It began as a gag gift.
Chen Reichert created a stuffed George Washington doll to give to her father-in-law Dean Malissa, who happens to be the official portrayer of our nation's first president at the Mount Vernon estate in Virginia.
Soon after, the staff at Mount Vernon put in an order for more dolls -- 150 more. That order spawned a business -- Late Greats: Stuffy Historical Figures.
Reichert -- a vendor at Saturday's Pop Shop -- makes the dolls by hand at her home studio in New Haven. She's been selling them for about five months.
Her repertoire of huggable, prominent people of history include Martha Washington, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Pablo Picasso, Harriet Tubman, William Shakespeare, and more.
Coco Chanel, Frida Kahlo, and Nikola Tesla are all bestsellers (in addition to Washington, the one that started it all), Reichert said.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
