Jacobs, Flora Gill 1918–2006

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for SATA sketch: Born December 22, 1918, in Washington, DC; died of congestive heart failure, May 31, 2006, in Washington, DC. Journalist, museum director and curator, and author. Jacobs owned and operated the Washington Dolls' House and Toy Museum and was credited by many for making doll houses and their collection a popular hobby in America. Initially pursuing a journalism career, she attended George Washington University before dropping out to become a reporter and editor. She joined the Washington Times-Herald staff in 1940, and was the fashion and women's-page editor there from 1942 to 1943. Family life put this career on hold, but Jacobs decided she wanted to write a book on doll houses in her spare time. At the time, doll houses were not nearly as popular in the United States as dolls themselves, and Jacobs found it difficult to find antique or even newer miniature houses for her research. She returned briefly to journalism from 1950 to 1952 as a reporter for the women's department at the Washington Post before completing her first book, A History of Doll Houses (1953; revised edition, 1965). Meanwhile, Jacobs was growing her private collection of doll houses. She found that many people wanted to visit her home to see the houses, and in 1975 she decided to open a museum. This became the Washington Dolls' House and Toy Museum, which at its height of popularity drew about 200,000 visitors a year. However, Jacobs found it difficult to run the museum in the black, and in 2004 she closed it. The contents were auctioned off for almost one and a half million dollars. Despite losing these miniature homes, Jacobs maintained an even larger collection in her home. Over the years, she released more books about doll houses and their history, including A World of Doll Houses (1965), Dolls' Houses in America (1974), and Victorian Dolls' Houses and Their Furnishings (1978). A former president of the Children's Book Guild of Washington, she was also the author of several juvenile stories inspired by her interest, including The Doll House Mystery (1958) and The Haunted Bird House (1970). By the time she closed her museum, doll houses had become a hugely popular hobby. Jacobs, a founding member of the Chevy Chase Historical Society, released one more book before her death, The Small World of Antique Dolls' Houses (2005).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, June 26, 2006, p. B9.

New York Times, June 12, 2006, p. A19.

Washington Post, June 8, 2006, p. B7.