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
