Every December, Letitia Penn Doll Club celebrates the season with friends and dolls at the Historic William Penn Inn in Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. Our event always includes dozens of great doll-related “helpers,” tempting sales tables, a delicious meal, a souvenir keepsake, and an educational and entertaining program. This year, our guests included representatives from 36 UFDC clubs!
With the festive holiday decorations, charming lighted dollhouse centerpieces, and all the beautiful items to buy and win—one might feel like a kid again!
Wonderful vendors’ sales tables with items to buy or just admire.
Dozens of “helpers” to win and a selection of extra special items for lucky winners.
The sweet centerpieces and our special reticule & necklace souvenirs made by The Carvers.
We were delighted to welcome guest speaker, Alicia Carver, who took us on a visual tour through important historic dollhouses. She started our journey with the elegant 17th century Dutch Cabinet Houses owned by only the most affluent ladies, and traveled through time to quality commercial toy dollhouses for children, such as those made by a favorite local company, Schoenhut.
Dollhouse of Petronella Dunois, c.1676. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Dollhouse made for the mass-market by Schoenhut Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, c.1930.
Alicia’s husband, Charles, also joined us and we were inspired by the artistry of their hand-carved wooden dolls. Their dollhouse themed display, featuring their precious wooden dolls, was a delight to experience (shown in the featured image at top of post). Several of our members are fortunate enough to include one of these treasures in their collections.
Alicia and Charles Carver’s display and items for sale (photo courtesy of The Carvers).
You can follow and learn more about Alicia and Charles Carver:
Alicia Carver has been a speaker for UFDC, NADDA, and at doll clubs and shows across the country. She has published numerous articles and hosted educational online videos. Alicia has owned Signature Dolls on Ruby Lane as an antique doll dealer for 18 years.
She and Charles joined their talents to create The Doll Carvers, designing reproduction hand-crafted wooden dolls.
They have been the featured artists for past UFDC events and they are the souvenir artist for the upcoming 2026 UFDC Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. “Josephine” and her companion “Napoleon,” are hand-carved wooden dolls inspired by the elegance of Empress Josephine Bonaparte and her infamous beau. Please visit this page on the UFDC website to see the dolls revealed:
www.ufdc.org/convention/souvenir-doll/
Learn and shop on the Carver’s extensive website. It is jam packed with information and inspiration:
www.thedollcarvers.com/
You can interact on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/signaturedolls/
Browse their shop on Ruby Lane:
www.rubylane.com/shop/signaturedolls
See you next year!
The club works throughout the year to make this annual event special and to help keep our wider doll community connected and energized.
We are already hard at work on next year’s celebration where we will explore a very special Philadelphia landmark, Historic Strawberry Mansion, and their unique doll collection. We are very proud to support the ongoing care and display of the collection.
Consider celebrating this historic anniversary of our nation with one of the oldest doll clubs in the US: Letitia Penn Doll Club. Refer to our Events page for more information.
Letitia Penn Doll Club 
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