In 1980 demand for Lee's work outstripped the capacity of this makeshift kitchen table assembly line, and her husband found accommodations in the basement of an old bank building in Coolville at $50 a month. Her ambition at this point was simply to sell as many dolls as she could produce at home, but soon gift shops and doll shops began pressing her with wholesale orders and in order to accommodate these customers she began enlisting family members, friends, and others to make the dolls out of their own homes. When she returned home that night her husband Lloyd was surprised to learn that not only did she win best of show she sold every doll she brought.Įncouraged by her initial success, Lee and her husband started up a business they called Kingdom Doll Originals and began to travel the doll shows, paying for a table to sell her creations to individual collectors. After she had completed several pieces that she thought were ready to show, she entered them in competition at a doll show in Columbus, Ohio. Eventually she would include a small Bible with each doll she sold. Her interest in anatomy led her to depict her baby dolls as realistically as possible, even down to the proper weight, and her religious faith infused them with a spirit that struck a cord with collectors. Lee Middleton knew some success as a painter and writer, selling verses to major greeting card companies, but it was not until 1978, when she and her family were living in Coolville, Ohio, that she decided to try sculpting porcelain dolls at her kitchen table. All of these influences and skills would eventually come together in her doll creations. Middleton was deeply devoted to Christianity, yet fascinated by the workings of crime and police laboratories. Other than taking a few courses at an artist's school in Arizona, she was essentially self-taught, forging her own unique path. Because her high school lacked formal art studies she had to settle on a mechanical drawing class to satisfy her aspirations in the graphic arts. Lee Middleton grew up in Springfield, Ohio, interested in a variety of arts and crafts. Lee Middleton Starting Business in Her Kitchen in 1979 In addition, management runs a separate, publicly traded company, InvestorsBancorp, which was spun off in 1993. Middleton Doll continues to operate Bando McGlocklin Small Business Lending Corporation, an REIT, as well as timepiece maker License Products, Inc., which Bando McGlocklin also picked up because of a bad loan. It even chose DOLL as its ticker symbol on the NASDAQ. Since acquiring the operation in 1993 because of a bad real estate loan, the parent corporation has become so focused on dolls that it adopted the Middleton name in 2001 in order to help investors better evaluate its business. Lee Middleton Original Dolls, founded by the late doll designer Lee Middleton Urick, is a leading maker of realistic, hand-sculpted, collectible dolls. They are "The Babies That Love You Back!"ġ978: Lee and Lloyd Middleton start a doll company.ġ980: Ex-athletes Sal Bando and Jon McGlocklin form small business venture capital firm.ġ987: Bando McGlocklin invests in the doll company.ġ991: Lee Middleton Original Dolls files for bankruptcy protection.ġ993: Bando McGlockin acquires a controlling 51 percent interest in the doll company for $1.ġ998: Bando McGlocklin acquires all of the doll business.Ģ001: Bando McGlocklin changes the company's name to The Middleton Doll Company.įormerly Bando McGlocklin Capital Corporation, The Middleton Doll Company is primarily involved in the doll business through its Ohio subsidiary Lee Middleton Original Dolls, Inc., although technically the Wisconsin firm remains a real estate investment trust. Our babies are not only beautiful, but they make you feel good. The heartwarming feeling of holding a baby can be brought to life when one of our little bundles is placed in your arms. NAIC: 525930 Real Estate Investment Trusts
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