By Loo Jia Huey
Thousands of dolls live in Elizabeth Chrisostom’s apartment, ready to greet her and her guests. In fact, she has just about every kind of doll - celebrity dolls, Barbie dolls, bridal dolls, dolls from different countries and many more.
Because of her interesting hobby, Chrisostom has been featured on television and newspapers, but it was her dolls that brought her fame.
It all started when the avid doll collector was at the young age of seven. Being the youngest child in her family, Chrisostom’s sister surprised her with her first doll to make her happy. When Chrisostom received the beautiful red-haired doll, she certainly was pleased and named her Fergie.
During that time, collecting dolls was quite a popular hobby, and the 63-year-old decided that it would be her hobby, too. It was her very first doll that sparked her interest.
“Whenever people are curious to know why I chose dolls instead of other hobbies, I just say, ‘Why not? Doll collecting is my passion, and each and every one of my dolls have my heart in them.’”
Elizabeth loves all her dolls equally, just like how mothers don’t usually have favorites. “All of them may have different features, but they are still special in their own way,” Chrisostom said when interviewed.
“Even though I didn’t expect to have so many dolls eventually, I will never regret starting a doll collection because they keep me company, besides being an investment.”
Nowadays, doll collectors are very rare. Contrary to the general public opinion, dolls are not what most people describe as ‘girly’ or ‘childish’; otherwise her dolls would have been abandoned many years ago.
“There are also some people who claim that dolls have spirits in them and come alive at night, but being a doll collector doesn’t mean you have to collect scary dolls,” Chrisostom quipped.
This doll collector realized that having a doll collection is educational, too. After 56 years of keeping dolls, Chrisostom is able to find out how traditional costumes of different countries look and feel.
Even though doll collecting may be an expensive hobby, requiring delicate hands to care for them and collect dust, Chrisostom (photo below) does not mind at all, but instead chooses to follow her passion and enjoy life.
Loo Jia Huey is 11 years old.
Elizabeth Chrisostom
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