Books:

Discovered! 505
Odd Enterprises

Hidden Dollars

How to Make
Money at Home

Small Business
of Your Own

You Can Own
a Business

Thirteen years ago a back injury made Mrs. Stevens give up her public health nursing and study of medicine and also forego her favorite sports of swimming, golf, and horseback riding. "I just couldn't stay around the house doing nothing," she says. "My sister sent me a pair of carved wooden dolls from Portugal and I decided to try to make some like them. I had no idea at the time that wood carving would become my chief avocation."

Now, Paquita Stevens makes about 500 dolls a year. They are sold in leading department stores and gift shops throughout the country. All of her thirty-five different models are carved from wood and dressed in vividly colored silks, velvets, wool, and leather.

Mr. Stevens has his part in the project too, for he manages the enterprise while his wife does most of the creative work. "For some time," he says, "Paquita has tried to entice me into carving with her but I came into this world with eight fingers and two thumbs and so help me, I'm going out with the same number. I'm content to handle the business end of her hobby and assist in some of the less technical processes."

One room of their lovely Hendersonville home overlooking Long John, a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is transformed into a fascinating workshop filled with hand and power tools, a work bench, shelves, and cabinets of finished dolls. But two parakeets flying about inside give the practical looking room an exotic atmosphere.

"The birds are so much company," Mrs. Stevens says. "El Greco sits on my shoulder very often while I'm working. He is tamer than Don Juan and likes to have me stop now and then to ruffle up the fur on his cheeks. In his repertoire of songs are 'Let Me Call You Sweetheart,' and 'I Came from Alabama with a Banjo on My Knee!'"

El Greco, named for the Spanish artist, is a dashing looking gray and orange fellow with a saucy crested head. Don Juan is a lovely soft pale blue.

BORN NEAR Seville, Spain, Paquita Stevens, whose name means "little one" in her native tongue, was taken to Mexico by her parents when she was eight. Three years later the family moved to the United States. Memories of these early days and of later travels in Europe and South America give her much of her inspiration today.

In general she has two types of subjects—American personages, present and historical, and Europeans of fact and fiction.

One favorite is Robin Hood (he sells for $7.75), a jaunty figure dressed in forest green with big high boots of real leather, and a bow and quiver of arrows.

Another favorite is Apple Annie ($6.75), wearing a purple felt cap tied under her chin, a bright plaid shawl and a full black taffeta skirt, and carrying baskets of apples on each arm. The baskets, made of raffia woven over pipe stems, are filled with brilliant red holly berries resembling apples.

An outstanding figure in any display of Paquita's dolls is Joan of Arc, dressed in shining nickel silver riding her beautiful white horse and carrying the flag of Orleans. The rocking chair saddle, made of real morocco leather and trimmed with hob nails is an exact replica of the saddle used in that period. Seven yards of florist's ribbon wound around Joan of Arc under her suit of armor give the appearance of silver mesh. The bold stallion's flowing tail made of mohair from Arabia has been curled around a nail when wet to give it its natural wave-like appearance. Joan on horseback is not currently available but a standing version of her retails at $11.75.

Then there are the Southern Belle ($11.75), sitting at a piano inside of which is a Swiss playing mechanism; the "Forty-Niner" and his faithful donkey ($11.75); the Balloon Man ($9.75); D'Artagnan and his Musketeers ($9.75 each); and the doll maker, Geppetto, putting the finishing touches on his own Pinnochio with the exact replica of a set of carving tools hanging on a rack and scraps of material on the floor ($11.75).

IN SPITE of the volume of her business, Paquita Stevens does all of the carving, painting, and sewing herself. With meticulous care she bends the fine copper wire to make eye glasses, designs a delicate violin, and threads a miniature loom so carefully that it could actually be used for weaving. "It takes as long to thread the loom as to carve the figure of the woman weaving on it," she says.

One of the most painstaking feats is carving the spinning wheel, a part of one of the most popular of Paquita's figurines. "I always cut six parts for each wheel, bobbins and all," she says. "After the delicate pieces have split a number of times, I usually end with one complete spinning wheel."

All materials are the best that can be bought—rich velvets, silks, satins, felts, and prints for costumes, black and grey Persian lamb fur for hair, soft leather for shoes and ornaments, and Alaskan seal for animals.

Mrs. Stevens uses very little glue in the manufacture of her dolls. Instead they are made in sections all pegged together with dowel sticks and can withstand changes in temperature when shipped to various parts of the country. Then, too, they are not easily broken in shipping and children cannot pull them apart.

"THERE ARE only a few things the beginning carver of dolls has to keep in mind," Mrs. Stevens says. "All you need is a set of carving tools, some medium soft wood, and a little spare time. Start out with the softer woods, such as bass wood, ponderosa, or California sugar pine. Sketch your model in pencil with the grain of the wood running perpendicular to the figure. Always carve away from you. Carve with the long grain of the wood to prevent pieces from splitting off."

A description of one of Paquita's popular models, the "Forty-Niner's" donkey, will show her method in detail. The tools used are the jig saw, coping saw, gouges, carving knives, and drill in the order mentioned. Power tools are not necessary but by saving time and energy speed up production.

First Paquita draws the donkey's profile with a lead pencil on a piece of wood 1½ inches thick, drawing in such a way that the bottom of the feet are directly across the grain of the wood. Next Mr. Stevens follows the lines with a jig saw, a task he says he can easily do because it is an "unskilled operation."

Then, using a coping saw, Paquita cuts through the exact middle of the wood from the bottom of the feet to points A.

This is to remove more easily the four superfluous legs, since at this point the animal has eight. To accomplish this she cuts off the back front leg (C) and the back rear leg (E) with a straight blade, turns the figure over and does the same thing with the front leg (B) and the front rear leg (D). Now the donkey's legs are in walking position.

The superfluous ears (two) are removed by sawing from F to G and H to J. The back right ear on the right side and the front left ear on the left side are then whittled away with a straight blade. Changing to a small curved gouge, the insides of the ears are shaped and the outsides rounded off. Very natural looking ears are the result.

Next, the neck is shaped by carving away about ¼ inch at the base of the jaw and widening gradually to the shoulders. Then the sides, stomach, and the rump are rounded off.

The final step is the shaping of the legs with a straight gouge. After sanding all surfaces, Paquita drills a ¹/16-inch hole through the mouth for the bit. This completes the carving.

Then the painting begins. The entire donkey is given several coats of taupe gray lacquer. After the last coat dries, the face, legs, and ends of the ears are painted about half way up with brown enamel and the hoofs and nose with black enamel.

TO DRESS the donkey Paquita attaches by means of glue, brown, gray or black fur for the bangs, mane, and tail. A piece of wire forms the bit. The bridle is made up of colored felt, cord, and two small pieces of chain. The bucket is cut out with a straight blade and concave gouge on the outside and inside respectively. The pick ax and shovel are straight blade operations. A roll of plaid flannel is added for the pack.

The Old Prospector is begun in the same way as the donkey, drawn on wood and cut out with a jig saw. But one main difference in method is the fact that instead of being in one piece, he is made up of eight components all pegged together with dowel sticks. To his torso are attached right and left legs and feet and upper arms. To the upper arms are attached lower arms and hands.

Over the shoulder in a natural position the gun, correctly proportioned in length (a bit longer than the legs) is screwed in. This must be done before the Prospector is dressed and before his head is attached.

A red checked gingham shirt with a red kerchief, a gray felt vest and hat, black corduroy trousers, and black leather boots complete his costume.

"When dressing a doll like this," Paquita says, "the beginner could very well use some materials at hand. For instance, the leather from an old black belt or pocket book makes good boots and the felt from an old gray hat is adequate for the vest and hat. For the gun the ends of fruit boxes are suitable, especially apple boxes."

The last part of the body of the Prospector to be added is the head, rounded off with the features painted on. "It gives the old man a more natural or casual look if you add his head last," Paquita says.

A pipe now goes into his mouth and he and the donkey are ready to be screwed to a square wooden base.

With a glint in his eyes he is stepping out confidently to find that gold, with his faithful companion beside him. This particular doll was inspired by the centennial of the Gold Rush, one of the outstanding eras in our nation's history. Others are suggested by movies, songs, legends, or ideas which Paquita says abound on every side.

GENIAL Mr. Stevens is sales manager and takes care of the magazine and newspaper advertising and editorial comments in magazines. When advertising he believes that it is wise to give actual prices and a full range of the product to be sold. This will spare one from answering many inquiries from bargain hunters.

"When asked for a sample of your work, send it C.O.D. only, unless you know the people who make the request or they furnish references you can check," Mr. Stevens says. "The customary wholesale price is forty to fifty per cent of the retail figure. Buyers prefer fifty per cent of course, and many shops will not operate on less."

Mr. Stevens attempts to obtain editorial comments in magazines by sending sample dolls to the shopping editor of a magazine for examination. The best method is to include a brief news release, describing the doll, quoting the retail price, telling where to send for the article and stating that you will pay the postage. If the editor feels the item is of sufficient general interest, he will make use of it. However, you have no assurance that the copy will appear as you do in the case of paid advertising.

In addition, Mr. Stevens arranges for appearances and demonstrations before women's clubs and other organizations, displays in large department stores and at hobby expositions, and radio and television interviews. These he obtains in a variety of ways—through requests sent by mail, through people who visit the shop, through acquaintances made at some former appearance, through articles written for magazines, and through paid advertising.

"You have to use your ingenuity in order to market your product," Mr. Stevens says. "That is what we did. One outlet will lead to another. A sign at the roadside in front of your home, particularly if you are on a highway or a route used by tourists, helps. A catchy name will often attract strangers or others who have seen your product elsewhere. Not long ago a woman and her daughter viewed our entire collection in a gift shop in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, 150 miles away, and drove over the mountain for the sole purpose of seeing our Paquita Doll House. You see the daughter's hobby is collecting dolls made by people she has watched creating them."

When first starting the business, Mr. Stevens often visited nearby shops in person and introduced the dolls himself. To shops at a distance which he hoped might be interested in carrying the dolls, he sent samples accompanied by an explanatory letter with pertinent information. Letters and printed matter alone, without the dolls, proved unsatisfactory. The buyer wants to see his merchandise before investing in it.

Selling a large number of dolls on consignment also proved unsatisfactory. Some came back dirty and broken and very often in too bad a condition even to be repaired.

Today the Stevens's work shop teems with activity. There are dressed dolls in cabinets ready to be shipped; there are square cornered bodies ready to be smoothed; and there are half dressed dolls ready for the finishing touches of Paquita's deft fingers.