BLUEFIELD — Martha, Maggie, Mary Peal and Maudie Mae are four of the most fashionable ladies in Monroe County, thanks to doll creator and Peterstown resident Pete Ballard. And on June 5, the dolls will be on display at the Clark-Wiseman-Neel House on Main Street in Union. A reception to honor Ballard and to introduce the dolls to modern society will begin at 1:30 p.m. The reception coincides with Farmer’s Day — an annual celebration of Union’s agricultural past. 

Ballard, who is costume designer, museum costume historian and conservator, began working on the dolls in the fall of 2009. “I started the first of October and finished on the first day of April,” Ballard said. “And we are talking 12 hour work days.”

The dolls are an addition to the Clark-Wiseman-Neel House, a log cabin from the early settlement days of Union. According to Dr. Ron Ripley, a member of the historical society, the log house is a combination of two different log structures.

“The front cabin is one of the first houses in Union from 1810,” Ripley said. “It is quite nicely made.”

The two-story town cabin was built following town specifications in the 1800s. It has a stone and brick chimney, copied from the Federal style. The back cabin was built in 1790 in the Gap Mills area of Monroe County. It is more primitive, Ripley said. It has a chimney in the center with a big working kitchen fireplace. In 2006, historical society members began reconstructing the two cabins, furnishing it with period antiques from the county — including Ballard’s dolls.

The dolls stand roughly 40 inches and about 5 feet wide, depending on the size of the hoop skirts. The four dolls are fashioned in period clothing from 1814 to 1863, representing the wealthy society of Union. During the 1800s, Union was the center of four different spas — Red Sulphur Springs, Grey Sulphur Springs, Salt Sulphur Springs and Sweet Springs. Of course, visitors also traveled to White Sulpher Springs in Greenbrier County.

“Union was the center of all these different spas,” Ballard said. “People went to the spas for their health. They came up from the south because it was cooler and they could have a social life as well.”

Red Sulphur Springs was one of the most popular destinations because it had a ballroom, he said. Most of the visitors to Union and the surrounding areas were wealthy and could afford fashionable attire, which is represented in Ballard’s designs in the Wiseman-Neel-Clark home.

“The dolls give a human element to the building. They are costumes of people who were well off when Union was a thriving town,” Jill Fischer, president of the historical society, said. “The dolls are important because when you go to museums, you often forget what people were like.”

The doll Maggie is a good example of an outfit suitable for the breakfast table at a watering-place in 1858. Her skirt is tiered with five flounces, each with a scalloped edge with embroidery and cutwork. The bodice is plain, yellow cotton.  The doll also features a morning cap made out of white embroidered lawn, yellow satin ribbons and a cotton net.

The doll named Maudie Mae is dressed in a brown and white at-home costume for receiving afternoon visitors in 1840. However, another doll named Mary Pearl wears a visiting costume for fall in acid green taffeta striped with black. The hooped skirt is tiered and edged with gold fringe. The doll is accessorized with a black Hudson Bay seal muff, a bonnet and gold satin and black lace reticule. The only doll featuring a winter costume is Martha from 1814. The costume is decorated with white fur, a bonnet, a muff and crimson red slipper trimmed in white fur.

“The dolls are quite attractive,” Ripley said. “They are the best I have seen him do.”

Ballard’s artistic talent and knowledge of fashion can be seen on national television as well. A commercial company in Los Angeles acquired legal permission to copy the image of one of Ballard’s dolls, after finding a picture of a doll on the Internet. The image ended up in a current Swifter commercial.

“They did their own version of the doll,” he said.

The open house and reception are apart of Farmer’s Day, which kicks off with a 7 a.m., pancake breakfast at the Union Rescue Squad. Other events include a parade, horse show, carnival, concerts, auto and bike show, classic car cruise-in, wrestling show and fireworks. The fireworks will begin at 9:30 p.m. For more information about Farmer’s Day, call (304) 772-5904.

— Contact Jamie Parsell at jparsell@bdtonline.com