Located inside Christine’s Antiques in Tucson is an incredibly unique Doll and Miniatures Museum that is the lifetime collection of the late Martha Christina Schurtz Olson, who established the antique shop in the early 1960s. The Museum was created in about 1965 to preserve and display Christine’s extensive display and this very special collection is now for sale.

Christine, who was born in 1915 and died in 2004, loved dolls and everything related to them. She was the youngest of ten children and her mother died when Christine was only three years old so she and her sister spent their childhood living with and moving between their four eldest married sisters. She began what became a life-long passion when she bought her first doll with money that she had earned by sewing, washing and cleaning other people’s homes when she was just 8 years old. By the time she was 16—and the young bride of Bob Olson!—Christine had about 60 dolls, both new and old, that she had collected. And she kept expanding her vast eclectic collection throughout her long life.

Today, it is estimated that there are 4,000 to 5,000 dolls in Christine’s Doll and Miniature Museum ranging in age from the 1800s to the 1970s and in size from a doll painted on a pinhead to 4 feet, 4 inches tall. The dolls come from all over the world, including Germany, France, Japan, the U.S. and elsewhere, and there are several different manufacturers. The dolls are made of china, bisque, wood, porcelain, paper mache, tin, chalk and even cornhusk.

The collection includes boxes of antique doll clothing, shoes, hats, miniatures, doll furniture, toys, real running clocks, accessories, wigs and doll body parts. There are also doll-sized china tea sets, pianos, buggies, beds, swings, cradles, two displays of Noah’s Ark and shadow boxes. You can see a YouTube video of the collection at www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXNHVrIf3jQ or Doll Museum for Sale.

It was Christine’s wish that her collection be enjoyed in its entirety. Her son Wayne Olson, who owns Christine’s Antiques and Elegant Junque Shop with his wife Tina, wants to honor his mother’s request by selling her remarkable collection to someone who will move it to a new location to be enjoyed by as many people as possible. Christine invested more than $650,000 in her doll museum over her lifetime; however, the Olsons are asking $295,000 for the entire collection.

Parties interested in the collection can contact Wayne or Tina at 520-323-0018 or by email at mrelegant4932@q.com. For more information about Christine’s Antiques, located at 4940 E. Speedway, go to http://christinesantiquestucson.com.