Madeline and Malachi Dressels
Madeline and Malachi are a loving married couple who grew up together. Their parents were friends, and the same midwife delivered them both. Growing up, Malachi considered Madeline to be a nuisance. She followed him around everywhere, and it drove him crazy. As he got older, he started to appreciate having Madeline around, and the pair ended up falling in love and getting married and one thing is missing, children.
Shared Tastes
The couple has plenty of things in common. They love vintage items, and their home is full of them. They own vintage appliances, decorations, and chairs. While they love these things, their most prized possessions are a collection of dolls. They consider them their perfect children, yet they are made entirely of plastic.
Their First “Child”
Their first child was a boy named Sandy. His is a 1950’s doll that they found in a vintage store in 2016. After bringing him home, the couple from Cross Hill, South Carolina was hooked. When they look at their friends’ Facebook pages, they see the smiling faces of everyone’s children. Since they didn’t have any children of their own, they started working on creating their own family.
Loving Dolls
Madeline says that she loved dolls her whole life. Malachi didn’t grow up playing with dolls. He played with more manly toys, and his love for dolls didn’t develop until the couple moved in together. After bringing Sandy home, the couple discovered that dolls the size of toddlers were their favorites. The Ideal toy company made a doll in the 1960s called Patti Playpals. The original was about a yard tall and was big enough for a child to dress in their own clothes. Madeline and Malachi have one, and they consider her one of the most significant finds.
TLC
Many of the dolls that they find in vintage stores aren’t in the best condition. One of their favorite part of doll collecting is making them look good as new. They love the older dolls because the quality and artistry of older dolls are much better than most of the dolls on the market today. With a little TLC and some help from professionals, they bring their dolls back to their former glory.
Dressing the Dolls
Making the dolls look their best isn’t the only thing that Madeline and Malachi worry about. When they are looking their best, the couple makes sure that they are dressed nicely. Since they are vintage dolls, the couple dresses them in vintage clothes that they find in thrift stores. Buying, restoring, and dressing the dolls aren’t cheap. The couple admits to spending thousands of dollars on their “perfect children.” It is also very time-consuming. Given their age, they often need extensive cleaning. They also need to have their hair washed and reset. Some of the dolls’ elastic, which holds them together can wear out and needs to be fixed. It is hard, expensive work, but both Madeline and Malachi love it.
Naming Their “Children”
Considering all of the care that the couple puts into restoring the dolls, it is no surprise that they name each of them. Sandy was their first. Next came Stella-Irene then Polly-Marie. Their youngest “child’s” name is more exotic, Syroco. Each doll is named, and each is loved. According to Malachi, he enjoys collecting dolls as much as his wife. He says that certain dolls are particularly special to him, and she has some that are special to her. They each have dolls that they call their own.
Sharing On Facebook
The couple loves to check their Facebook pages to see what their friends’ children are up to. They also post photos of their “children” so that their friends can see what they are up to. The couple poses their dolls and makes them do different things, and take their photos. Their shared account has over 12,000 followers. People love to see the creative things that the Dressels do with their dolls.
Mocking Friends
The couple initially started the Facebook page for their children to mock their friends who were always asking why they didn’t have children, and when they were going to start a family. They never expected it to become so popular. People love to see the children playing in the yard, helping Madeline cook, and sitting around having tea parties.
Celebrations
The couple celebrates Christmas other holidays with their children. They even have birthday parties for their dolls, and these celebrations are documented on Facebook. This Couple Live In A House With Hundreds Of Perfect Children – But There’s A Creepy Catch. For the couple, doll collection started out as a fun hobby that quickly turned into a passion. Today, they say that it is almost an obsession because they love their dolls as if they were their own children.
