Perambulator museum closes, items to be sold through online auction
Aug. 15—JEFFERSON — A love of dolls and baby carriages has been a major passion for two area sisters for more than 35 years.
Janet Pallo and sister Judith Kaminski opened the Perambulator Museum in Jefferson in 1987 to share their collection with the world, but have determined there is a lack of local support and have closed the museum.
Pallo and Kaminski said it was a difficult decision, but they are happy with Andrew Richmond's work in preparing to sell the items during online auctions starting September 21.
Richmond, of The Ohio Company Antiques and Art, has been working hard to photograph the items and prepare for the first auction. He said more information can be found at the company website at www.ohiocompanyantiques.com.
"We have worked very hard to make this museum amazing," Pallo said. She said people have come from all over the world to see the unique collections of dolls, baby carriages, Christmas ornaments and many other unique collector pieces.
Pallo said senators and other politicians have visited the museum, along with company presidents and even Lady Gaga. She said Lady Gaga showed up a couple of years ago and viewed the collection.
She said the sisters began collecting dolls that were "amazing" and decided they needed to share the items through the museum.
The sisters both taught in the Buckeye Area Local Schools, where one taught at North Kingsville Elementary School and the other at Kingsville Elementary School.
While the museum will no longer take a lot of their time, the sisters plan to stay busy. "We will still be promoting the arts in one way or another," Pallo said.
Richmond said he has done many auctions. but this one is unique. He said he has been working hard to catalog the items and find room to put them until some are sold at the first auction.
"This [auction] is kind of an exclamation point at the end of this museum," he said.
Kaminski said it was a hard decision. "To us, these are treasures, and it is hard to give up," she said.
"We will have people bidding from all over the country and around the world," Richmond said.
The sisters said they would travel during the summers when they were teaching school to find new pieces and spread the word about their museum.
Pallo said there was an offer to move the museum to Dollywood, but they declined the offer because they weren't ready to move at the time. The sisters also said they reviewed options to move the museum to Florida, but it never worked out.
Pallo said their families have been supportive of the museum. Sidney and Xavier Pallo, her grandchildren, have been coming to the museum since they were very little.
"When they [the sisters] weren't looking, we opened the door at let Sidney sit in the carriage," said Pallo's daughter-in-law Karla Pallo. She said it was a big surprise when her husband brought her to the museum.
"This was like an awe-inspiring place," she said.
