I learned today (and I'm not the only one who just now learned, so don't sue me) that Dianna Effner passed away on October 14th. Now I have not yet posted about Dianna Effner because I do not own one of her dolls, but I've admired her wares from afar for a long time. I thought recently that I'd finally bagged this poppet, courtesy of my mother...
...but it turns out that the post was another scam, rather like the Waldorf scam that suckered both Mama and me. The listing said "doll and dress," but the picture is stolen from an Etsy shop so God only knows what we'll get, if anything. Oh yeah, the price was also WAY lower than what a Little Darling usually goes for (those darn things are expensive on eBay, though granted a lot of them are custom-painted). September was a bad time for dolly scams, kids. Anyway, the doll in the picture is...well, she appears to be a Little Darling. I love the Little Darlings! Their little faces are classic Effner. I am also a big fan of Maru and Friends; my only reason for not bagging one of those is not the price (the big dolls are equal in price to an American Girl doll), but rather that I can't decide which one I like the best! I have it narrowed down to Maru herself and her friend Tanya...
Unfortunately this post will be a brief one, since I couldn't even find a stinkin' biography of Ms. Effner online. The Doll Studio has a short history about the dolls she created, but that's it. Ms. Effner must've been a private person, which is understandable, though it would be nice to find a little info about her. Tam and Debbie Behan Garrett both note that they learned of Ms. Effner's death through good ol' Facebook, so I feel a little less stupid.
Since I have no Effner doll of my own (yet), I'll finish this post out with links to the tributes posted by Tam and by Miss Debbie. Their posts are better because they DO have Effner dolls galore. Miss Emily also has several of Ms. Effner's dolls; my favorite one is Savannah, from the Maru and Friends line. RIP Ms. Dianna, and thank you very much for your sweet little dolls that have charmed us all so! Hopefully soon I'll have my own to share with y'all.
Cheers,
RagingMoon1987
Oh! I didn't know about this. That is sad
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hope it was a painless death.
DeleteEmily's review may be the first place I saw Savannah,which became one of my most wanted dolls,so it's fitting that Emily's Savannahs are at this moment winging their way to me. Emily had already disposed of her Little Darling,so I didn't have to feel bad that I couldn't afford her!
ReplyDeleteOh, you're so lucky! Savannah is such a pretty little doll. I hope you'll share them when you get them! Did you get that pretty orange sweater that the larger Savannah wore in the review?
DeleteWow, that's a surprise. I mean, like you, I didn't know anything about her personally (and still don't) but it seemed like she was working pretty actively still. A loss to doll collectors.
ReplyDeleteIt was a shock to me too, I'll tell you!
DeleteThank you for posting that lovely tribute to Diana Effner... The official obit has recently turned up (with info.): https://www.jonesfunerals.com/obituary/Dianna-Effner.
ReplyDelete