. However, the manner in which her old interests are disposed is callous, indicating a streak of cruelty. Again, she fails to sustain the purity of her enterprise, as in when the dolls were collected from a local market rather than distant places of visit. She has a very supportive husband, however. I did like the story. I could discover a tiny part of Sasha in me too, in that my interests keep getting postponed to an unknown future, possibly never to come. But I love them still, my collection of books, cameras and assorted equipment. My blog.

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  7. badfinger20

    I know how she feels… I collect also…I have 12 guitars…but I do play them all…I also collect 1970s items like an orange fuzzy Chaise Lounge Chair, Black Light Posters, and basically anything cool thing that would have been in a teenagers room during that time…My dream item would be an original Egg Chair.
    Maybe Sasha will let me store some of my stuff there?

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    1. Bruce Goodman Post author

      I wonder how many original egg chairs are still about? I used to know a guitar maker – Stephen Delft. He made some guitars for some famous people including Paul Simon. He wasn’t cheap! He was British but lived in New Zealand. His partner was Romanian (I think) and an expert on European woods (as in timber – grain etc). Stephen now goes under the name of Stephanie Delft – so I’ve kind of lost touch.

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      1. badfinger20

        Wow that is great. I can imagine how expensive they are now. It’s an art to making a guitar…my dad would tell me he loved making acoustics because electrics are just “2×4’s with strings.” Well I didn’t believe that but I got what he was saying.

        Wait just a minute… Stephanie? You have lost touch.

        My family made guitars for country stars like George Jones, Dolly Parton etc… Gower Guitars and Grammer Guitars. The made them from the 1950s until the 1970s…bad business decisions caused them to shut down. Now if I want one… they are around 5-7 grand. I have a few.

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        1. Bruce Goodman Post author

          That’s amazing! And from a famous family! Stephen/Stephanie trained initially as an organ maker. The skills are passed on since time began. He got a job lecturing and revealed the secret to his students of how to make a particular wooden screw. He was ousted from the Guild – whatever that was – and came to New Zealand where he made guitars, Each guitar would undergo a process of quite a few years to make. (I think I’ve sort of got the story right). I used to get him to come to the place where I was head of music to put an insurance value on all the orchestral instruments.

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          1. badfinger20

            Wow he took his time on them which means they were probably great. It’s a dying art but there are still a few around who make great guitars. So for giving a secret out he was ousted…he wasn’t a magician for goodness sake.

            My aunt was very smart in business and she was in it but the men would not listen to a woman at that time…and they should have…that is what I would probably be doing today.

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            1. Bruce Goodman Post author

              I have been googling the guitar makers you mention. I also put you wrong with Stephen’s partner. I thought I remember Romania, but in fact it was Romany (Gypsy). That might have been a bit of b/s of their part. She seems to have been Paul Simon’s mentor in his early stages. And I touched the Paul Simon guitar while it was being made. It had pure gold inlays and ornamentation. I’d like to know more about your guitar ancestry if there’s a link?

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              1. badfinger20

                Gold inlays…that is something. I was googling him.

                Here you go Bruce. It’s pretty cool that I will get emails for information out of the blue about those guitars. I have two electrics and two acoustics. I’ve seen George Jones with one and a couple of others. The first link is a post with my two cousins talking who have more info…the other is one about my uncle who was the main person…. here you go

                Gower Guitars

                https://www.vintageguitar.com/32276/the-story-of-jay-gower/

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                1. Bruce Goodman Post author

                  Yes – Judith said she was Romany. They had a big argument while examining my two double basses. Stephen said they used to be three string basses that were converted to 4 string and were made in Yugoslavia, and Judith said that was impossible because the wood was definitely Black Forest. Another point I remember was that he was very fussy about what elements went into making electric guitars because he said it did greatly affect the sound!

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                  1. badfinger20

                    I can see certain things like the wood effecting the sound. The wood stripped or the wood laquered and of course the pickups.
                    Well Bruce have a good night.. thanks for the name…that was some interesting reading about her….later I found some stuff about him.

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