It’s what’s on the inside that counts at this year’s 37th Annual Doll Fair.
The exhibit “Inside and Out: Dollhouses and Historic Interiors” opens during the doll fair, which will run from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the museum.
Dollhouses from the Haines community will be juxtaposed with historic photographs of building interiors from around town, said museum director Helen Alten.
“The dollhouses exhibit the creativity of our populace,” Alten said. “A fairy bower is made from scrap wood, tiny ladders and swings, stones and greenery, and populated with ceramic unicorns and winged fairies. A solidly built house with four rooms is a small museum, complete with glass exhibit cases and framed art. A Tlingit clan house has tiny regalia-covered clothespin dolls and a dugout canoe.”
The prize from a long-ago museum fundraising raffle – a Victorian dollhouse made by Bill Aronson – is also returning to the museum for the exhibit.
The doll fair will feature all the old favorites: the doll parade, crafts and mini doll-sized treats.
Resident Pam Moore will also put on a puppet show at 15 minute intervals throughout the fair.
Craft stations through the museum will include making a clothespin doll, building a clan house, constructing dollhouse interiors and drafting your dream house.
Participants should bring a doll-sized treat to share.
Children are encouraged to dress up and bring their favorite doll companion for the parade.
The doll fair started in 1978 when Nancy Nash read Tasha Tudor’s “A Time to Keep” to her small daughters and they decided to do a doll’s fair in their house.