Answers to Questions about Ginger Brook Hollow


We have compiled many of the questions that we have been asked in the past. Hopefully you will have your questions answered by checking some of these. If you do not find the information you want, please write to us by clicking on the link at the bottom of the home page for customer service, or by calling us.
 
Questions about Ginger Brook Hollow – the company
1. Question: Where did Ginger Brook Hollow get its name?
  Answer: This is explained in the second story in the series. It is named for the little valley or hollow in which the stories take place. The characters from those stories are those who live in the hollow. Ginger Brook runs through the center of the hollow and the brook is named for the wild ginger that grows along its banks.
2. Question: Who is Seasons Shared, LLC?
  Answer: Seasons Shared, LLC is the company responsible for the ownership and creation of Ginger Brook Hollow. Ginger Brook Hollow is actually the trademark for the particular line of products from the stories about the fictional valley by that name.
3. Question: What age do you recommend Ginger Brook Hollow for?
  Answer: Ginger Brook Hollow was created with the purpose in mind that there would be elements for all ages, making it something that could be shared between grandmothers, mothers, sisters, friends, and children. The dolls were created with the qualities attributed to collectable dolls more so than play dolls. However they are very functional and conducive to play for those who are responsible enough to care for a quality doll. (At Seasons Shared, we consider collectors to be those 10 years old and up.) The picture books have more words than those for very young children. They can be enjoyed by adults, and children who have a long enough attention span to stay with a story that takes 20 to 30 minutes to read and requires comprehension deeper than just what the pictures show. The journal and paper doll stories were written for middle grade readers and up.
4. Question: Where can I buy Ginger Brook Hollow products other than through your web site?
  Answer: Ginger Brook Hollow is meant to be a direct sales line at this point, which means that you will generally need to buy our products through us. This allows us to represent ourselves, answer your questions, and provide the best possible customer service we can. It is possible that in the future we will allow specialty shops to carry some of our products, especially our books. For those who do not have consistent access to the Internet, products can be ordered by calling customer service at (801) 735-6944.
5. Question: Do you have a brochure or catalog?
  Answer: Yes, we do. However, we do not like to send our materials out to those who would see them as more junk mail or who are not interested enough to keep them. For this reason, we reserve our brochures and catalogs for those who have voluntarily given us their contact information or who have requested what we have to offer. If you want to be on our mailing list to receive promotional items, offers, and information, please click on the home page link for members or for information and sign up so that you can receive these things.
6. Question: Why do I have to log in every time I want to use the features of the town?
  Answer: Many of the parts of the town have or will have information that is personal to the user. This is especially true when using the bank account option. We have required logging in every time to protect those using this part of the site from having others who share a computer use their bank account and identity.
 
Questions about the Dolls
1. Question: Why are these dolls considered to be collectable more than some of the other well known brands for children that are on the market?
  Answer: Most dolls for children are classified as play dolls. Typically, the same face is used for several dolls with different hair and eye color. These dolls are mass produced usually in quantities of many thousands and the quality of the hair, eyes, vinyl, and clothing varies, but is usually lower than is used for dolls sold for collection. Ginger Brook Hollow dolls are created from artist sculpts created specifically for each character so that they, like real people, do not share the same face (except our twins, Johannah and Suzannah). The dolls and their clothing are made using high quality materials and workmanship. They are hand painted, have hand made wigs, and clothing that is often lined. They have joints at the knees and elbows creating articulation that allows them to be posed in many positions that most play dolls similar in size can not be posed in. The dolls are also characters from stories. This gives them an identity that can be universally referenced, which makes them more than “just a doll”.
2. Question: What are the dolls made of?
  Answer: The dolls are made of a high quality vinyl. They have the highest grade of kanekelon hair and acrylic eyes. Most of the clothing is made of natural materials such as cotton and wool. Both the materials and the dolls have undergone safety testing for children 8 and up.
3. Question: Isn’t porcelain more expensive and nicer than vinyl, and aren’t most collectable dolls made of porcelain?
  Answer: While porcelain is the most practical material for extremely limited edition artist dolls (under 100 of any particular face), it is neither more expensive nor nicer than vinyl. The process for making vinyl molds is much more complicated and involved than porcelain molds, making them too expensive for very low number limited editions. However, vinyl allows the creation of a warmer, more detailed, and very beautiful doll. Many very high level artists are turning to vinyl and materials other than porcelain to produce their dolls at very high levels of quality now. For us, vinyl also allows our dolls to be functional without the extreme worry that they will be dropped and broken.
4. Question: What kind of joints do the dolls have and are they a strung doll?
  Answer: The 17” dolls are ball jointed at the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. This allows them to assume both standing and natural sitting positions as well as head movement for expression. The dolls are strung. However, they are not strung the way older porcelain dolls used to be strung. The joints are more durable and reliable than this old style of stringing. They are also attractive compared to joints that use screws and other methods of assembly.
5. Question: Do the Ginger Brook Hollow dolls have eyes that open and close?
  Answer: No, they do not. They have a more realistic and higher quality eye and lashes than are generally used for the kind that open and close. We feel the type of eyes we have chosen to use are more attractive in dolls that are meant to be suitable for display. Open and close eyes are more commonly found in play dolls.
6. Question: Why don’t you have pictures of your dolls nude on your web site so that customers can see what they are getting under all those clothes?
  Answer: This site is made for all ages. Out of respect to all people and our dolls, we do not feel that it is appropriate to display dolls that represent specific characters of children in this way. The bodies on our dolls are very plain. Although their shape is artistically pleasing, there is no detail. We do not desire that our dolls are purchased for their bodies, but rather for their merit as characters and as tools to enable wholesome interaction between family and friends, or for tasteful display that brings life and joy to a room. None of these purposes should be determined by what a doll looks like nude.
7. Question: Will you be posting comparison pictures of other dolls on your site?
  Answer: We do not plan to display other dolls that at this time without permission from the companies who sell them. Each line of dolls has its own merits. We do not intend to do anything that would enhance or diminish dolls sold by other companies. There are comparisons on sites that carry products for many brands of dolls such as seamstress ebay shops. We recommend also checking with doll chat groups who have such pictures and comparisons.
8. Question: Are Ginger Brook Hollow dolls compatible with other dolls so that clothing can be exchanged between brands?
  Answer: Although we hope that there will be other dolls in the future that can exchange clothing with our dolls, we do not know of any at this time. Some clothing can be exchanged between one or two dolls, but the fit is not accurate due to a difference in body shape. We are also aware that there is an occasional antique doll that can wear our clothing, but we do not know specifically which ones. Our dolls are slender and do not have a tummy that pokes out like many of the dolls of younger children in a similar size. They are also smaller than common 18” dolls. There are, however, many good seamstresses who sew privately and would be willing to custom make clothing for these dolls. If this is of interest to you please email us through customer service so that we are aware of how much interest there is and we can possibly help with such information.
9. Question: Are there patterns for sewing clothing for the Ginger Brook Hollow dolls?
  Answer: Yes, there have been patterns made for clothing for Ginger Brook Hollow dolls. When we developed these dolls it was our hope that they would promote creativity in the area of sewing as well as other skills. We should have such patterns posted on our site by January 1, 2008. We also recommend checking the search engines for unrelated artists selling such patterns.
10. Question: Will there be other dolls in the Ginger Brook Hollow line (especially boys)?
  Answer: We do have other dolls planned for Ginger Brook Hollow, even a boy or two. However, we do not anticipate adding them to the group of seven orphan girls that come from the first story. They will be part of other stories. Grandma Sunday and the seven orphan girls make up a complete set that we don’t intend to change. Rather we will add to this line of dolls in other ways.
11. Question: Will you be offering modern clothing for the Ginger Brook Hollow Girls?
  Answer: Because we are trying to stick with the stories for this line of dolls, we don’t have plans to offer clothing that does not fit their time period through Ginger Brook Hollow, but we do hope that in time there will be some other options that offer this kind of versatility for those who are interested. Also, there are patterns designed by other artists available to make such clothing. It is possible that we will also offer this option.
12. Question: Will Ginger Brook Hollow have more accessories?
  Answer: We do hope to have more accessories and clothing for this group of dolls. We can not manufacture all of the things we would like at once, and we must keep development consistent with the growth of the company. As our dolls and stories become more widely known and loved, it will open new opportunities for us to expand the line. We are a relatively new company and we do not intend to compete with other companies who have developed their product line and customer base for more than 30 years.
13. Question: I am having a difficult time deciding which doll to buy. Can you help?
  Answer: Which doll is right for you is a very individual choice. If you do not have one that is distinctly your favorite by looks we recommend that you choose by personality and character. There is some information about characters on our online shop. We also recommend reading the character/paper doll books, April’s journals, the collectable booklets, and brochures and catalogs we send out. The current trend in dolls is to buy a doll that looks just like a child. We feel that picking a Ginger Brook Hollow doll is like choosing a good friend. She does not need to be just like you to be loveable.
 
Questions about Our Stories and Books
1. Question: Will there be more books, and what kinds?
  Answer: More books and stories are planned for Ginger Brook Hollow. We especially hope to produce several new picture books over time. To us, picture books promote our theme of sharing with friends and loved ones.
2. Question: What is the appropriate reading level of the books?
  Answer: Ginger Brook Hollow stories can be enjoyed by a variety of ages when they are shared, but they are not easy reading. Because this line was developed especially for collectors (10 years old and up) the reading level for most of our books is set for middle grade readers starting on approximately a 4th grade level. We will add that most of the books we offer are broken into small parts so that they do not need to be read in long stretches. This is more conducive to the style in which the youth and adults of today often read and should a younger reader take an interest, the task is not daunting.
3. Question: Do the dolls come with the book?
  Answer: The picture book Where Love’s Circle Begins is the basic story for this line of dolls. Our other books are extensions of this story. The picture book does not come with the dolls. Because there are 8 characters for this story, offering “the book” with each doll could mean that someone who orders more than one doll would have multiple copies. We highly recommend that you buy this book when you buy the first doll. Because the character/ paper doll stories are individual to each doll, we have chosen to include the appropriate one of these books when you order that doll directly from us.
4. Question: Why did you choose to put the stories in picture books if the dolls were made to be collector quality?
  Answer: Even though picture books are often considered children’s books, they are enjoyed by all ages. We chose to make the core books in this format because we wanted to celebrate and promote a love for fine art and quality with all of our products. Also, it meant they were not long and detailed, so that more people would read and enjoy the story together. Most importantly, we wanted to write and present our stories in such a way that they could be shared and read aloud. This feature offers an opportunity to build relationships and memories, something that Ginger Brook Hollow was meant to foster. Spending time with children is an excellent way to let them know they are important and valued. When children see what parents and grandparents value and will take time to do, it helps to shape the things they will see as important in their futures. Our books were meant to offer one more tool for spending such time together.