When the Leeward Community College library was putting up a display for Women’s History Month, a librarian contacted professor Jayne Bopp to see whether she had any posters to add to the visual appeal. Bopp told the librarian, “Well, I have these heads …”

Bopp, a 52-year-old professor of sociology and women’s studies, has a nearly complete collection of vintage Marwal busts. The chalkware pieces were made by the Marwal company of Miami from the 1940s to the 1960s and depict people of various cultures.

Unlike other chalkware figures of that era, the Marwal pieces are more realistic than kitschy, stately rather than cheesy. The Marwal hula girl with a hibiscus in her hair is something of a classic piece of 1940s Hawaiiana. Even though the pieces were made using molds, they were hand-painted by different artists, so each Marwal hula girl looks a little different.

Bopp started collecting 10 years ago but traces her love of the pieces to a little shop called Summer’s Place that used to be in Ala Moana Center. Her best friend’s parents owned that store, and among the merchandise were some collectibles, including Marwal pieces.

She has purchased most of her items online and has also picked up vintage pieces from other companies that made similar figurines during that era, including Lego of Japan and Alexander Backer. Each head can cost between $50 and $100 depending on the condition of the chalkware, which is molded plaster of Paris and thus prone to chipping. In antique stores that cater to tourists, the pieces can sell for closer to $250. Bopp likes to hunt for bargains and won’t buy a piece that expensive.

“I love them and I collect them and I covet them, but I don’t have too much attachment,” she said.

Bopp served in the Peace Corps in Mauritania in Africa. She has an affinity for the Bedouin figures in the collection because they remind her of people she met during that year.

But one of her favorite pieces is one that looks like a younger version of the Leeward Community College chancellor, Manny Cabral.

“Right?” she says, calling up a Web page with the chancellor’s photo and comparing it to the chalkware head. Yup. There’s a definite resemblance.

Her husband thinks they’re creepy, so she keeps the pieces in her office. They work well with the courses she teaches. “Sociology is the study of culture and societies, and they represent cultures and societies,” Bopp said.

Students who come to see her during office hours notice the collection on the shelf. The most common comment is, “So … what’s up with the heads?”