SEGUIN, Texas — There’s more to Dorothy Meredith’s doll collection than meets the eye.

She runs Attic Antiquity Dolls in Seguin, Texas.

Meredith can tell you about each doll in her collection.

“These little guys are half dolls, or pin cushion dolls. Some of them had a hoop skirt that was a pin cushion. Some of them had a clothes brush on the bottom,” said Meredith.

And some of her babies have seen better days. They have cracks, torn limbs and missing eyes.

Enter: Dorothy Meredith, the doll doctor!

“We grew up out in the country and I had one younger bother. So, he just wanted to shoot me with his BB gun! He didn’t want to play dolls, so I had to play dolls by myself, ” said Meredith.

Meredith has been doctoring old dolls for more than 30 years.

Instead of a scalpel, she uses paintbrushes, paint, and putty. 

Since COVID, more people have been going through their attics and closet finding old friends, the dusty, the dirty, the downright creepy! They bring them to Dr. Dorothy sometimes with faces only a mother could love!

When asked if she gets creeped out when she walks in her shop Meridith said, "No, not really. Dolls don’t scare me. I just think there’s too many scary movies and that’s probably why children don’t play with dolls as much.”

Some of the dolls in Meredith’s shop are more than a hundred years old. Each one is waiting for a new life. But it may take a while. Dorothy says she’s backed up at least a year. But perfection takes time, especially when you doctor dolls the old-fashioned way.

“The value, I think, is more if you keep as much original as possible. And that’s what I’m trying to do. These are family heirlooms that are going to be passed down for generations, and I think that’s great because that’s family history, ” said Meredith.