European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 9, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Mary Kay Cox in filling orders for word Mouth mouse business of mice mama by Mary Hladky staff writer Mary Kay Cox has built a bet Ter and it Hast taken Long for people to find the path to her in mice Are re producing As fast As mice in her workroom in Schwedel As she scrambles to keep up with orders for the intricate Little Cox makes mice for that can hang from a she makes them for she makes specially mice to commemorate a or almost anything else that suits the buyers mice in workshop waiting to be dressed by there Are people who flip Over she i think it is be cause they Are so Small and have so much de they seem to have a Mother of three and wife of Randy Cox of Safe Headquarters at Ramstein makes the mice in a workroom filled with stacks of Rolls of ribbon and and spools of a sew ing machine perches on a their soft bodies Are crafted out of pol fill covered with Gray Pink Felt pieces adorn the beads create the eyes and thick Black thread stands out As photos by Gus Schuettler that is the Basic but they Are special be cause of the costumes Cox creates for a mouse Clown costume includes Bright polka Dot and quilt ornamented with White fluff Ball but the Clown has Bright red a Green red Collar and Green and holds a Bunch of multicoloured theres an Angel a Bride and Valen Tine mice and Kitchen Cowboy and nurse a Santa mouse comes Complete with a list of Good Little boys and girls and a bag of a Mother mouse cradles her baby in an Acorn and an easter mouse is dressed in a Blue checked Gingham dress and Pink lace carrying a Straw Basket filled with easter there Are Many Cox has made patterns for More than 50 she has tried other but has stuck with mice or her Long term each comes with a card that oids merry mice by Mary i have no mouse she it just happened although she has been making the mice since Jox never tires of the i guess that is Why i stay with she when i tart to dress that the fun if i can come up a design and make something Coxs mice sell for Between and de hindi Rig on the complexity of the i but she Doest know How much time she spends making them since she steals minutes Between running Iris household and raising children to Retreat to her and Cut and i if i really knew How Long it takes me to make a i dont think i would do she j Cox burrowed into the idea of mouse making Evhen she saw a cute one used As a Kitchen ornament n a at Offutt fab in she made one like she crafted a few More easter people liked by word of she soon had b mouse business they sell she i have More peo ple Call her first major order came from a shop in California which requested that was a big she i never thought i could get them i think in terms of Hun when her husband was transferred to san she sold in two boutiques and she set up shop near Ramstein a when her husband was transferred there last the mice dont look anything like the one she saw in her friends Kitchen or the ones she first it has she i kept changing them till i got them just like i although her mice have sold in she prefers Selling at officer wives club bazaars and similar that she you see Peoples re action to when you sell them to a you just get a Cox will be Selling the mice at the own welfare Bazaar on 1215 at Ramstein she also accepts mail orders at Box Apo doll maker Sandra bake finn spends months perfecting a Page 14 the stars and stripes photo by Patrick Jackson by Laura Brown staff writer meet the Punk Black leather Funky Sta shaped she likes to Shock and she jumps from never mind that Syma stands about two feet tall and is made of Sandra the dolls creator in says she has human Shes very finn finn makes and Sells some stereotypes like some portraits of but she Sylvia is deeply she has Faith that she will get through any dangerous situation she is finn a professional makes the dolls at her Home in this Community near Frankfurt where she lives with her who runs Monte Carlo nights for american military it takes so Long to make the dolls that you cant help but develop an Affinity for says who spends sometimes months perfecting each she produces Only 13 each once you live with them for its hard to give them who holds a Bachelor of arts degree in painting and graphics from Virginia Commonwealth began making the dote four years the first a screaming was a creative Insp something she just decided to make As a gift for a other hanging on Walls about her living living include stereotypes of a an arro Gant Man and an a transvestite wears fal sies under Black lace underwear and has curlers in his a cafe the stereotype of a Classy Berlin carries a suede purse and wears Pearl earrings and a fur finn charges 700 German Marks about for stereotype Marks for portrait expensive clothing material can add to the Joe who received a portrait doll As a attests to the likeness of Little Joe to his it was very Well thought he pointing out the Down to the same Type of jockey shorts and thumbs that dont curve from knuckle to Hes developing a says Karen Baribeault As time goes you get More used to him being its one of those strange Little you sometimes expect him to get up and walk a doll begins As a papier mache head wrapped around two crossed wooden finn bakes this in the the arms and hands Are folded from a material that has characteristics of plastic and the formed Limo is also finn creates stereotype dolls from her for portrait she holds three hour Long Conversa Tion sessions with learning their hobbies and interests to better capture their personality in the she holds the Clay As they creating a facial Mary Kay Cox gives her mice character by dressing them in handcrafted Cox Sells her creations at officer wives club bazaars and similar photo by Patrick Jackson Joe Baribeault and hit Joe Boston caricature if a portrait doll is a Surprise finn makes one from a photograph of the finn fashions body and legs from Pink stuffing the casings with scraps of using acrylic she adds detail to the arms and she crochets yarn for a a Friend sews the when the dolls stand two to three feet High and come with a certificate of i cant make them twice because they Are different from moment to finn on the dolls have been mistaken for the real like the time a Friend took a doll on a plane and the stewardess served it a theres the doll that accompanies its owner on car trips in the Pas Senger restrained by the Seatbelt and receives second glances from in an and i leave it the doll in my studio to keep my seat says Susan Joyce who received a portrait doll As a birthday its an Exten Sion of my i sort of like the idea that she stays there and watches the finn says she would like to produce More but exhibiting her photography and starting other artistic endeavours keep her from doing the few orders she receives from friends and friends of friends Are sufficient for Art for me is a growth and she it could be ill never Stop making or it could be ill Stop making them if in finished with the if just know the stars and stripes Page 15