A group of life-size dolls in the Patti Play Pal series, including Patti, Peter, Penny and Suzy, on loan from museum board member Helen Jones of Lexington, stood nearby. A Schoenhut dollhouse was in one corner of the large one-room museum-in-the-making. A collection of toy fire engines, on loan from Calvin and Melanie Denton of Carlisle, sat in a glass case.
A toy replica of a bicycle-driven ice cream wagon, provided by retired Lexington banker and Carlisle native John Irvin, sat atop one shelf. The Kentucky Doll and Toy Museum is another project of Lexington neurosurgeon Phillip Tibbs and his wife, Trudy Tibbs. The couple, who have an affinity for old buildings, own Forest Retreat in Nicholas County, which once was the home of Kentucky's 10th governor, Thomas A.
They also are co-owners of Varden's Caf , Specialty Foods Emporium in Paris. Recently, they and another couple made a successful bid for the old Athens Elementary School in Fayette County. "At this stage of our lives, we're trying to look at ways to give back to the community," Phillip Tibbs said.
"We wanted to do something to help redevelop downtown Carlisle." The Tibbses paid about $80,000 for the Carlisle building. Renovation materials will cost them an additional $40,000 to $50,000.
Much of the renovation work is being done by Phillip Tibbs' brother, Michael Tibbs. Jan Wesley, an avid doll collector who has displayed her dolls at Caf on Main in Carlisle, which she co-owns, inspired the Tibbses to turn the old building into a doll and toy museum. Wesley will be the new non-profit museum's curator.
"This began because Phillip and Trudy would come to eat at the caf , and I'd have a new doll out," Wesley said. "I said to her, 'Jan, your doll collection is going to outgrow the restaurant,'" Phillip Tibbs said. Wesley said she hopes the museum will become a venue for birthday parties, teas and lectures about toys.
There's talk about it becoming a place to bring broken dolls for repairs. Those working on the museum are seeking additional ideas for museum programs and more toys, either donated or loaned. They hope to borrow a large Barbie doll collection owned by two men who live in the Covington area, and they have been scouting out model trains.
Meanwhile, a lot of work needs to be done to the building. Already, though, the old wood floors have a new shine to them. The tongue-in-groove ceiling, hidden for years by several other layers of ceiling, have been refurbished.
And ceiling fans and ornate crown molding have been added. She and her husband plan to pay the museum's utility bills and provide a "very special collection" of English dolls -- Trudy Tibbs' mother was English -- for display there. Well-known Lexington lawyer Gatewood Galbraith, a Carlisle native, is among those who plan to be on hand for the museum's opening.
His grandfather, Quince Tilford Gatewood, ran the confectionery that the building once housed. "It was the center of the town's attention back in the '30s, I reckon," he said. Reach Jennifer Hewlett at 231-3308 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext.
A group of life-size dolls in the Patti Play Pal series, including Patti, Peter, Penny and Suzy, on loan from museum board member Helen Jones of Lexington, stood nearby.
News RSS