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Old hands now, Ron and Shirley enjoy traveling to four shows each year, renewing acquaintances with other folks in the business: “It’s like a whole new family,” Shirley says. Their favorite trip is to the show in Las Vegas—Ron Jr., eldest of their three sons, lives there. Ron created and maintains his parents’ Web site: www.atopdoll.com. They reward him by taking him three of his favorite Pudgie’s sheet pizzas, frozen, wrapped and concealed in their luggage. You can visit the Web site to get an idea of the astounding array of dolls and houses, kits and materials, tools and accessories, and, of course, miniatures available through A Touch of the Past. But there’s no substitute for a personal visit (call first for an appointment). The shop occupies one room (and overflows to the living room and porch) of a charming old frame home nestled among woods and gardens. The space is small, but the inventory is extensive—you could browse for hours. There are beautiful dolls of every description, dollhouses in styles ranging from Tudor to contemporary, and the miniature marvels themselves.
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Perhaps most intriguing of all are fifty themed box rooms of furniture and accessories, complete to the minutest detail: children’s room, formal dining room, Christmas room, music room, den and game room, Victorian kitchen and modern kitchen, and dozens more. You almost wish you could shrink and live in them for awhile.
Shop: A Touch of the Past Where: 17517 Berwick Turnpike, Gillett, PA Phone: (570) 596-3563 Web site: www.atopdoll.com
Journalist and novelist Martha Horton is an occasional contributor to Mountain Home and lives in Elmira, New York.