When her first daughter was born, Fran Williams started an annual Christmas tradition. And 50 years later, it is still going strong, having grown to include a host of other family members — and dolls.
It all began in Charlottesville in 1976. That’s when Wendy was born.
“We were living there at the time because of my husband’s job,” Williams said, “but the plan was always to come back to Virginia Beach at some point.”
Eager to take photos of her baby’s first Christmas, she wanted to establish a sense of continuity in the yearly photos.
“I thought, ‘I need to get an object that I can take with us,’” she said.
A trip to a nearby department store led Williams to purchase a Santa Claus made by New Hampshire-based manufacturer Annalee. The company, which dates back to 1934, is known for its whimsical and joyful collection of characters. The handcrafted wool felt dolls have signature stitched smiles and dot eyes.
“I didn’t know anything about the dolls,” she said. “I just liked it.”
Wendy Williams, now Wendy Frate, with her Annalee Santa doll during Christmas in 1976. She was 5 months old. (Courtesy/Fran Williams)
Photos of Wendy sitting beside and later holding her Annalee doll followed every Christmas.
The family moved back to Virginia Beach in 1980, and when her second daughter, Lisa, was born in 1983, Williams bought the matching Annalee Mrs. Claus for her.
And each year, even after they went away to college and their tastes in clothing and hairstyles changed, Wendy and Lisa posed side by side with their dolls.
“There would be some points when they’d ask if they had to get their pictures taken,” Williams said with a chuckle.
The tradition expanded as the family grew.
In 1998, when Wendy got engaged to Dave Frate, he spent his first Christmas Eve with the family and opened his present: an Annalee elf.
“I told him, ‘You made it! Mom bought you an Annalee doll!” Wendy said.
Frate, aware of its meaning, had said he always wanted an elf doll. “It made me an official part of the family.”
Wendy Williams, Dave Frate and Lisa Williams, Christmas 1999. Dave, Wendy’s husband, received his Annalee elf in 1998 when he joined the family. (Courtesy/Fran Williams)
As Wendy and Dave Frate’s children — Jacqueline, 21; Kaitlin, 19; Logan, 17; and Mason, 14 — were born, they too got their own Annalee dolls from grandma, or Ga as they call her. She said she hopes they will continue the tradition or start a new one with their children and grandchildren.
Even the Frates’ dog, Luna, a goldendoodle, has her own Annalee snow dog sledding on a shovel. And Lisa’s cat, Eeshe, has a tiny Yuletide Annalee cat doll. (The dolls are just for posing. Neither pet gets to chew on these toys.)
Christmas week, the Frate family drove up to Virginia Beach from their home in Huntersville, North Carolina, to gather and celebrate the holiday. Carefully tucked inside a sack in their car were their Annalee dolls, ready for their yearly appearance.
“It’s very special and sweet for our family,” Jacqueline, a pre-pharmacy major at High Point University, said while clutching her mouse. “I love how happy it makes Ga.”
The two boys are known for putting their dolls on their heads for picture-taking time. Logan’s is a bendable long-legged elf and Mason’s is an elephant. Kaitlin, a sophomore at Wake Forest University, said she doesn’t mess with her reindeer doll as much as Logan contorts his.
Mason, an eighth grader, said he looks forward to the photo shoot every year.
“I roll with it,” agreed older brother Logan, a high school junior. “Ga loves it, so we love it.”
Wendy glanced down at her half-century doll and realized that she, too, was soon-to-be 50 years old.
Left to right: Lisa Williams, Mason Frate, Logan Frate, Jacqueline Frate, Fran Williams, Kaitlin Frate, Wendy Frate and Dave Frate hold their Annalee dolls, Christmas 2024 in Virginia Beach. (Courtesy/Fran Williams)
About 11 years ago, the tradition was nearly disrupted when a Christmas bin filled with Annalee dolls was accidentally left behind in the basement of the Frates’ former house in Iowa.
“The movers left the box,” Wendy Frate said. “And for the longest time, we didn’t realize they were lost.”
That year, Jacqueline drew pictures of everyone’s Annalee doll and photos were taken with her artwork. Fortunately, the missing dolls were found and returned to the family.
“I would have been disowned forever,” Wendy Frate joked.
The tradition came full circle in 2012 when Wendy bought her mom her very own Annalee doll: a kangaroo with a joey in its pouch.
That leaves Fran’s husband of 54 years, Jim Williams, as the only one without an Annalee doll to call his own. But as he was surrounded by his loving family for this year’s photo at The Founders Inn and Spa on Sunday, the patriarch, with a twinkle in his eye, said he doesn’t feel the least left out.
Wendy Frate, Jim Williams and Lisa Williams, Christmas 2003. (Courtesy/Fran Williams)
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@pilotonline.com
