The Story Behind the Ingalls Dolls

This is from the Dedication Page of the Ingalls' Album...

When Robin was a 5th grader at Little Cypress Elementary school she was given an English assignment by Mrs Fuller; a book report and a creative project to illustrate the characters. Robin chose the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and made the doll family. She hated the project and wasn’t really thrilled with the dolls.

Fast forward twenty-eight years. Robin grew up and had two boys. The dolls were left in our parent’s attic & survived several moves... Pa Ingalls is eventually discovered by our little sister, Nancy, as they made yet another move- this time to Arkansas. However, Ma (Caroline), Mary and Laura are not packed with Pa and it is a mystery as to where they might be. Pa was admired by the family and since it was near Christmas; and pranks are always a part of our traditions- a plot was hatched. Robin’s Christmas gift was to be a gift certificate for some leopard print bedding (our father had actually shopped all over Little Rock for these items and had not been successful!) Sister, Sally, decorated a Velveeta box (with some papers that looked like our childhood bedroom curtains and leopard prints) to resemble a miniature bed; and upon displaying it- it was found to be just the right scale for Pa! So, he was tucked into the package with the bed and the gift certificate. Come Christmas Day- Robin opened her package and was most pleased with the gift and rather surprised to be reunited with Pa. There was quite a bit of laughter of her memories of the sad little art project and her eventual distaste of the 70’s era bed-linens!

But, Nancy would not let the issue of the missing Ingalls women die. Every time she visited home she would rummage through more boxes and crates in her search. Finally-- in July they were found!! But, where was Pa? Well- of course- he’d gone back to Texas with Robin! After considerable giggling- a plan was concocted to surprise Robin with yet another truly wonderful “gift” for Christmas. And, wouldn’t it be funny if we were to take the “girls” to various favorite childhood places and take pictures of them? After a drive up to the Dwiggins Peach Orchards in Amity- the plot had thickened and included a hilarious story of just why the girls were traveling. Mae and Mother helped to embellish the story and thus the journeys began!

Nancy had a diving trip planned to Cozumel and she would whisk them off to the Mexican Caribbean and snap some more pics. In the style of “Flat Stanley” or “The Traveling Gnome”. The real fun had begun! Nancy and I thought of several scrapbook friends and acquaintances that would be willing to “host” the girls, take a few pictures and send them on their journeys.

We emailed pictures and snail-mailed the dolls back and forth across the nation to our buddies, then Nancy’s office manager decided to visit her family in England and agreed to take the girls on their second big overseas adventure! In the meantime- we collaborated on the scrapbook for Robin. The logistics on this weren’t the easiest- I made the “base” pages and penned some of the “diary” narration. Through email and parcel shipments - we completed the biggest part of the album. Nancy laid-out the pages and edited the narration. At one point- Robin came home for a visit and I invited her to scrapbook with me- well- she wasn’t thrilled! But- she agreed to help cut out dies with the Sizzix machine- thus, even Robin’s handiwork was included in the album.

As Christmas neared- I called Robin’s husband, Stephen, and though he had been blissfully “out of the loop” as far as all the shenanigans- he quickly agreed to be an accomplice in the great scheme. He and Robin’s son, Christopher, snatched Pa off of Robin’s bedroom dresser, packed him up and mailed him to us without her knowledge. Now, almost the whole family was in on the joke! Pa arrived in Arkadelphia and was reunited with his wife and girls and was set in a place of honor next to the Christmas tree.

Our father could not stand to be left out of the action and in typical Keyton merriment, would email us pictures that he had concocted of the Ingalls family (see his journaling on the previous blog entry). They were seated at the breakfast table; in front of the crèche and were the source of a lot of laughter as we anticipated the holiday visit. One night as the family slept- a great ruckus occurred. It seems that the cats, Mama Jenny and Purrscilla-Priscilla, had taken a fancy to the dolls as they were sitting in one of the chairs they pre"furred" to sleep in. The next morning the Ingalls family were all strewn about and Ma Ingalls had been dragged off down the hallway- attacked by a wild panther-ack!! Just to show you that truth can be stranger than fiction!

Robin’s Ingalls dolls were destined for lots of adventures and travels! We had a wonderful time “mock-umenting” a few of these escapades and hope that Robin and her family continue to have many more delightful journeys.

Best Wishes, Sister-- and Many Happy Days! We love you--and don’t forget... we GOTCHA one more time!!