Welcome!
Hello,
My name is Julianna Smalley, and I am the daughter of Master Craftsman, David Smalley, and owner of The Toymaker’s Daughter. We are a small, but growing, cottage industry business, located in scenic northern Maine.
The Toymaker’s Daughter, is committed to bringing your family, the highest quality, heirloom toys, that spark imagination, and inspire creative play. I believe toys should nurture, as well as entertain. As, The Toymaker's Daughter, it was instilled in me from early on, that children should be surrounded with beauty, and given toys that express a reverence for children , and teach them the love of a job well done.
In a world of; Made in China, disposable, buy it today- throw it away tomorrowtoys, I believe that we have a responsibility, to show our children something different. Our modern American society tells us, to run to ToysRUs or WalMart for Christmas shopping, grab a bunch of cheap, plastic, junky toys off the shelf, hurry home, and stuff them under your Christmas tree. Then, just sit back, and thank goodness, Santa Claus is set for another year.
You will find no such toys here! No battery operated, light up, singing, shaking, jiggling toys, that will be played with on Christmas morning, and end up in a landfill by New Years Day.
Our Heirloom Quality Toys, are meant to be played with, and loved for years. They are built to last, and be handed down from one generation to the next.
Most of our toys, are made in the USA. We are proud to support American Made, and make an effort to buy locally, whenever possible. If we can find a product made by a Small Family Business, we will pay extra, to be able to buy it from them. Why? Because we know that they are the best.
In this busy, fast- paced, technologically- crazy world, we know that family is still what matters most, and we want to support that. We know that a family, making an effort to pull through together, is going to be, a better, more sincere, and decent business associate.
My mission in starting The Toymaker’s Daughter, is to reach as many children and their families as I possibly can, by offering them a beautiful, quality toy, that shows them a different side of life, than the one that is coming at them today.
I believe that a child surrounded by things of beauty and quality, will grow up a more complete, and whole person. I believe that childhood should be revered, and children sheltered from our present- day craziness, of technology addicts, and allowed to develop organically, without the crippling effects of TV, computers, cell phones, video games, and battery operated toys.
I want to bring your child the highest quality toys available anywhere. I offer you, an alternative to Made in China, Bratz dolls and monster mania. I hope to enrich children's lives, one sale at a time
.
About Julianna
I was born in 1988, the same year my Dad began, Elves and Angels. You might say, I was born into the toy business. :)
I guess that fact, has always had a special significance to me, as if, Elves and Angels and I, have a deeper than usual, bond.Being number 8, in a family of 12 children, I grew up surrounded by love, brothers and sisters, and quality handmade toys.
I was blessed to be educated at home. Thanks to my Mother’s dedication, and my Dad’s commitment to the hard work, that enabled her to be there for us, as a mother, homemaker, and teacher, all in one, I was able to grow up in a world that supported, and encouraged creativity, and a true desire to learn.
We girls flourished, learning among other things, how to cook, bake, knit and sew. Sewing is one of my passions. I just love to sew! Fabric; needles, pins, and scissors set my mind racing with endless possibilities.
As children, we grew up playing out of doors. Nothing like so many children you see today, glued to the couch, their laptop or a cell phone. Electronics were unheard of in our family. We watched very little TV, only some very select movies occasionally, and video games were simply out of the question.
Result? A happy, healthy family, developing, and continually using their imaginations for play, instead of allowing a computer to do all the brain activity. We rode horseback, climbed trees, built wonderful forts and tree houses, tented out, fished, swam, boated and kayaked. We also milked cows, raised chickens, turkeys, dogs, horses, and some beef cows. We also learned a good bit of carpentry, especially the boys, as we worked alongside our Dad, building cabins, barns, workshops and even a wedding chapel for my sister.
None of this would have been possible without Elves and Angels.
A “Family Business” is just that. Something that everyone in the family, is a part of. I honestly can’t remember, a time when Elves and Angels, wasn't a part of my life.
From the time when I was 4 years old, and rode with my dad to his toy store to spend the day, right up to the present moment, it has always been there, an important part of who I am...... Who we all are.
.jpg)
In a family business, everyone pitches in and helps. This makes for some really good times, and especially when your family is the size of mine, it can really be fun. If only I could share with you, some of those Thanksgiving weekends, when almost all of us were together in the workshop, working hard, joking and laughing, and just enjoying each other’s company. Those were the days!
My education, besides my academic subjects, included extensive work-study, and working alongside my Dad in the business.
Elves and Angels is, " The American Toy Company." It embodies all the old time values, that are so sadly lacking in today’s society; High Quality Products that are good for children, exceptional customer service, and a team, led by the owner, to always go that extra mile to insure complete customer satisfaction.
Elves and Angels has always placed customer satisfaction and a quality product highest on their priority list. From constant association with my Dad, I learned more about doing business the right way, than I could have learned in four years at a Business college.
I have worked in every different part of this business (except for the milling and the inverted pin router.) Everything else, from sanding, to drilling, assembly work, packing, shipping, finishing, office work and marketing, I have done at some time or another, over the years.
Within the past few years, I started really giving some thought and deep consideration, to what Elves and Angels is to the American child. I did some research, and found a wealth of different stories, from people who bought these kitchens as long as 25 years ago. I was amazed to hear stories of people passing them on to children, and grandchildren, donating them to schools after their child had outgrown them, or to nieces and nephews. There was an enormous number of people who obtained one 2nd hand on Craigslist, or at a yard sale, and brought them home to their own little one, for years more life and playtime.
I read all this, and my heart was deeply touched by the thought, of all the different children’s lives, who had been enriched by the gifts and dreams, of one man"s life. I looked backwards through the years. and I saw all those other Smalley woodworkers; fine Maine men, ship builders, carpenters, cabinetmakers, and the like. Generations of Smalley men, who have left behind, so many different houses, staircases, churches, tables, stone fireplaces, paintings, picture frames, chairs and countless other things that tell the story of their life.
I realized. as I never had before, just how important what Elves and Angels offers really is! I knew I didn't want it to disappear from the earth, not ever, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of making sure it didn't. I wanted to assist in the efforts, to see that our beautiful children, are given something better, than the run- of- the-mill junk, that passes for toys.
My mission, in starting The Toymaker’s Daughter, is to reach as many children and their families as I possibly can, by offering them a beautiful, quality toy, that shows them a different side of life, than the one that is coming at them today.
If I know a little person is finding joy in the making of pretend meals on a Julianna’s or a Susan’s Kitchen, or if a little girl travels to the magical land of make believe with Our Maine Dollhouse, I will not have failed.
I love children, and I believe that the future of the world is in our children. The foundation we build in their formative years, will last a lifetime, and will determine how they view things for the rest of their days. Childhood is so short ,and so often exploited these days. Tiny children are made to look and act like teenagers. To me, childhood should be innocent and beautiful, full of good times, good toys and happy memories.
The simple things in life are the most important of all; a stroll across the lawn with your dolly in her new Pram, a meal "cooked" for Daddy, on your Jenny's Kitchen, a wild defending of knights in their home castle, and the fun of setting up an entire barnyard with your stable. Every child deserves to be cherished through those fleeting childhood years, and The Toymaker's Daughter is here to help you do so.
Sincerely,
Julianna Smalley
The Toymaker’s Daughter
5th Generation Woodworker
No comments:
Post a Comment