Marking 20 years of sharing their collection with the world

By CARL E. FEATHER - Lifestyle Editor - cfeather@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

May 15, 2008 11:25 pm

— Genevieve Roach says her identical-twin daughters, Judith Kaminski and Janet Pallo, didn’t play much with dolls and doll buggies when they were youngsters. Their big brother, four years older, set the lead for their play, and the girls grew up as tomboys.
Thirty-six years ago, the purchase of a wicker perambulator, or baby carriage, introduced the women to what they’d missed as young girls. That seminal acquisition from a Medina antique store set them on a course of collecting the finest examples of hand-crafted perambulators.
That collection grew into the Victorian Perambulator Museum, housed in a ranch-style home owned by Janet and her husband. The museum opened in the fall of 1988 with about 50 perambulators. They now own more than 200, about a quarter of which can’t be displayed because there’s no space left in the nine-room museum.
However, when something really special is added to the collection, they find room to show it off.
That scenario happened twice this spring. The first case involves the purchase of a rare “Emperor” perambulator made by the Gendron Company of Toledo in the 1890s. Standing 47 inches tall, this wicker buggy features an hourglass pattern on the sides and a curved wicker top. It has the original corduroy upholstery and metal wheels.
“It’s just a gorgeous piece,” says Kaminski. “We have never seen the likes of something like this. It’s just a magnificent piece.”
The perambulator is a fitting acquisition for their 20th anniversary – it took as long to acquire it. They first became aware of it through a friend who visited the museum on its inaugural day. The twins traveled to the Michigan amusement park to see it for themselves and make an offer to purchase.
Custom-built for a wealthy family, the perambulator was acquired by the amusement park’s owner when his four children were small and actually used it for the intended purpose. After his children outgrew the buggy, it found a third life as park decor and window dressing. It even did a three-week guest appearance at the museum shortly after the women made the acquaintance of its owner.
“We thought ‘It will never get back here again’ when it left,” Kaminski says.
Nevertheless, they they asked the owner to keep them in mind if he decided to sell. The distinctive perambulator never left th eir minds. “It’s something we dreamed about,” Kaminski says.
When they got the call earlier this year, it came as a very pleasant surprise. It had been six years since they’d had contact with the owner
“We were just delighted,” Kaminski says. “The owner said the reason he accepted (their interest) was because we were so persistent in getting it. He admired that.”

Works of art
Kaminski ranks the Emperor as one of the museum’s most expensive acquisitions. Topping the list is the Sultan, their rarest carriage. Built in the 1880s by F. A. Whitney, the carriage is completely original with rich upholstered brocade material throughout the interior. Two elaborate spiral posts decorate each side and complement the spiral design used in the wicker.
Their 1880s Gondola, an ornate, Venetian-inspired carriage for two, and a 1910 Model T commemorative carriage, share top honors for the most expensive perambulators in their collection. According to an Antique Doll Magazine article, ornate Victorian perambulators can cost between $2,000 and $5,000 each.
Sometimes, however, the best things in life are indeed free.
That’s the case for the relatively plain but historically significant donation that showed up at their door about three weeks ago. Totally unexpectedly, a donor from Jamestown, N.Y., delivered the buggy that was once owned by the grandmother of comedian Lucille Ball. The late star of film, television and radio rode in the buggy as a child, according to the donor, a relative.
“We were delighted,” says Kaminski of the painted ball-and-stick design buggy. It features the original cloth parasol topped with a sterling silver ball. The donor, after discussing it with other family members, felt the buggy was a better match for the Perambulator Museum than the Lucille Ball Museum in Jamestown. He showed up at the museum ready to donate.
“He said, ‘Come out, I want to show you something.’ It was just amazing,” Kaminski says.
The two new additions are likely to become subjects for future paintings by artist Art Fronckowiak, who has painted commissioned works featuring the museum’s best examples in appropriate settings. The originals are displayed throughout the museum, paired with the perambulator that inspired the painting. For the museum’s 20th anniversary, the owners released a 2008 collector’s calendar featuring the 12 paintings. They also produce collectible metal miniatures of their most ornate buggies.
Kaminski says they typically get 2,000 visitors a year, although the numbers have dropped off with the rise in gas prices and the reduction of bus tours coming into the county. Although tucked away off the beaten path, the museum has become a destination for visitors from around the world. Kaminski says British and Japanese tourists, who seem to have a much greater appreciation for hand-crafted antiques, are among their biggest fans.
The museum is also reaching out to a broader audience by moving beyond perambulators. Kaminski says they have gone into antique dolls and have several excellent examples – one of them stands 45 inches and comes with the original fur piece.
“We have really been adding to our doll collection,” Kaminski says. “It should be a doll-perambulator museum.”
They recently purchased another collector’s entire inventory of baby carriage miniatures – at least 200 pieces. As a stipulation of the purchase, Kaminski and Pallo are required to display the items exactly as the owner had them arranged in the case when it was in her home.
That collection came from Salem, Ohio, but the women have traveled to virtually every state to acquire perambulators and dolls. They’ve had great adventures in the process and every carriage in the museum has an acquisition story behind it.
Taking a tour of the museum and hearing a few of these stories costs $5 for an adult, money that is used to pay for overhead. New acquisitions are funded with the women’s earnings as substitute teachers. Both worked as elementary teachers in the Buckeye Local Schools District before “retiring.”
The museum and collection are privately owned, a situation the women struggle with as they look to its long-term viability. With their savings tied up in the collection, they realize it will eventually have to be converted into cash. In the short-term, they would like to find a new location that would offer architecture more in line with the period of their collection.
In the meantime, the collection can be enjoyed at 26 E. Cedar St. (behind the Great Lakes auto lot), Jefferson. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays this month. June through August the museum is open Wednesday and Saturday. Groups and tours will be accommodated at other times by appointment.
After 36 years of tracking down and collecting perambulators, these sisters remain passionate about their second-childhood hobby. They’re recognized as experts in the field and have written two books on the subject. Although they believe they own a fine example of virtually every extant Victorian perambulator, they are always open to the kinds of surprises they’ve enjoyed this spring – and sharing them with the public.
“We didn’t know when to stop,” Kaminski says. “We wanted to build something fantastic so when people walked through the door, they’d be overwhelmed and impressed.”

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