ANNOUNCEMENT

  
   I have been busy -- REALLY busy.  We are restoring my son's new old house, and it is overwhelming. I am painting, stripping and planting. Yesterday a truck arrived with 55 hydrangeas and over 100 other shrubs, etc. ready for planting.    Just shortly before our renovation began in earnest, my friends and fellow early German toy collectors in Germany, Maria and Dieter, and I decided to pursue a dream we have always had of publishing a book together on our toy collections -- EARLY TOYS  THURINGEN / THURINGIA & ERZGEBIRGE  After the holidays we decided we would begin. The winter months were a perfect time for our weeks and weeks of photographing. It was very tedious making sure our photos were of the best quality for publication. We are very fortunate that a good friend of Maria's in Germany, Swantje Koehler, is a respected publisher of doll and toy books and was anxious to collaborate with us contributing her talent for layout and research.

     The book has been published and will make its debut at the Puppenfestival in Neustadt, Germany, next week. It fills a void in books published thus far on antique toys as it concentrates on wooden and papier-mache toys made before 1900. The text is in German and English, also something that has never been done before.  We are extremely excited and very proud of our accomplishment! It is a lovely book full of wonderful photos and interesting research. The photos in this post show a flier published to announce our book.  I can't wait to receive it!