ABOUT SENITT

The following text is adapted from promotional materials provided by Senitt to the Bag Lady (article published in "SummerTimes," August 28, 1998)

Daniel Day-Lewis snapped one up while filming The Boxer in New York, British Prime Minister Tony Blaire's wife Cherie bought two, Susan Sarandon has three and Cassie, the little girl on The Young and the Restless favors hers for toting toys around Nick and Sharon's ranch. These are animal handbags from Senitt Dolls and Puppets of Carnarvon, Ontario, Canada.

The good people at Senitt have spent the past 20 years carving a niche for themselves making beautiful handmade dolls and puppets (the doll has recently been discontinued.) They branched out into the animal bag market in the past few years and have had great success with their cute, but stylish satchels. Their products can be found in a number of upscale mail order catalogues, as well as fashionable boutiques like Chimera in New York and Gumps in San Francisco."

The bags are all made by hand at the Senitt workshop/home just outside of Carnarvon. And considering the popularity of their goods, this means a lot of work for the five friends and family members who make up the board of directors, designers, marketers, shippers/receivers and factory hands of Senitt Dolls and Puppets. "We all have different jobs with the company, but we all know how to sew though some are more adept than others," says Renshaw who, besides toiling with needle and thread, is the company's bookkeeper. On a good day, if all the materials are precut, each person can crank out around five puppets or bags. "We just put on a selection from our library of books on tape and start sewing," says Renshaw, who recently finished listening to a medieval mystery.

Senitt dolls and puppets is the brainchild of Cathy Senitt, a talented painter. In 1978, Cathy designed a few puppets to entertain her young children. The puppets were such a big hit she decided to try selling a few out of a gallery that was selling her paintings. The puppets started selling as fast as she could make them so she enlisted the help of her friend Bailey and her husband Kaari.

The three friends, later joined by Kaari's sisters Haansu and Maarit, started cranking out puppets for sale throughout Canada. "The early years were a lot of work for us because we spent the winter months traveling from craft show to craft show all over the country and then we'd spend the rest of the year feverishly making puppets to fill orders," says Renshaw. To further complicate operations, half of the members lived in New Brunswick with the other half traveling the craft show circuit and living in Ontario.

"We would buy materials in Ontario, cut the patterns and then send everything to the Maritimes where the products were finished," says Renshaw. After a few years of this, it was agreed that everyone should move to a central location to make communication, manufacturing and sales a little easier. Everyone had lived off and on in Toronto and didn't want to return so they agreed on a more peaceful locale in Cottage Country. With their meager savings they found a 350 acre spread on a former farm outside of Carnarvon and set up show and housekeeping. Senitt Dolls and Puppets has been there ever since.

Within the past twenty years Senitt's operation has grown to include five friends and family members who make up the board of directors, designers, marketers, shippers/receivers and factory hands of Senitt Dolls and Puppets. "We all have different jobs with the company, but we all know how to sew though some are more adept than others," says Renshaw, who besides toiling with needle and thread is the company's bookkeeper. On a good day, if all materials are precut, each person can crank out around five puppets or bags.

To the "Senitt Five" the Bag Lady says, "Keep on crankin' and keep on growin'!"

The people at Senitt no longer travel around Canada hawking their wares, although they still go to one big trade show in Toronto every year. Today they are primarily interested in expanding their market in the United States.

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