Hospital de Bonecas

 

Just when we thought that we had seen almost every museum in Lisbon, we came upon this little gem!

The Doll Hospital occupies a tiny space on one of the main streets in Lisbon, and one could easily miss it when walking by. The room facing the street is a shop, filled with miniatures and dolls crafted by the shop itself. Hospital de Bonecas, as it’s called in Portuguese, has hidden secrets, though, up a flight of stairs and through a set of double doors. 

The hospital itself and a museum with over 6,000 dolls are on the other side. We first toured the hospital portion of the building. People send The Doll Hospital their broken and maimed dolls from all over the world. We were able to see the dolls that had newly arrived as well as some that had been repaired and were ready to be sent back to owners.

(This is the story on the back of the museum ticket.)

Once upon a time there was an old lady who long ago, when still there weren’t cars in the streets, used to sit at the entrance door of a herbs shop making cloth dolls. That shop stood near a market. At that time, children always accompanied their parents or grandparents when they needed to go to the market. If was an amusing activity, as much as it is nowadays to go to a shopping centre or, perhaps, even more.

There were ducks, rabbits, chicken, pigeons, colourful fish, fruit, flowers. All these products made a dramatic mixture of sounds and smells together with bunches of carrots and smelly cabbages. Children were not afraid of getting lost. Everybody knew each other by their names andLisbon seemed to be a small town.

So, now and then, mornings were spent near miss Carlota, looking at the dolls she used to make. Sometimes, people referred to the “illnesses” of their own dolls and the old lady had always a word which might “treat” them. This was, i think, the very beginning of The Doll Hospital.

Years went by and the market moved away. Children became adults – mums and grannies - who, by their turn, told their children about a small shop where time seemed to stop and children, without being hurried, could roleplay whenever they liked. We are still doing the same even today

The museum of the Doll Hospital is home to an incredible collection of unique toys that will allow you to time travel. (And I'm not kidding either!)

The doll hospital has stayed in the same family for centuries.

Established in 1830, it’s considered the oldest surviving doll hospital that continues to operate from its original location. Here, dolls of all kinds—plastic, porcelain, metal, wool and fabric—will receive a new lease on life.

 

Newspaper dolls

I suppose my favorite were the papier mache dolls from the 1930s.They were made on the streets of Lisbon by the wives of newspaper sellers and you can still see the newsprint on some of the old dolls.These women would soak unsold papers in water then fashion them into replicas of more expensive porcelain dolls or other figures.

Yeah, who knew?!

And let me just say this...If I were a doll I would want to live here!!