Laura Bush will soon be on her way to Mitchell, S.

Saturday, September 01, 2001

Laura Bush will soon be on her way to Mitchell, S.D., to join the other first ladies of the United States in a special gathering.

It’s not a social tea or an affair of state, but instead, it’s a collection of dolls in the likenesses of the presidents’ wives. Agnes Boss of Albert Lea is the artist for the Laura Bush doll.

Boss said in January, a woman from the Enchanted World Doll Museum called and asked if she wanted to create the 17-inch Laura Bush doll for the collection.

&uot;I said I’d try,&uot; Boss recalled, adding the woman said there was no rush.

Boss is no stranger to the collection; this is the sixth doll the Albert Lea doll artist has created for it. Previously, she created dolls in the likenesses of Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan , Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary Clinton and Jackie Kennedy.

Looking back, those dolls were easier, Boss said. Laura Bush has created some challenges of her own.

&uot;She has been difficult,&uot; the doll artist admitted. &uot;She has no bad features to play off, and her eyes turn up at the edges.&uot;

Boss uses polymer clay to create the dolls. After making a &uot;skeleton&uot; of wire, and a body of cloth and polyester, she wads up aluminum foil to give the arms, legs and head their shape.

&uot;A doll-making video I use suggests using foil so it doesn’t get so heavy,&uot; Boss said.

She mixes a combination of two doll-making clays, Pro-Sculpt and Cernit, in a regular mixer. Then she begins putting layer after layer over the skeleton, baking it in her kitchen oven after each layer is added.

Boss said she threw away the first head she’d started and the first inaugural gown she made. She’s also tried numerous wigs to try to copy the first lady’s style, but said nothing was exactly right.

&uot;The trouble is, she keeps changing it,&uot; Boss said of Mrs. Bush’s hairstyle.

Boss positioned Mrs. Bush’s head so she’s looking up slightly, since she’ll be in the bottom of a display case at the museum.

Most of the first ladies in the collection are dressed in their inaugural gowns, and Boss had been working off the designer’s sketch of Mrs. Bush’s gown for a quite a while. Then a member of the MN/IA Woman in the Shoe Doll Club, of which Boss is a member, decided to write to the White House and ask for a photo of Mrs. Bush in her red inaugural gown.

&uot;I’d also looked at pictures in several magazines, but it wasn’t until I got the picture of her (in the inaugural gown) did I feel I could finish her up,&uot; Boss said.

The Barbara Bush doll (with her dog Millie) was the first doll Boss created for the collection. In reality, she didn’t make it specifically for the collection, but had it at a doll show in North Dakota and won a blue ribbon for her efforts. &uot;People were asking me, ‘Are you going to send it to Mrs. Bush?’ and ‘Can I buy her?’&uot; Finally, she said, someone told her about the collection in Mitchell, and that’s where she ended up. Boss was later commissioned to do the other dolls.

&uot;Before that, I was just experimenting,&uot; Boss confessed. &uot;The first dolls I made were really rough.&uot;

Boss has actually received two letters from Barbara Bush, which are among some of her most treasured keepsakes. &uot;She’s from my generation,&uot; Boss said with a smile.

The artist sent Barbara Bush a photo of the doll when it was completed, and also a condolence note when her husband lost the election. She sent the younger Mrs. Bush a thank you note after she received the inaugural photo and explained what she was going to use it for. She said hopes she’ll get some kind of acknowledgement from the current first lady as well.

Other commissions for Boss include the Bidney Bergie doll, which is on display at the Freeborn County Historical Museum; the Norma Robson doll, which is on display at the Story Lady Doll & Toy Museum; a doll in the likeness of the former owner of the Enchanted World Doll Museum, which is on display at that museum; and one a man asked her to make that looked just like his wife as a Christmas present.

The Story Lady Doll & Toy Museum will host a special reception for Boss and the Laura Bush doll from 9-11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, at the doll museum. The public is invited.