NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures

Don't forget to join us for our monthly Rowan Doll Society meetings - a United Federation of Doll Clubs (UFDC) club that is accepted new members now. Our next meeting is coming up on Tuesday, May 19!

We meet inside the museum and enjoy socializing time between doll-lovers and then an informative presentation that highlights an aspect of doll history or artistry.

Club membership includes special perks like access to a (print!) doll magazine produced by UFDC.

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NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures

Free admission to the museum for active duty military families May 16 to Sept 1, 2026.

We are proud to participate in the national Blue Star Museums program, offering free admission to the museum to all active duty military families from May 16 to September 1, 2025.

This nationwide Blue Star Museums program is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and museums like our across America.

Active duty service members from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, Space Force, as well as members of the Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, and NOAA Commissioned Corps, along with up to five family members, are eligible for free admission by presenting appropriate identification.

Accepted forms of ID include the Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), DD Form 1173-1 ID card, or the Next Generation Uniformed Services (Real) ID card.

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NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures

Did you get our email newsletter this week? If not, here are some of the April highlights you missed:

🌟Rolling out the red carpet for our Volunteer Appreciation Brunch
🌎Online gift shop relaunch - including World Doll Day t-shirts!
🧸Photos of 2 AMAZING miniature workshops
👒Gene Marshall
🎁Ken's 65th birthday
🎪Schoenhut
🍒Shirley Temple
🚂Lionel train history
...and more!

Here is the link: conta.cc/4nlGP2P

We'd love to add you to our email list if you are not yet receiving our monthly recaps & upcoming event reminders.

3 days ago | [YT] | 6

NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures

The biggest doll day of the year is almost here! Celebrate with us with two epic events: Annual Fill-a-Bag Doll Sale & World Doll Day Celebrations

Fill-a-Bag Doll Sale:
Saturday, June 13 from 10 am to 2 pm
At the First Community Center of Spencer (215 5th St. Spencer, NC 28159)
Shop for modern & vintage dolls, doll clothing, doll accessories, and more.
$5 admission or free for museum members (become a member here)
$10 per bag
No limit on bags
Pay at the door, cash or card accepted
Within easy walking distance of the museum

World Doll Day:
Saturday, June 13 from 10 am to 4 pm
At the NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures (440 South Salisbury Avenue, Spencer NC 28159)
Free admission to the museum all day on World Doll Day
Free doll for every visitor
All are welcome - we are one doll family.
Within easy walking distance of the Bag Sale on the same day

4 days ago | [YT] | 6

NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures

Our Smart Doll meetup at the museum is a month away on Saturday, June 20! Join us in Spencer NC to meet inside the doll & toy museum for friendship and fun.

All dolls and all people are welcome - no Smart Doll required. Appropriate for all ages. Casual trading and sales are welcome.

There is ample free parking and the museum is air conditioned. There are also plenty of delicious food options within walking distance and plenty of fun adventures in Spencer and Salisbury!

#smartdoll #smartdolls #smartdollmeetup #dollsnc #smartdollsnc

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NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures

Happy Mother's Day!

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NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures

May 9 is National Train Day! A great day to celebrate one of the museum's most beloved attractions - our model train table and collection, including a big spotlight on Lionel Trains. A huge thank you to our volunteer "train team" for the hard work they've put into our stunning layout.

Here's some history from our audio tour:

When Lionel founder Joshua Lionel Cowen's immigrant family arrived in New York after the Civil War, the railroads were literally America's engines of progress.

The "Golden Spike" meeting of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines in 1869 unified the continent and signaled the birth of a world power. Cowen was born in 1877, just before Edison's first electric light. He grew up with real trains, amid constant change. Around the time he founded Lionel in 1900, passenger lines like the peerless Twentieth Century Limited symbolized American technology and sophistication.

Cowen was already a successful inventor when he created his first toy train. But The Electric Express and its offspring soon became a sacred mission, and Cowen would spend a lifetime stoking America's imagination with the romance of the rails.

He told boys that Lionels would prepare them for adulthood. Soon Dads too were encouraged to join Youngsters in model train enthusiasm, to future father-son bonding. With the growth of television in the 1950’s and the cultural differences between fathers and sons in the 1960s, toy train popularity waned.

Our trains are primarily made by Lionel, however there are a few other manufacturers’ trains intermixed. All of the trains that are operating are consider “O” gauge which means the distance between the two outside rails is 1 1⁄4 inches. There are about 6 other popular scales or size tracks that range from slightly more than a quarter of an inch up to about 1 ¾ inches. Other scales are on display around the museum.

Most of the operating trains are from the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Our displays also include Lionel trains from the “Prewar” period, which means that they were built before World War II and trains from the “Post War” period which covers 1946 through 1969. The earliest trains that we have are from about 1925.

#trains #trainday #modeltrains #lionel #lioneltrains

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1 week ago | [YT] | 2

NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures

This week, we welcomed a brother and sister duo from Denmark to the museum with cloth bodies, wooden shoes and hard plastic heads covered with yarn hair. The outfits are machine-knitted and match each other.

Made by Jane Ono and donated by Pat Nelson.

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NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures

This wonderful in-person program on May 30 is free with museum admission!

Suitable for all ages, enjoy a PowerPoint presentation from Les Albers, a military veteran, historical interpreter, and re-enactor as you learn Black military history from 1778 to 2003 through GI Joe figures.

Learn the names and stories of real Black servicemen and servicewomen and the historical significance of the development of Black GI Joe figures.

2 timeslots available! Join us on May 30 at 11 am or 1 pm.

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NC Museum of Dolls, Toys & Miniatures

May 8 is Have a Coke Day! 140 years ago, Coca-Cola was introduced to the public at the soda fountain of a pharmacy in Atlanta.

Did you know there is a global Coca-Cola Collectors Club? Lori Hedrick and the club enjoyed a themed display at the museum for the 2024 Christmas season.

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