Colonel Fancy's Porcelain Doll Enthusiast Quarterly

Colonel Fancy's Porcelain Doll Enthusiast Quarterly is the world's oldest continuously printed periodical on the topic of porcelain doll collection, care, and fashion.

Beginning of Publication

The periodical which would be later known as Colonel Fancy's Porcelain Doll Enthusiast Quarterly began in 1866 under the unnoteworthy name The Yearly Porcelain Doll Enthusiasts' Report, published out of a small printing house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The United States was recovering from the recently ended Civil War as well as the subsequent assasination of Abraham Lincoln, and the people of the North and South needed some common interests around which to rally. Immediately following the end of the Civil War, the United States became gripped with by a porcelain doll craze which cut across social, racial, and economic classes. Seeking to capitalize on this, the United States Department of the Interior commissioned the printing of a yearly publication documenting the fashions and trends in the world of porelain doll collection in order to encourage interest in something which would unite the peoples of both the North and the South, repairing the cracks which had riven the nation so recently.

Colonel Waldtorf von See

In 1872, a man who called himself Waldtorf von See immigrated from the newly united German state from the area previosly ruled as Prussia. His true name is unknown, as Waldtorf von See is a name he invented upon arival in the United States. He claimed to have been a colonel in the Prussian military and that he had fought in the Franco-Prussian war; however, contemporary records cannot verify that any man matching the battle history given by von See ever existed. What is clearly verifiable is that he entered the United States with a vast expertise and interest in porcelain dolls: their manufacture, classification, history, popular fashions, and collection. It is said (though not verified) that Colonel von See arrived in the United States with two suitcases one containing clothes and the other containing the most important pieces from his porcelain doll collection, the rest of which he presumably left in Prussia which has been since lost due to his obfuscation of his origin. A talented engineer, he was sent to Philadelphia by the immigration authorties where he secured a job in the city's engineering corps. In his spare time, he find his way into the local porcelain doll collecting community. When the printing press for The Yearly Porcelain Doll Enthusiasts' Report fell into disrepair Colonel von See offered his time freely to bring it into good repair, thus beginning his involvement with the publication of the report. He began assisting in the production of the publication in his spare time, compiling information on the lastest in doll fashions and collecting behaviors as well as writing articles for the report. By 1877, he had been able to secure a permanent job with the publication and had worked his way up to being the chief editor of publishing the report. Under his leadership, between 1877 and 1889, The Yearly Porcelain Doll Enthusiasts' Report expanded, becoming a quarterly report rather than yearly. Furthermore, rather than simply collecting information about the year's trends, the report began influencing trends, becoming a periodical collectors across the country and in Western Europe looked to when deciding what would be the prevailing fashions for the following year. Colonel von See himself wrote many influential articles during this time. Initially, he wrote under his name in the US, "Colonel von See"; however, he observed that such a non-Anglo sounding name troubled people, and his name was frequently pronounced "Colonel Fancy". Therefore, beginning in 1878, he began publishing exclusively under the name "Colonel Waldorf Fancy". Sadly, Colonel Waldorf Fancy died was killed unexpectedly in 1889 during his participation in a bar fight. A drunk patron at the bar confronted Colonel Fancy, accusing him of being "a dandy" and that porcelain doll enthusiasm was something best left in Europe.