Not that kind of "dollhouse"
/“I want a brunette, can she be at my place by 7? Credit card info is…”
The phone calls started about a year after we had moved across the street. We couldn’t figure out why all of a sudden we were getting calls (always on the toll-free line) from men asking for women like they were ordering take-out.
It was an uncomfortable mystery.
The year we moved, the dollhouse-store owner started traveling to the large miniature trade shows across the United States.
She would return with exquisite and delightful artisan miniatures, along with funny stories that could only happen to her, a woman traveling alone.
On one occasion she told us the story of the two men who approached her while she was having a drink in the hotel. They chatted her up, and when she mentioned she owned a “dollhouse” shop, they became even more attentive. As the conversation continued, it turned out that in the States there is a large “escort” service called The Dollhouse, and they thought the owner was…the “madam.”
Whenever some lonely guy looking for companionship would go online and type in “dollhouse,” The Little Dollhouse Company would pop up along with that handy toll-free number.
The mystery had been solved. We (the staff) started emphasizing "The Little" when we answered the phone, and possibly some new filter was added to "Google search," so eventually the calls stopped.
The shop was popular with artists (AEG miniatures), TV shows, and movies (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium).
Two of the most interesting and informative events that took place were the commercials, BMO (Bank of Montreal) and OREA (Ontario Real Estate Association) filmed inside the shop. Both consisted of long days, with endless takes and hour after hour of what looked like nothing was happening.
What stood out above everything else were the behind-the-scenes people. Through the constant stop and go, the 14+-hour days and endless waiting, they remained focused, pleasant and professional.
I think that was the day I understood what the saying “dedicated to their craft” truly meant.
When I am fighting my own creative drought, I think of the lighting, sound, and stop-motion people I met during those shoots …and then I get on with it.
p.s. A (pudgy) Star is Born...that's me at the beginning of the OREA commercial.
Next Week: Surprise Blog
PEGGY SANDS
Decades of working in a variety of fields led to a pursuit of a writer’s life. Peggy has a knack for writing cover copy for romance novels and a love of vintage VWs. With her eye on the Golden Pie Server trophy, her spare time is spent training for the family’s annual pie-baking competition. Last year she placed third...there were three entries.
