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Not only was Barbara's external published work precisely organized and
presented, but she also kept meticulously curated notes just for herself,
just for the satisfaction of having those references and in some cases,
records and memories of physical objects she got rid of later.
Here are some examples from various thick looseleaf binders on various topics,
collected before said binders were necessarily discarded themselves.
Click any image to see the full-size version, and use "back" to return.
Local exhibits, knitting-magazine articles
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Knitware exhibit in retirement-facility display cases
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The retirement facility where Barbara lived has large display cases near the
entrance to the main dining room, which cycle through various themed crafts
and collections from any members who want to show off their interests.
This one was all about knitting, including the doll clothing, images from
the books, and some of the smaller items she still had.
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Article posted near display case contents
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An article describing how Barbara got into knitting (or didn't at first!)
was posted near the display, and afterward, wound up duly enshrined in one
of the looseleaf binders as a permanent record.
The same facility also holds general craft shows in one of the large function
rooms, which Barbara also participated in.
One of her exhibits is shown in
this image
also linked under the main index page.
Designing for Dolls
Long before Barbara even moved to Florida, her Barbie doll collection
had reached its peak as she continued trying out knitwear design in
miniature.
The
"Threads" crafts magazine did an article all about it in 1990.
The images are from the old New Jersey location, the same as seen in the
video sweep
linked from the main index.
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First page of a "Threads" magazine article about the doll clothes
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That wasn't the only record of the vast volume of creations for the dolls,
however ... Barbara also photographed most of what she produced, and carefully
archived the prints into four albums.
These had faded and color-shifted a bit over time, but they show the
extraordinary care that was taken to document it all for herself.
Every outfit received a unique number, for keeping track of how many were
produced and in what order.
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Doll-clothes photo album sample
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Doll-clothes photo album sample (showing large ordinal number!)
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Look at the number under the yellow arrow -- 747, the largest one that
seemed to be recorded, but there were a few unlabeled prints after this
point too.
Overall, at least 750 unique outfits over the years that this took center
stage as the consuming interest at the time!
And each outfit often included multiple different pieces -- tops, pants
and skirts, and even little tiny hats.
Tarot deck study records
Relying primarily on a favorite extensive
tarot deck listing site,
Barbara painstakingly collected two very thick looseleaf binders of
information about as many decks as she could, printing a consistent set
of information about them and finding samples of artwork from ...
*somewhere*, unknown exactly where it came from.
She also collected over
130 physical decks
of her own, primarily to enjoy the artwork on the cards -- never to do
readings or that sort of thing, because her approach was historical and
analytical, not spiritual.
The binders included an index to all the contents in the front.
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Tarot listings index pages
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Following are examples of how the pages were constructed, with pairs slipped
into the plastic envelopes back-to-back.
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Overall, Barbara worked on extraordinary organizational efforts across
several fields of interest, over many years.
She also recorded every book she had ever read, with author, title, and
her own evaluative grade of the work.
None of this was never intended to be published, it was just for her!
And this peek into her private world doesn't include anything about painting,
mineralogy, studies of religious history and archetypes, or any of her other
consuming hobbies and pastimes that each occupied roughly 5 - 8 year
periods throughout her life.
Speaking of minerals,
this external page
is a snapshot of her peak mineral and related collection from 2016.
These are all gone now and thus not for sale, but besides writing an
in-depth book on the subject which largely debunks the whole crystal
mysticism thing, Barbara spent some years cruising around "rock shows" and
collecting samples -- again, not for the supposed "energy" or ersatz healing
value, rather always for study and enjoyment of the aesthetics.
This collection was eventually sold off to the local mineral club she had moved
away from spending as much time with, as some other interest took over.
And yes, back in those days she had extensive notes on paper on this subject
too, none of which seemed to still exist a decade later.
[Photography and web page layout by her son, while cleaning out the
house at the retirement facility]
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