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CORTLANDT, N.Y. An elderly white building overlooking Crompond Road in Cortlandt, accessible via a deeply pot-holed driveway, is the new home to roughly 2,000 dolls. The Enchanted Doll Forest is hardly two dozen feet wide, but houses folk art, miniatures, consignment dolls and babies of every conceivable shape, size, color and even religious or political affiliation.
They usually come in and say, Where did all this come from? said co-owner Suzanne Mancuso about first time customers. The 44-year-old Lake Peekskill resident restored dolls and other collectibles as a volunteer at the Yorktown Museum, before deciding she needed her own space to accommodate clients for doll repairs and custom requests.
The shop represents a small world of doll enthusiasts, the Westchester affiliation being the Sleepy Hollow Doll Club, a member group of the United Federation of Doll Clubs (UFDC). Much like the pickers and pawn shoppers of cable television, the shop is filled with oddities and collectables that appeal to a surprisingly large audience. The UFDC has more than 500 member clubs in 17 countries, its members number around 11,000.
On Monday afternoon, Mancuso delivered a freshly refashioned doll, complete with custom lederhosen to its pleased owner.
Its just sentimental and something you have to keep, said Linda Henning, 67, a Somers resident who commissioned the new set of clothes for her childhood doll. Relatives sent them to us from Germany as kids, she said.
Henning told the story of how her mothers dolls accompanied her on the long journey from Germany, when her family immigrated to the United States in the 1920s. Her mother was 8-years-old, with one doll in her arms and another in her suitcase.
Mancuso specializes in repairs and restoration, but caters to a variety of tastes. The shop is filled with oddities, discomforting dolls with crying faces, outsider art and miniature scenes of everyday life. Mancuso creates doll food, furniture and is a florist. Shes hoping her shop can provide cheer to those needing get-well presents at nearby Hudson Valley Hospital Center.
Perhaps a testament to an obsessive nature, Mancuso holds the world record for the largest painting of the Virgin Mary, 100 feet long by 10 feet wide, and is working on her second for painting the most religious buildings.
The Enchanted Doll Forest is open Thursday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment, at 845-820-6846. On Saturday, patrons can participate in a free paper doll class. The Enchanted Doll Forest is part of the Toddville Antiques Center, located at 2201 Crompond Road, Cortlandt, available on the weekends or by appointment at 914-736-1117, or email sharich@aol.com.
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