Fenton's Youngest Collector? - by John Gager
(Page 2)

  Maddi has also had the chance to meet some of the Fenton family, like this wonderful shot of George Fenton and Maddi with her new doll taken at a Family signing event. She has also met Don Fenton, and many of the Fenton employees know of Maddi and has helped Deb with her extensive research on Fenton dolls. Deb has also received a lot of information from other collectors, dealers, and other resources. What follows is some of the initial research that she obtained from Frank Fenton.

The Bridesmaid Figurines - "We began to make the mould in our own Mould Shop about 1985. The mould apparently wasn't completed until late 1986 or early 1987. The mould number is 1706. On March 31, 1987, the ware number 5228 was assigned.
   So the first glass pieces were made in 1987-88 for a new party plan called "Gracious Touch." It is obvious that the glass pieces were similar to Enesco's "Sweet Sixteen" porcelain doll. We thought this would not be a problem because it was of a different material and color.
   In 1988, we made the doll in "Beautiful Blue" (BB) and "Dusty Pink" (HK) for "Housewarming," a Midwest jobber. The doll was part of an assortment being offered to dealers who do not handle the regular Fenton line. The Fenton Gift Shop bought a turn of dolls in 1989. About that time, someone from Enesco complained that we had copied their doll and asked us to "cease and desist." So we did.
   In 1990, Enesco asked us to make 7200 dolls for them with lace veils and ribbons. We did this in the fall of 1990. They did not reorder them. At a later time, Enesco withdrew their objection to Fenton's production and sale of our 5228 glass doll.
  Since 1993, the doll has been sold in many different colors and decorations on QVC and in Fenton's regular line. Two are pictured in The 80's Decade book which are the Pink Shell (for Gracious Touch) and the "Almost Heaven" blue slag. A few can be found in the supplements to the yearly catalogs also. There is no Fenton book for the 90's as yet : ( Two were made for the Gracious Touch Party Plan, two for Enesco one for Hallmark, one for Ethan Allen, one for Cracker barrel, and nine for QVC (to date)."

Deb has done extensive research on the Bridesmaid figurines that will not be repeated here. If you would like to learn more, I would encourage you to visit Maddi & Debs "Doll Gallery".