(Marge Crunkleton) (704) 483-5815

Information from her:

I speak for the 27 OOAK Santas I just finished making. I affectionally call them Crunkle-Clauses. 
The Crunkle-Clauses are doll-like Santas. I sculpt the head, hands and boots from a flesh color clay and stuff their muslin bodies 16 to 18” if standing These, in particular, are all kind of bald-headed…with bumps on their heads from hitting their heads on a dangerous brick... as they go down so many chimneys (I've include a brief poem hand tag with a warning to beware of a sharp brick on the way down). These Santas also include their charming story of how they came to be rescued from a thrift store.  They were all originally red fleece blankets lying lifeless on a shelf in a local thrift shop. I visualized the red blankets as Santa suits . Their charming story is on a hand tag hanging from their arm. Their story starts out saying: Hello, I know you do not recognize me…last time anyone saw me, I was a red fleece blanket laying lifeless on a shelf in a thrift shop.

By coincidence... I have recently created another new Santa line called "Santa Helpers”. This new line has about ten small to medium figurines which will be in resin and have not yet been introduced or seen by the public…brand new…but only if DOLLS is interested… of course... I will include pictures of “Santa Helpers Wanted"… for your opinion, please. Includes Mr. and Mrs. Santa exhausted asleep in their easy chairs… (see picture below) with a sign surrounded with snow balls that reads “Wanted, Santa Helpers”…will train ! The resin figurines will be one woman, 5 men and also a puppy dog that thinks he is a Christmas Tree... with twigs in his head like antlers trimmed with a few ornaments. A colorful story also goes with him.

Most everything I create has a story or poem included. I got the idea at a department store as I was viewing Santa with a long line of kiddies waiting their turn. I overheard a daddy in line quietly whisper to his little little boy, “Now this is the REAL Santa”.

It occurred to me…what do all these little kids think, seeing all the different Santas around during Christmas - Salvation Army, big Santas, little Santas, etc. So this is how/why my "Santa Helper’s” figurine idea line came to my mind.  I actually do not know if or how it would be accepted. This is an idea that has no track record. What do you think? Seriously, I am wondering.

And yes….I am a slightly overactive 91 1/2 year old woman with a wee bit too much imagination….also a former Santa helper myself. ! also made a 10 to 12 foot tall Raggedy Ann doll…I do not know why…but I did. That is MY head peeking over her head. Her arms, legs, head all tie on to her body and she sits in a wheel chair. We use her for local parades
Here is just Raggedy’s head…that is MY head peeking over hers.
Contact Information:
Name: Marge Crunkleton
Telephone:(704) 483-5815
Email: margecrunkleton32@gmail.com
Website: www.crunkleton.com
2Address: 974 Lakeshore Road South - Denver, North Carolina 28037

Hi back, Pam North….well, you asked for it….this is all about ME…Marge Crunkleton  
I probably have more information than you need…but just pick what you think is important … do not hesitate to call me for clarification.

I know it is mixed up…but so am I usually … good luck.  Call me or email me if you have a problem…I understand what confusion I sent you.

Hello, I am Marge Crunkleton…a 91 1/2 year old halfway decent looking Armenian gal…a widow of almost nine years…..was married to the same handsome man for 60 years. I was an airline stewardess some 80 years ago and that same handsome young man man knocked on my apartment door (while I was living in Atlanta) looking for another stewardess he was expecting to date.  However as fate would have it…this handsome young man was just discharged from the US AIRFORCE … he was on his way home to North Carolina…and thought he would date another stewardess named Linda..a friend he knew and had dated… This Linda lived in the same apartment building as I did…but with Delta Airlines…I was with Eastern Airlines.  However, he was so taken with Me that he just stayed put ...while we tried to find her by making many phone calls  to try and locate her. Long story short…he stayed a while…we fixed something to eat…got acquainted…fell in love…he returned every week end thereafter to see Me.  We did find the Linda he was originally looking for…but it was too late…we had fallen in love. We got married 4 months later  after we met and lived happily ever after for 60 years. In those days in the 1950’s you had to be single to remain a stewardess…if you married you had to quit because a stewardess had to be single.

The length should be between 500 and 600 words, with 6-8 high-resolution 
photos. The deadline is Sept. 19, and payment is $150.
Hi back, Pam North….well, you asked for it….this is all about ME…Marge Crunkleton  
I probably have more information than you need…but just pick what you think is important … do not hesitate to call me for clarification.

I know it is mixed up…but so am I usually … good luck.  Call me or email me if you have a problem…I understand what confusion I sent you.

Hello, I am Marge Crunkleton…a 91 1/2 year old halfway decent looking Armenian gal…a widow of almost nine years…..was married to the same handsome man for 60 years.  I was an airline stewardess some 80 years ago and that same handsome young man man knocked on my apartment door (while I was living in Atlanta) looking for another stewardess he was expecting to date.   However as fate would have it…this handsome young man was just discharged from the US AIRFORCE … he was on his way home to North Carolina…and thought he would date another stewardess named Linda..a friend he knew and had dated… This Linda lived in the same apartment building as I did…but with Delta Airlines…I was with Eastern Airlines.  However, he was so taken with Me that he just stayed put ...while we tried to find her by making many phone calls  to try and locate her. Long story short…he stayed a while…we fixed something to eat…got acquainted…fell in love…he returned every week end thereafter to see Me.  We did find the Linda he was originally looking for…but it was too late…we had fallen in love. We got married 4 months later  after we met and lived happily ever after for 60 years. In those days in the 1950’s you had to be single to remain a stewardess…if you married you had to quit because a stewardess had to be single.
We married and had one little girl first then 3 boys followed. The handsome man I married was Ted Crunkleton…He was 23 and I was 22 years old. He was not only handsome, but a talented athlete …with 5 college scholarships offered him.  He did start college locally on a baseball scholarship at Belmont Abbey College and got his degree and masters.. then later became a college professor and Athletic Director and baseball coach. I was a draftsman by trade and worked as a mechanical draftsman…in between having 4 children.  In high schoo there.    I did not go to college... I was a sewing major and also an Art major in high school and wanted to be a fashion designer…I sewed and designed many of my own clothes as a teen ager.  I was not college material…hated school.

As far back as I can remember, I loved dolls and played with dolls. Made and designed their clothes. Even made the doll a matching dress like I had designed for myself.  Entered a dolll making contest competition when I was about 20 and won a prize.  The doll was donated to a Milwaukee orphanage.  I loved dolls…played with dolls until I was almost 13 years old.  Knew I was too old to play with dolls and would hide the doll under my shirt if someone might find out I was still playing with dolls.  However, I never chose infant  baby dolls…they were always older dolls I loved to make clothes for them. I made several doll dresses which were copies of a couple  I had sewn and designed for myself…as a teen ager. They were quite good and styles that were in fashion in the early 50’s.

I  Sewed clothes for my mother, my two sisters and relatives also. I also sewed for a couple gals from junior high school.  I had stopped playing  with dolls finally in late 6th grade…approaching near 7th. grade.

I had one brother and sister older…and two sisters younger.  My parents were both immigrants from Armenia…coming to America 1915 or so.  My mother was an expert sewer. She could not read or write English... but would cut a pattern out by just looking at the design.  My father could read and write half way decently and he was very talented also.  He could fix or make anything…he could sew and even repair and resole our shoes.

I did not go on to college.  I did not like school just interested in what I would wear the next daly and how to style my hair.  I was very interested in fashion and what was in style. Made my skirts and also would make skirts (straight skirts with slits on the side or front slits) for other students for a small fee.  I was often a fashion trend setter…but I made  simple clothes and copies of designer clothes were my favorites.

I never wanted to be anything professionally other than a fashion designer.  However, we were basically a family with 5 kids and just my dad as the support. We even had a car wash sign mounted on a tree and my sister and I washed cars for 75 cents…and if and when we happen to see someone we knew approaching…we would go in the house for a minute so no one would see us washing a car for 75 cents.

I did sign up at a school of Design in Milwaukee, but quit after just 2 weeks … I did not like it…It was not an accredited school.  I did however, work with a talented dress designer for a couple of months until she did not have any work for me.  I did learn some sewing tricks and shortcuts from her. 

I am now 19 or  20 years old.  I have worked for Singer Sewing Machine Company….I have to sit in the huge window facing busy Wisconsin Avenue demonstrating sewing techniques…I was very embarrassed when men would tap on the window and tease me…I was quite shy then.  I work at Singers for one year and later    got a job at the gas company of Milwaukee with an entry position as a messenger.  Then I get a permanent good job as a clerk in their  engineering dept. All the boys were getting drafted to the military because of the Korean conflict and leaving the engineering department…so since I am an art major from high school…they trained  me as a draftsman.  The first woman draftsman there, by the way. Draftsman training proved to be my profession the rest of my life.

When I turn 21 years old I planed on becoming an airline stewardess.  I do get a job as a stewardess with Eastern Airlines.  I leave my home in Milwaukee  and head for Miami to train to be a stewardess with a few clothes…my little live pet turtle in a box and my Singer featherweight Sewing machine. I continue as a stewardess for a year or so until I meet my husband (this is when I answered the door and the good looking guy is looking for the Delta stewardess.  I was a stewardess for a little over a year…with no sewing involved or designing at all for some time over a year then is when I meet my husband at the beginning of this story. This paragraph should go with the one above about meeting my husband Ted Crunkleton…it is a couple paragraphs above a ways.

I  usually had a second job from age 19 to 21…often a third job, because I am purchasing  expensive designer clothes.  I am a carhop at the A&W  root beer stand and also work in an exclusive  fabric shop and still full time at the Milwaukee gas Company. I love working at the fabric shop because I suggest fabrics and tell customers which to purchase…and this all involves design and fashion.  My main job is as a draftsman in training, in the engineer department.   I learn to be a mechanical and civil draftsman…and this becomes my trade forever after.  I perfect my drawing ability and print style…being a female…I get plenty of personality experience and mature. Note:  this paragraph about my drafting career should  come before the paragraph about  my stewardess job above.

All this time…I still have an interest in dolls and doll making.  I take an interest in puppets and try to figure out how they are made….At about 35 to 40 years old I take an interest in dolls in a big way.  Soft sculptured dolls become a fad and I figure out how to make them.  I sat a doll in the front seat of my car and while I am driving…I am determine to figure out how they are made. I can not get it just right.  One of my son’s looks at what I am doing and suggests I make the nose first, before I stuff the head.  And that is it!!!  I master the art of soft sculpting dolls out of stretch fabric.  I get a booth at the Southern Living Christmas Show and sell the dolls I have learned to made for 200.00 to 250.00…No one else knows how to make them other than the famous Cabbage Patch Doll maker. 

Shortly after my baby sister finishes college and gets a job at Hallmark Cards and gives me a clay sculptured doll for a gift…made at Hallmark Card Co.  I get some clay and make one similar…but better.  Now I am on my way as a doll maker.  I get some Sculpy palmer clay and start making dolls which are cute and very unusual.   I get any price I am asking  and love working with  the clay medium.  I just got better and better…was having a great time getting expressions I could visualize. This is where I am now with my clay faces.  I work on a face until I love it.  I did try to teach others to do the sculpting…but I did not enjoy the teaching.  My students were not feeling what I was feeling.  I could visualize a face and would sculpt until it would appear.   I was getting  to  get quiet good at sculpting and doll making.

Some were along this time frame…after making the soft sculpture dolls and next the clay headed dolls…I  begin to LOVE making dolls…RAG DOLLS were particularly my favorite.  I open a doll shop open just  Saturday and Sundays, called The Rag Doll. Around this time I was now working (1970 or so) at Duke Energy Company... I  was hired as a draftsman…being the first female to fill a man’s position with Duke Energy Company in Construction Department.  I started to take an interest and designed and develop 5 or 6 rag  doll patterns…each adorable.  One is a soft sculptured doll pattern…another is a duck with legs a "mile long”… a wonderful sock doll pattern…a cute brother and sister doll in black… and another dolly dolly  polly  pattern.  I was a professional draftsman so I did all the artwork  required to   publish the line of patterns.  My pattern line was adorable and eagerly picked up by several huge wholesale distributors  while  I  just sat back and ran my Rag Doll Shop on week ends.  Doll making was popular and I got TV coverage three or four times, news paper articles and etc.  However, after a good measure of years…the public ran its course with rag dolls. I can not remember exactly, but the pattern line lasted about 5 years. 

The next venture I got into was Resin Santa Clauses  which were purchased by the Schmid Company (a very large respected old old company that went bankrupt years ago).  This (my) Santa line was called The Christmas Academy….It did   very well for two years…then it was affected by the cheaper competition from the China market…All collectables were affected….many went out of business.

My Lincoln County Garden Club  Resin  figurine line. (See them at www.crunkleton.com)  figurines... 125 of them in all… were the most successful line I  created.  I had acquired sales reps and the LCGC line sold in retail shops  all over the USA…I had to make personal appearances and travel to do artist signings each week end.  I even had to close my RAG Doll shop to make those appearances.. The Lincoln County Garden Club line was very popular … they lived in Crunkleville, an imaginary town…with a clever  newspaper called the Crunkleville Inquirer…This line was purchased by Hanford’s of Charlotte, NC and went bankrupt at the same time as the Christmas Academy above also because of the  cheap China Market affecting the expensive collectable market.

Now, I have come to my final and very favorite creation….  I love making my Rescue Santas … I love them.  and this is where I am presently... at 91 years of age….it may just be the end of the line for me. I have had a life full of dolls and fun … and I guess I could say I have made it FULL CIRCLE TO WHERE I BEGAN…PLAYING WITH DOLLS!  I LOVE TO MAKE DOLLS…THEY ARE JUST LITTLE PEOPLE TO ME.  I will market them myself in an ETSY shop.  I am too old to work as hard as I did when younger.

  THANKS FOR DOING THIS ARTICLE, PAM.  I HOPE IT IS NOT TOO AWFUL TO UNTANGLE.  YOU WRITE…AND I WILL PRAY IT IS NOT TOO MIXED UP.  THANKS A MILLION. 

I work in a messy room…my bed room. Often I  can not find anything and just what ever I can get my hands on is what I use.  If you saw my room you would wonder how these wonderful everything’s  are born in such a mess. However, I am comfortable in my own little messy world and I love making these heads with great faces…Some times I wok for hours on a face, until I love him or her.  I especially like to put a wire armature in my dolls, so they can change position and have some  body English to boot.  Their faces are a major part of their expressing but arms and legs also say something about what is going on in the dolls mind.  I get my ideas from just looking and watching people…mostly old people…they are most interesting to me.  Old faces have so many signs of where they have been…that is what I try to capture.

Right now I am also involved in mannequin heads…vintage reproductions.  I've them in  the Harry Potter museum in Orlando,  Two George Clooney movies…and about 4 or 5 more movies that I have forgotten the names of.  However these heads were mostly sold  to milliners around the country and Europe.  I have about 30 different mannequin heads that I reproduce…But this is no where as much fun as sculpting my own faces…the heads I sculpt are like real people to me.  I have even sneaked a kiss on the forehead of a particular cute face. Smile. That is not to be told…it is a private admission just between you and me.

My favorite things to sculpt are old men and old women…equal to Santa Clause’s … once in a while I will do a puppy…Oh yes…I also like to do Hill Billy men to stick on the top of clay jugs.  I make those heads out of mud clay and they are fired in a kiln by a friend  of mine.

That is about it…However, recently I did make a brand new line which is not yet quite ready for sales.  I made a Mr and Mrs Santa sitting in comfy  easy chairs…exhausted and asleep.  Mrs Clause has dropped her knitting and santa has also dozed off and is fast asleep.  Both exhausted ! They have a sign in front of them that reads…"SANTA HELP WANTED” no experience, will train …. Then beside them are 5 or 6 Santa applicants…one woman and four men dressed in their own Santa Suits…waiting in line applying for... jobs.  In front of them is a cute little dog with twigs in his head with a few tree ornaments hanging from the branches.  This is a brand new Santa line…May be ready for sales very soon….not available yet.

What is ready for sales is my Rescue Santas.  These are Santas,     which are a great idea I had in a thrift shop.  I saw a red fleece blanket on the  shelf and I did not see it as a blanket…I saw it as a santa suit  I would make for a Santa Clause…and sew/so I did…I made  the Santa suit out of the blanket…Sculpt his head, hands and boots, got stuffing from some pillows…wool for his beard from some sheep I did not even know…taught him to Ho Ho Ho…and finally wrote the story of his life….on a hand tag attached to his arm.  So, the story goes( as you lower your voice to sound like an old man)  and say:  “Hello, I know you don’t recognize me…last time anyone saw me, I was a red fleece blanket laying lifeless on a shelf at the  local thrift shop” (end of quote ! ). And this is it…this is my newest, latest, adorable Santa Clause (often referred to as “Crunkle-Clause”).    DOLL magazine is doing an original story on my Santa.  Ask to see him…He is adorable.  NOTE: I should tell you that there is a hand tag on Santa’s arm with the story quoted on it for your enjoyment….also another hand tag that is important :  Santa has a bump on his head…it is a rough trip going down hundreds of chimneys each night.  Santa is conveniently reminded to watch out for a sharp rock to his right on his trip down a chimney. Note: the Ouch on his head !!!

As far as where this art is going….Honestly, I do not know.  All I know is my  Santa is like a real person to me….He has an expressive face…Is very special….has a personality all his own… Is definitely adorable…and is a Santa a child can connect with.  He is kind of like a live looking tiny person…He will be in your family for years…he is a fun collectable…He is someone special who will become a member of your family through the years…He does not look like a “store bought Santa”. This Santa will become very special…more special with each passing year.  He also has an armature and can change positions.  He is so cute…I love him myself…I can not believe I had such a great idea when I made him.  HE IS A ONE OF A KIND…NOT ANOTHER ONE LOOKS LIKE HIM…I ONLY MADE ONE OF EACH OF THEM….AND HE CAN BECOME YOUR FAMILY MEMBER FOREVER.

P. S.  I designed him so you can fill his hat with candy treats (I prefer Hershey kisses) he will hold his hat between    his crossed legs just fine…He can wave or be repositioned to your taste…without a complaint out of him.  

Make your Christmas Merry…Pam

Did I talk long enough, Pam…thanks for the article…what ever you do will be fine, I am sure.  I enjoyed talking with you.  You do not meet a stranger, very friendly. Thanks for the article.    Ask any questions…if you need more or explanations.  Sincerely, Marge Crunkleton

We married and had one little girl first then 3 boys followed. The handsome man I married was Ted Crunkleton…He was 23 and I was 22 years old. He was not only handsome, but a talented athlete …with 5 college scholarships offered him.  He did start college locally on a baseball scholarship at Belmont Abbey College and got his degree and masters.. then later became a college professor and Athletic Director and baseball coach. I was a draftsman by trade and worked as a mechanical draftsman…in between having 4 children.  In high schoo there.    I did not go to college... I was a sewing major and also an Art major in high school and wanted to be a fashion designer…I sewed and designed many of my own clothes as a teen ager.  I was not college material…hated school.

As far back as I can remember, I loved dolls and played with dolls. Made and designed their clothes. Even made the doll a matching dress like I had designed for myself.  Entered a dolll making contest competition when I was about 20 and won a prize.  The doll was donated to a Milwaukee orphanage.  I loved dolls…played with dolls until I was almost 13 years old.  Knew I was too old to play with dolls and would hide the doll under my shirt if someone might find out I was still playing with dolls.  However, I never chose infant  baby dolls…they were always older dolls I loved to make clothes for them. I made several doll dresses which were copies of a couple  I had sewn and designed for myself…as a teen ager. They were quite good and styles that were in fashion in the early 50’s.

I  Sewed clothes for my mother, my two sisters and relatives also. I also sewed for a couple gals from junior high school.  I had stopped playing  with dolls finally in late 6th grade…approaching near 7th. grade.

I had one brother and sister older…and two sisters younger.  My parents were both immigrants from Armenia…coming to America 1915 or so.  My mother was an expert sewer. She could not read or write English... but would cut a pattern out by just looking at the design.  My father could read and write half way decently and he was very talented also.  He could fix or make anything…he could sew and even repair and resole our shoes.

I did not go on to college.  I did not like school just interested in what I would wear the next daly and how to style my hair.  I was very interested in fashion and what was in style. Made my skirts and also would make skirts (straight skirts with slits on the side or front slits) for other students for a small fee.  I was often a fashion trend setter…but I made  simple clothes and copies of designer clothes were my favorites.

I never wanted to be anything professionally other than a fashion designer.  However, we were basically a family with 5 kids and just my dad as the support. We even had a car wash sign mounted on a tree and my sister and I washed cars for 75 cents…and if and when we happen to see someone we knew approaching…we would go in the house for a minute so no one would see us washing a car for 75 cents.

I did sign up at a school of Design in Milwaukee, but quit after just 2 weeks … I did not like it…It was not an accredited school.  I did however, work with a talented dress designer for a couple of months until she did not have any work for me.  I did learn some sewing tricks and shortcuts from her. 

 I am now 19 or  20 years old.  I have worked for Singer Sewing Machine Company….I have to sit in the huge window facing busy Wisconsin Avenue demonstrating sewing techniques…I was very embarrassed when men would tap on the window and tease me…I was quite shy then.  I work at Singers for one year and later    got a job at the gas company of Milwaukee with an entry position as a messenger.  Then I get a permanent good job as a clerk in their  engineering dept. All the boys were getting drafted to the military because of the Korean conflict and leaving the engineering department…so since I am an art major from high school…they trained  me as a draftsman.  The first woman draftsman there, by the way. Draftsman training proved to be my profession the rest of my life.

When I turn 21 years old I planed on becoming an airline stewardess.  I do get a job as a stewardess with Eastern Airlines.  I leave my home in Milwaukee  and head for Miami to train to be a stewardess with a few clothes…my little live pet turtle in a box and my Singer featherweight Sewing machine. I continue as a stewardess for a year or so until I meet my husband (this is when I answered the door and the good looking guy is looking for the Delta stewardess.  I was a stewardess for a little over a year…with no sewing involved or designing at all for some time over a year then is when I meet my husband at the beginning of this story. This paragraph should go with the one above about meeting my husband Ted Crunkleton…it is a couple paragraphs above a ways.

I  usually had a second job from age 19 to 21…often a third job, because I am purchasing  expensive designer clothes.  I am a carhop at the A&W  root beer stand and also work in an exclusive  fabric shop and still full time at the Milwaukee gas Company. I love working at the fabric shop because I suggest fabrics and tell customers which to purchase…and this all involves design and fashion.  My main job is as a draftsman in training, in the engineer department.   I learn to be a mechanical and civil draftsman…and this becomes my trade forever after.  I perfect my drawing ability and print style…being a female…I get plenty of personality experience and mature. Note:  this paragraph about my drafting career should  come before the paragraph about  my stewardess job above.

All this time…I still have an interest in dolls and doll making.  I take an interest in puppets and try to figure out how they are made….At about 35 to 40 years old I take an interest in dolls in a big way.  Soft sculptured dolls become a fad and I figure out how to make them.  I sat a doll in the front seat of my car and while I am driving…I am determine to figure out how they are made. I can not get it just right.  One of my son’s looks at what I am doing and suggests I make the nose first, before I stuff the head.  And that is it!!!  I master the art of soft sculpting dolls out of stretch fabric.  I get a booth at the Southern Living Christmas Show and sell the dolls I have learned to made for 200.00 to 250.00…No one else knows how to make them other than the famous Cabbage Patch Doll maker. 

 Shortly after my baby sister finishes college and gets a job at Hallmark Cards and gives me a clay sculptured doll for a gift…made at Hallmark Card Co.  I get some clay and make one similar…but better.  Now I am on my way as a doll maker.  I get some Sculpy palmer clay and start making dolls which are cute and very unusual.   I get any price I am asking  and love working with  the clay medium.  I just got better and better…was having a great time getting expressions I could visualize. This is where I am now with my clay faces.  I work on a face until I love it.  I did try to teach others to do the sculpting…but I did not enjoy the teaching.  My students were not feeling what I was feeling.  I could visualize a face and would sculpt until it would appear.   I was getting  to  get quiet good at sculpting and doll making.

Some were along this time frame…after making the soft sculpture dolls and next the clay headed dolls…I  begin to LOVE making dolls…RAG DOLLS were particularly my favorite.  I open a doll shop open just  Saturday and Sundays, called The Rag Doll. Around this time I was now working (1970 or so) at Duke Energy Company... I  was hired as a draftsman…being the first female to fill a man’s position with Duke Energy Company in Construction Department.  I started to take an interest and designed and develop 5 or 6 rag  doll patterns…each adorable.  One is a soft sculptured doll pattern…another is a duck with legs a "mile long”… a wonderful sock doll pattern…a cute brother and sister doll in black… and another dolly dolly  polly  pattern.  I was a professional draftsman so I did all the artwork  required to   publish the line of patterns.  My pattern line was adorable and eagerly picked up by several huge wholesale distributors  while  I  just sat back and ran my Rag Doll Shop on week ends.  Doll making was popular and I got TV coverage three or four times, news paper articles and etc.  However, after a good measure of years…the public ran its course with rag dolls. I can not remember exactly, but the pattern line lasted about 5 years. 

 The next venture I got into was Resin Santa Clauses  which were purchased by the Schmid Company (a very large respected old old company that went bankrupt years ago).  This (my) Santa line was called The Christmas Academy….It did   very well for two years…then it was affected by the cheaper competition from the China market…All collectables were affected….many went out of business.

My Lincoln County Garden Club  Resin  figurine line. (See them at www.crunkleton.com)  figurines... 125 of them in all… were the most successful line I  created.  I had acquired sales reps and the LCGC line sold in retail shops  all over the USA…I had to make personal appearances and travel to do artist signings each week end.  I even had to close my RAG Doll shop to make those appearances.. The Lincoln County Garden Club line was very popular … they lived in Crunkleville, an imaginary town…with a clever  newspaper called the Crunkleville Inquirer…This line was purchased by Hanford’s of Charlotte, NC and went bankrupt at the same time as the Christmas Academy above also because of the  cheap China Market affecting the expensive collectable market.

Now, I have come to my final and very favorite creation….  I love making my Rescue Santas … I love them.  and this is where I am presently... at 91 years of age….it may just be the end of the line for me. I have had a life full of dolls and fun … and I guess I could say I have made it FULL CIRCLE TO WHERE I BEGAN…PLAYING WITH DOLLS!  I LOVE TO MAKE DOLLS…THEY ARE JUST LITTLE PEOPLE TO ME.  I will market them myself in an ETSY shop.  I am too old to work as hard as I did when younger.

   THANKS FOR DOING THIS ARTICLE, PAM.  I HOPE IT IS NOT TOO AWFUL TO UNTANGLE.  YOU WRITE…AND I WILL PRAY IT IS NOT TOO MIXED UP.  THANKS A MILLION. 

I work in a messy room…my bed room. Often I  can not find anything and just what ever I can get my hands on is what I use.  If you saw my room you would wonder how these wonderful everything’s  are born in such a mess. However, I am comfortable in my own little messy world and I love making these heads with great faces…Some times I wok for hours on a face, until I love him or her.  I especially like to put a wire armature in my dolls, so they can change position and have some  body English to boot.  Their faces are a major part of their expressing but arms and legs also say something about what is going on in the dolls mind.  I get my ideas from just looking and watching people…mostly old people…they are most interesting to me.  Old faces have so many signs of where they have been…that is what I try to capture.

Right now I am also involved in mannequin heads…vintage reproductions.  I've them in  the Harry Potter museum in Orlando,  Two George Clooney movies…and about 4 or 5 more movies that I have forgotten the names of.  However these heads were mostly sold  to milliners around the country and Europe.  I have about 30 different mannequin heads that I reproduce…But this is no where as much fun as sculpting my own faces…the heads I sculpt are like real people to me.  I have even sneaked a kiss on the forehead of a particular cute face. Smile. That is not to be told…it is a private admission just between you and me.

My favorite things to sculpt are old men and old women…equal to Santa Clause’s … once in a while I will do a puppy…Oh yes…I also like to do Hill Billy men to stick on the top of clay jugs.  I make those heads out of mud clay and they are fired in a kiln by a friend  of mine.

That is about it…However, recently I did make a brand new line which is not yet quite ready for sales.  I made a Mr and Mrs Santa sitting in comfy  easy chairs…exhausted and asleep.  Mrs Clause has dropped her knitting and santa has also dozed off and is fast asleep.  Both exhausted ! They have a sign in front of them that reads…"SANTA HELP WANTED” no experience, will train …. Then beside them are 5 or 6 Santa applicants…one woman and four men dressed in their own Santa Suits…waiting in line applying for... jobs.  In front of them is a cute little dog with twigs in his head with a few tree ornaments hanging from the branches.  This is a brand new Santa line…May be ready for sales very soon….not available yet.

What is ready for sales is my Rescue Santas.  These are Santas,     which are a great idea I had in a thrift shop.  I saw a red fleece blanket on the  shelf and I did not see it as a blanket…I saw it as a santa suit  I would make for a Santa Clause…and sew/so I did…I made  the Santa suit out of the blanket…Sculpt his head, hands and boots, got stuffing from some pillows…wool for his beard from some sheep I did not even know…taught him to Ho Ho Ho…and finally wrote the story of his life….on a hand tag attached to his arm.  So, the story goes( as you lower your voice to sound like an old man)  and say:  “Hello, I know you don’t recognize me…last time anyone saw me, I was a red fleece blanket laying lifeless on a shelf at the  local thrift shop” (end of quote ! ). And this is it…this is my newest, latest, adorable Santa Clause (often referred to as “Crunkle-Clause”).    DOLL magazine is doing an original story on my Santa.  Ask to see him…He is adorable.  NOTE: I should tell you that there is a hand tag on Santa’s arm with the story quoted on it for your enjoyment….also another hand tag that is important :  Santa has a bump on his head…it is a rough trip going down hundreds of chimneys each night.  Santa is conveniently reminded to watch out for a sharp rock to his right on his trip down a chimney. Note: the Ouch on his head !!!

As far as where this art is going….Honestly, I do not know.  All I know is my  Santa is like a real person to me….He has an expressive face…Is very special….has a personality all his own… Is definitely adorable…and is a Santa a child can connect with.  He is kind of like a live looking tiny person…He will be in your family for years…he is a fun collectable…He is someone special who will become a member of your family through the years…He does not look like a “store bought Santa”. This Santa will become very special…more special with each passing year.  He also has an armature and can change positions.  He is so cute…I love him myself…I can not believe I had such a great idea when I made him.  HE IS A ONE OF A KIND…NOT ANOTHER ONE LOOKS LIKE HIM…I ONLY MADE ONE OF EACH OF THEM….AND HE CAN BECOME YOUR FAMILY MEMBER FOREVER.

P. S.  I designed him so you can fill his hat with candy treats (I prefer Hershey kisses) he will hold his hat between    his crossed legs just fine…He can wave or be repositioned to your taste…without a complaint out of him.  

Make your Christmas Merry…Pam

Did I talk long enough, Pam…thanks for the article…what ever you do will be fine, I am sure.  I enjoyed talking with you.  You do not meet a stranger, very friendly. Thanks for the article.    Ask any questions…if you need more or explanations.  Sincerely, Marge Crunkleton

Contact Information:
Name: Marge Crunkleton
Email address:  margecrunkleton32@gmail.com
Website:  www.crunkleton.com.
Address: 2974 Lakeshore Road South - Denver, North Carolina 28037
Phone: (704) 483- 5815
Etsy Shop: MannequinHeadsToLove

     SEE examples of other things I make and sell…THIS MAYBE OF HELP.
 ETSY shop name is….….is the name of my mannequin head shop.

NOTE TO PAM:  I AM SORRY THIS IS NOT IN ORDER…I GAVE YOU ALL THE INFORMATION YOU MAY NEED.  READ IT ALL…PUT IT IN ANY ORDER YOU THINK…I WILL CHECK IT OUT…MAKE IT AS INTERESTING AS YOU CAN…I DO NOT CARE IF IT IS ACCURATE ORDER OR NOT…NO ONE KNOWS ME AND IT WILL NOT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE…I WILL BE PLEASED…WHAT EVER YOU DO.  I KNOW THE INFORMATION IS NOT IN CRONILOGICAL ORDER.  SORRY ABOUT THAT. BELIEVE ME…I WILL LOVE AND ACCEPT ANYTHING YOU COME UP WITH.  
I DID TRULY ENJOY TALKING WITH YOU…I WISH YOU WERE MY NEIGHBOR.  THANKS. MUCH, MARGE

Hanna…just a hunch about DOLLS magazine….something new! I am  taking the liberty of sending you a few “bad” pictures of my very newest Santa line. Just a hunch I had about how confused children must be regarding Santa Claus around Christmas time...with Santa Clauses all over…big ones, little ones, good ones, bad ones, etc. This is why and how I came up with my “HELP WANTED... SANTA” line. This is brand new…never been done…and I would love your opinion….as editor of DOLLS ! I do not know what to do with this line…is the public ready for it.?

My amateur pictures follow: Mr and Mrs Santa Claus are overworked…and have fallen asleep…Mrs Santa is exhausted and has dropped her knitting while Mr Santa has fallen asleep reading one of the millions of letters he has received from children. Santa has  made and mounted a make-shift sign in a pile of snow balls. Their puppy sits patiently with twigs stuck in his headband…thinking he is a Christmas Tree…with ornaments hanging from his branches. It looks like Santa is not aware there are already 5 applicants  dressed, willing and waiting to be interviewed.The fifth applicant is showing off making a snow angel while he is waiting. This concept is new…plus I have yet to see anyone having made a snow angel…The pile of letters are perfect for buyers to personally add their childs name and gifts wanted on the blank letters. The number of Santa waiting in line could be endless for future sales.   The sign is amateur because Santa made it himself. Of course this line comes with a simple story line…probably something like moms and dads from all over the world have offered to help Santa since they know who has been naughty or nice!
 Email is melisa_springs@yahoo.com and her name is Melisa Thompson.1 704 604 4767