Behind the Scenes
Karen Carson, Creator
Karen Carson was born in South Dakota, but moved to Chicago at an early age, finally growing up in Northwest Indiana. She went to college at Indiana University where she majored in business and took courses in design. She raised a family and became involved in the field of design, full time, around 1966, eventually becoming the first and only women vice president of a large corporation.
She started thinking about the “Pope Doll” in the late’90s, but the inspiration to move ahead with this favorite personal project got on the front burner in the spring of 2002 when she visited Rome.
“We planned to go to Easter Mass” says Carson, “and we wanted a good seat, so we went to Saint Peter’s very early.” As it turned out, Karen found herself about twelve rows back from all the Priests, Cardinals and notable church officials. “The only problem,” she recalls, “it was a horribly cold, dismal, drizzling and dreary morning.” Then, just as the Mass was about to start, the clouds parted, the sky became bright blue, and the sun streaked down on the gathering of 100,000 believers. “When Pope John Paul came out you could hear a pin drop,” says Karen “it was so quiet that you’d never know that there were 100,000 people there.”
Returning to the United States Carson was enthused and made the Pope Doll one of her highest priorities. She researched production techniques, sought experts, and started designing the final product. “Before going too far out on a limb I interviewed a lot of people” says Carson, “I got smart input as to the size of the doll and what doll collectors would appreciate most in terms of materials and clothing.”
She commissioned sculptor Paul Brooke (famous for many lifelike dolls from Star Wars through The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe) to sculpt the Pope. His expert vision and skilled hands have created a very realistic Pope John Paul II. Next, Carson hired the Lloyd Middleton Company to cast the limited edition copies. Known as one of the finest doll producers in the United States, Middleton completes each doll for Carson, then dresses them with clothing that Carson has sewn by a group of expert Indiana seamstresses. Working at home they cut, sew, embroider and complete each garment down to the last minute detail.
Paul Brooke, Sculptor
Paul Brooke is 42 years of age and works in his home studio in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the past two years Paul has crafted creatures for Star Wars Episode III, My Little Pony Dolls, and the Minotaur from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He is currently working on a new line of dolls for the founder of the American Girls franchise. Going back over the years he worked on the Wookie Chewbacca for the “Original Trilogy Collection” and “Baby Alive” for Kenner toys. Carson notes that his patient soft-spoken manner made him a real treat to work with on the Pope project. Say’s Brooke about his work on the Pope John Paul II sculpture, “It was an honor to be involved in a project of this significance.”
Lloyd Middleton Company
Located in Coolville, Ohio the Lloyd Middleton Company is famous for some of the best selling and most lifelike collectible dolls produced in the United States. As co-founder of Lee Middleton Dolls and later the founder of his own Lloyd Middleton Dolls, Lloyd’s achievements are many. The business was started, literally, on Lloyd’s kitchen table. Through talent, dedication and insight his work drove him to the top of the toy industry. Lloyd was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award from Doll Reader Magazine. While Lloyd passed away in early 2006, Karen Carson reflects on his early involvement in the Pope John Paul II doll that is now being produced at the plant. “I have a number of seamstresses working on the Pope Doll,” says Carson, “then I take the clothing to Coolville where they paint, dress and package the dolls and get them ready for shipping.” She notes that since Lloyd has passed away the factory work force is made up of almost 100% women, with the exception of one fellow who carefully pours hot vinyl into each carefully made mold.