As the Christmas holiday draws near, some Ford employees may recall – either from personal experience the stories of friends and family – the annual Christmas Fantasy display at the Rotunda building that fascinated more than 600,000 visitors each year. 

For several years, the display featured thousands of dolls dressed in clothes – some of which were hand-made – by members of the Ford Motor Company Girls’ Club. The dolls were later donated to the Detroit Goodfellows organization, which distributed them to underprivileged children.

The dolls were dressed as one of several types of outfits, including nurses, astronauts, ballerinas and ice skaters. Their designers, Ford employees and their family members, had many materials to choose from, such as cotton, satin and lace. Some of the women also knit and crocheted dresses using wool and angora. Prizes were even given by Ford and the Goodfellows for specific categories.

Following its inception in 1946, the club began with just 65 dolls. Their output quickly gained steam and notoriety, with their production peaking at 3,000 dresses by the late 1960s. In all, the club dressed more than 75,000 dolls for the Detroit Goodfellows through at least 1972, when the club dressed 2,000 dolls.

The effort actually predates the Christmas Fantasy. It was incorporated into the event in 1954 and continued after the 1962 fire that destroyed the Rotunda and subsequently ended Christmas Fantasy. The dolls were also displayed in other various Ford building lobbies and offices, including what is now World Headquarters, as well as the storefront window of the Virginia Dare store in Dearborn and the Detroit Times lobby.