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REPORTER: SANDRA JAMES GOT THESE INCREDIBLE DOLLS WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL. THEY WERE LIKELY HANDMADE BY A TUBERCULOSIS PATIENT IN ALBUQUERQUE. SANDRA LOVED THEM UNTIL SHE GOT OLDER, AND PUT THEM IN A BOX OR THEY STAYED IN STILL — UNTIL NOW. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS PHOTO. IT’S OF THEN 7-YEAR-OLD SANDRA JAMES HOLDING HER HAND MADE NATIVE AMERICAN DOLLS. HER PARENTS BOUGHT THE DOLLS AT THE ALBUQUERQUE INDIAN TUBERCULOSIS SANATORIUM. IT’S A DAY SANDRA STILL REMEMBER >> THEY WERE VERY SPECIAL WHEN MY PARENTS BOUGHT THEM IN 1947 REPORTER: THE DOLLS ARE SPECTACULAR. THESE DOLLS ARE ALL HAND STITCHED. THEY ARE ENTIRELY FABRIC. YOU CAN SEE THE TINY STITCHING. THE JEWELRY IS HANDMADE. REPORTER: SANDRA LOVED THEM. SHE KEPT THEM IN HER ROOM UNTIL SHE WAS 18. THEN TUCKED THEM AWAY IN A BOX. THIS FALL SANDRA’S DAUGHTER MELISSA DID SOME WORK AROUND HER MOM’S HOUSE. >> WE HAVE BEEN CLEANING OUT THE HOUSE FOR A WHILE, MOVING THINGS AROUND AND REFRESHING A FEW THINGS AROUND THE HOUSE. IT IS LIKE A TREASURE HUNT. REPORTER: SHE OPENED A BOX AND FOUND THEM. THE DOLLS STILL IN AMAZING CONDITION. >> THE FACIAL FEATURES ARE A HAND STITCHED, EMBROIDERED ONTO THE FACES. THERE IS NOTHING PAINTED OR STUCK ON. THE NECKLACES MOVE, THE BEADS ON THEM. REPORTER: MELISSA’S BOYFRIEND WANTED TO RECREATE THE PHOTO OF SANDRA’S MOM HOLDING THE DOLLS WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL. HE DID. RIGHT DOWN TO THE NECKLA PSANDRA WAS WEARING WHEN SHE WAS 7-YEARS-OLD. >> I FOUND IT. I KNEW WHERE IT WAS. SHE IS WEARING THE THUNDERBIRD NECKLACE FROM THE ORIGINAL PICTURE AS WELL. REPORTER: MELISSA SAYS THE DOLLS WILL STAY IN THE FAMILY. SHE SAYS SHE’LL PUT THEM SHADOW BOX WHERE THEY CAN BE VIEWED ALONG WITH THE PHOTO OF SANDRA THEN AND NOW. NANCY LAFLIN KOA

Love, history, handmade Native American dolls found after years in a box

Dolls likely made by tuberculosis patient decades ago

Sandra James got these incredible, handmade dolls when she was a little girl, likely made by a patient at a tuberculosis hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico.Sandra loved them. As she got older, she put them in a box where they stayed — until now. Her parents bought the dolls at the Albuquerque Indian Tuberculosis Sanatorium when Sandra was just 7. It’s a day she still remembers. “They were very special when my parents bought them in 1947,” she said.The dolls are spectacular. Each hand made. Sandra kept them in her room until she was 18, then she put them in a box. Recently, her daughter Melissa was cleaning the house when she found the dolls. They are still in amazing condition.”The facial features are all hand-stitched embroidered on their faces as well so there’s nothing painted or stuck on. The little necklaces move with beads on them,” Sandra’s daughter, Melissa, said. Melissa’s boyfriend wanted to recreate the photo of Sandra’s mom, holding the dolls when she was a little girl. He did, right down to the necklace Sandra was wearing when she was 7 years old.”I found it, I knew where it was so she’s wearing the Thunderbird necklace from the original picture as well,” Melissa said. The family will keep the dolls and pass them down from generation to generation.

Sandra James got these incredible, handmade dolls when she was a little girl, likely made by a patient at a tuberculosis hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Sandra loved them. As she got older, she put them in a box where they stayed — until now.

Her parents bought the dolls at the Albuquerque Indian Tuberculosis Sanatorium when Sandra was just 7. It’s a day she still remembers.

“They were very special when my parents bought them in 1947,” she said.

The dolls are spectacular. Each hand made. Sandra kept them in her room until she was 18, then she put them in a box. Recently, her daughter Melissa was cleaning the house when she found the dolls. They are still in amazing condition.

“The facial features are all hand-stitched embroidered on their faces as well so there’s nothing painted or stuck on. The little necklaces move with beads on them,” Sandra’s daughter, Melissa, said.

Melissa’s boyfriend wanted to recreate the photo of Sandra’s mom, holding the dolls when she was a little girl. He did, right down to the necklace Sandra was wearing when she was 7 years old.

“I found it, I knew where it was so she’s wearing the Thunderbird necklace from the original picture as well,” Melissa said.

The family will keep the dolls and pass them down from generation to generation.