Santa’s Not The Only One Who Has A Busy Workshop

To the outside world, it’s just another modest white house on East Wellesley.

Neighbors think it’s quiet inside. They think Ruth and Curt Bolser are retired - and relaxing.

They’re wrong.

Deep in the Bolsers’ basement - filled with the smell of pine boards and pipe smoke - there’s a thriving workshop. It hums with the sound of drills, sanders and saws. And each year, it produces nearly 1,000 pieces of handmade doll furniture.

“We don’t advertise,” said Ruth Bolser, whose creations have been shipped as far as Germany and Israel. She calls the business Grandpa’s and Grandma’s Workshop, but she’s never had a sign. Her “catalog” consists of three pages of photocopied pictures, with handwritten descriptions.

Still, this hobby-turned-small business is thriving.

“After I quit work, I had to have something to do,” said Ruth Bolser, a grandmother of seven and great-grandmother of three.

She retired 20 years ago, and began making children’s clothes as a hobby. Her husband retired a few years later, and started making wooden toys.

“That didn’t go,” said the former sewing machine operator.

Luckily, a friend at a craft show had an idea for the Valley couple. Sue Murphy, a porcelain doll maker in Post Falls, suggested they try doll furniture.

“People are so tired of the plastic stuff,” said Bolser, whose collection now includes high chairs, rocking chairs, porch swings and strollers. The Bolsers also make unfinished pine cradles, bunk beds and scooters. One of their newest creations is a doll wheelchair. Parents sometimes buy it to make an injured child feel less “different,” Bolser said.

Curt Bolser designed many of the pieces himself. He spends hours in the small basement shop, contentedly grinding and sanding while he puffs on his pipe and listens to soft music.

His wife is the saleswoman, the one who encourages youngsters to try out the furniture with her own Cabbage Patch dolls.

“Let the children play with them,” she said. “My dolls are the best-loved dolls.”

The Bolsers sell their furniture at craft shows and by word-of-mouth. They also have a small display at McCoy’s Craft Village on East Sprague.

At first, they traveled all over the state to show their creations. Now, they do just five shows a year, and still get enough business to work 30-40 hours a week.

Most of the furniture will fit dolls up to 19” tall. This includes the popular American Girl dolls. Some pieces are large enough - and sturdy enough - for a young child, Bolser said.

They also sell to doll collectors, stuffed animal collectors and others who use the furniture in displays. Their offerings change year to year, depending upon what’s popular and what their customers are requesting.

With Christmas over, Grandpa’s and Grandma’s Workshop is especially active. The Bolsers are building up their inventory and preparing for their first show of the year, Custer’s Antique and Craft Show, which runs March 6-8 at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds.

They’ll spend the next few months sawing, sanding and listening to soft music.

“It’s surprising how many of our neighbors don’t even know,” Bolser said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo