Donna Helfen has been a doll maker for more than thirty years but she actually began creating dolls as a young child under the watchful eyes of both her
grandmothers who were also doll makers, quilters, and avid participants in most other crafts. " I was always surrounded by yarn, fabric, and paint."
Littlefolk Dolls began after her husband brought several historical wood peg dolls back from England for their daughter. Donna began researching apparel for the pilgrims and colonial era and started her Pilgrim and Colonial family doll line.
There are now approximately eighty different figures which include Pilgrims, Native Americans, Santa Clauses, Angels, Uncle sam, Betsy Ross, Brides and Grooms, and Christmas Carolers. There are a number of figures depicting children at play.They are jumping rope, flying kites, and watering flowers, just to name a few activiteis.
Over the years, Donna has been making and selling dolls at Plimoth Plantation, Colonial Williamsburg, the Betsy Ross Museum in Philidelphia, The Wayside Inn in Sudbury, and other quality shops from Hawaii to Bermuda. Her work has also been on display at The Smithsonian Museum in washington D.C.
Today she sells them at Collections Gallery in Sandwich, The Cape Cod Cultural Center.