DOLLS ON THE MOUNT
Dolls on the Mount is described in the Melbourne ‘Cheap Eats’ Guide 2003 as ‘something kooky’. The woman dressed in the long skirt and equally long, full crisp white apron frowned and asked, “Do we look kooky to you?” Looking around the tiny tearooms, there is a table with eight grey-haired grannies sipping tea and our trio of middle aged females waiting at a circular table, covered with a good imitation lace plastic tablecloth.
“No! No, you don’t.” I stammer.
Certainly Dolls on the Mount is a unique experience for an afternoon tea in Melbourne, but ‘quaint’ may be a better description. The waitress turns out to be Vivienne Dodd a maker of dolls and creator of some of the best baking to be tasted in Melbourne.
Take a train to Heidelberg and stroll up toward the residential end of Mount Street. Half way up the street there is an old Edwardian villa with a sign stating that this is a doll’s museum. Lace covers the dark windows and a second reading of the sign, explains that afternoon tea is available.
The woman in the long apron answers a knock on the door. As the door opens, it reveals a house frozen in a bygone era. The parlour is set up for afternoon tea guests and as ‘newbies’ to the house, you are ushered into a side room. This is where the museum is housed. One room, with a large dining table in the middle is crammed with dolls from yesteryear. Plenty of porcelain ladies and here a number of retired Noddys and Alice-in-wonderland figurines have found refuge from the modern world.
Saturdays are often noisy affairs with a dozen young children who have come to dress in the costumes crammed into boxes in this room. The birthday girl is dressed as the Queen and seated on her ‘throne’ she entertains her guests dressed in an assortment of characters from sailors to old fashioned ladies.
The house has been home to Vivienne and her mother and has operated as a tea rooms and doll museum for five years. The front rooms were redeveloped to include the dining area. Many locals have learned the art of doll making here and can bring dolls for appraisal or to be mended. There is no need to advertise as people who come invariably return with friends. Today it can be important to book in advance, especially for weekends.
A few minutes browsing in the museum and ruing of days when dolls were closer to true human body proportions and sighs of relief that this house hasn’t quite caught up to Barbie and we are back in the parlour.
The menu includes a high tea, or traditional pastries or sandwiches. You can choose the ‘fat rascal fruit scones and Devonshire tea for $8.50. We go for the Devonshire tea. It takes a few minutes and we are correct in our suspicions as we bite into the scones that this small delay is because they have been freshly baked just for us. They are set at the table with an accompanying mountain of whipped cream and fruity jam.
The tea arrives and each of us has ordered a pot. Each pot has an individual tea cosy adorned with a porcelain doll torso and head. My two companions get delicate slim ladies that uncannily resemble my companions. My teapot arrives and the doll is a chubby blonde dowager with rosy cheeks. The table of eight turns and evaluates and laughs.
Dolls on the Mount, a must for girls. A brave man may enter.
