The Ursula Luhr Collection

Unfortunately, I was unable to meet Ursula Luhr while she was still alive. As I learned, she was the wife of a very successful professional, of whom she was extremely proud, and after his death, she lived a secluded life.

A collection amassed over decades certainly says a lot about the person who put it together, but it doesn’t yet paint a concrete picture. While going through her treasures, I came across a box of old photos and newspaper clippings among all the toys, which allowed me to trace a significant period of her life story. Some of the photos were torn; the rest were neatly organized. Since Ms. Luhr had pre-sorted the photos and must have assumed that they would be found by the person who, in accordance with her wishes, would make her collection accessible to the public, I am almost certain that it is in her spirit to also post some of the found images online. Furthermore, this aligns with my own personal collecting philosophy: to see not only the companies and years of manufacture behind toys, but also the people who played with them or, as in this case, collected them.

The following photos, taken in the 1960s, come from a portfolio she used to present herself as a mannequin and photo model. Later, according to a detailed newspaper article that sheds light on her career, she worked as an “in-house mannequin and assistant director.”