Mike Bakarich sat in his chair and surveyed the collection of dolls surrounding him in the front of the museum on Washington Street that his wife Carolyn operated for 28 years.
“At one time they were all at home,” he said. “They were in all the rooms. I told her to do something so I could have a place to sit.”
That something was Yesterday’s Children Antique Doll & Toy Museum at 1104 Washington St. that Carolyn Bakarich opened in 1986. The museum displayed more than 1,000 dolls, including an extensive collection of rare late-Victorian era dolls from famous dollmakers such as Simon & Halbig of Germany and Jumeau of France. The museum was a “must-stop” site for many visitors to the city’s downtown.
But the museum’s future is now uncertain following Carolyn Bakarich’s death Oct. 23 in LaGrange, Ga., where she was staying with one of the couple’s sons. She died from complications from a fall she suffered in 2013, family members said.
“We’re taking it one step at a time,” said Mike Bakarich, 86, a retired brigadier general. “One day at a time.”
Carolyn Bakarich, who was 87, opened the museum after the couple moved to Vicksburg so Mike Bakarich could take a job at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Claiborne County. When she opened the museum in 1986, it was in a building on Washington Street south of its present location.

“She came to this building in 1987,” Mike Bakarich said. “She was a collector. My son-in-law said if she lived in the Sahara desert, her yard would have more sand than anyone else’s.”

Mike Bakarich said his wife opened the museum “because she wanted to share her collection with the public. She wanted other people to enjoy it. Women would come in, and they would talk about the dolls. She knew the histories of the dolls and would love to talk with people about them.”
Besides dolls, the museum, featured collection of boys’ toys, including G.I. Joes and an extensive toy car collection.
The number of visitors, he said, varied according to the season.
“Sometimes when the American Queen visited here, it would be people from the boat,” he said. “We had more visitors in summer and spring than in the fall.”
The museum’s situation has some people familiar with its history concerned about its future.
“I hope it will stay,” said Laura Weeks, the owner of Loreli Books, which is across the street from the museum. “It was here before we came. It’s been such a fixture. I can only hope they get a plan to keep it. I would like to see it go on.”
Bakarich said the family would like to find a way to keep the museum open.
He said, however, their children now live in different areas of the country, and make periodic trips to Vicksburg.
“I’m not sure if any of them feel they are ready to take over the museum,” he said.
And news about the museum’s situation has spread.
Since his wife’s death, he said, several auction houses have called expressing interest in the dolls. He added that one local resident has called about taking over the museum, but declined to give the person’s name.
“Whatever we do,” he said, “we will work with the city. I feel we owe that to them. They have been very good to us, putting the museum on their website and advertising us.”
“We’re heartbroken at the loss of Miss B,” said Bill Seratt, executive director of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau. “She had a beautiful collection and the museum was so much a part of the city’s downtown. I hope the family can do something to keep it here, because we want the museum to stay in Vicksburg.”
Lamar Roberts, owner of the Old Depot Museum, called the doll museum “a good museum. I hope they keep the collection and keep it going.
“If it is possible, I’d like to see if I can help them so we can keep the museum here. It’s an asset to the community and a different attraction from the other things we have here, and Vicksburg needs attractions.”