IT was a special moment when Durban North resident, Sandy Day restored an 80-year-old doll for Eileen Holmes.
When their paths crossed, the two women did not know they would be taking a trip down memory lane.
They share a connection through Wylie House – a home for children, specifically girls, of yesteryear.
For Holmes, her doll, Maudie represents the moment she returned home after a five year stay in the children’s home during the 1950s. By repairing the doll, Day seemed to echo her work as a volunteer and fundraiser for Wylie House in the 1990s.
At the time, Day hosted the Wylie House Princess for a Day, where she used her connections as a fashion designer to give children a chance to get ‘dolled up’ and feel like royalty for a day.
“I had a fantastic team of make up artists, hairdressers and assistants that came in for the whole day to turn every little girl into a princess. I would collect garments and recreate them to turn the children into princesses for the day,” explained Day.
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Holmes was sent to the home at the age of five after her father passed away.
“My mother was destitute. In those days it was frowned upon for a child to stay with a single mother. I moved back home when my mother remarried and my stepfather adopted me,” she said.
When she finally returned to her family at the age of 10, her doll, Maudie was the first thing she saw as she ran into her bedroom.
“When I was born, Maudie was given to me. We weren’t allowed to have dolls at Wylie House, unless we got donations at Christmas. When I came out the home, the doll was on my bed. Maudie was like my companion because I was an only child. She was everything to me,” she explained.
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Not only do Holmes and Day share a connection through Wylie House, but an article on the home connected them all these years later.
“When I Sandy at an antique fair I recognised her from an article about Wylie House and got her number through the La Lucia Mall,” said Holmes who had been looking for someone to repair the doll for years.
Repairing the doll, was no easy task for Day.
“I received the call in March. Eileen arrived with this packet and my heart sank. I didn’t know if I could repair the doll. Fortunately my husband Buddy is an incredible craftsman. He re-did and repainted the surfaces on the face and hands and I resewed the body,” said Day.
“You couldn’t pick her up – all the stuffing was falling out- her whole body was torn,” added Holmes.
She said she will pass the doll on to her first born daughter one day.
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