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Often when children gathered around her, Anne Carroll Moore reached into her handbag and pulled out a small wooden doll named Nicholas Knickerbocker.  The children loved hearing about Nicholas’s adventures. He seemed so real that they wondered if he came alive at night. When Miss Moore planned a party for them, she would say, “Oh, that was Nicholas’s idea.” Famous writers and artists wrote Nicholas letters and sent him tiny gifts—a gold Easter egg from Russia, a crystal heart, and a miniature tool chest with a wrench that really worked. Nicholas even had his own stationery. Anne Carroll Moore wrote two children’s books about Nicholas’s adventures.

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​Special thanks to Anne Carroll Darger for making Nicholas's treasures available.

Photos by Cristy Powell.

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