A doll is a model of a human being.
and that was it. I was stuck.
As I thought about this blog, I wondered what I could possibly write about dolls. So I searched and searched from the stories of the internet, through books and magazines, and also other doll owner’s stories. I didn’t want a description of my dolls, or list after list of dolls and their manufacturers. What I was looking for was interesting facts or blurbs that aren’t commonly heard. I wanted experiences and looking I might have found a few hidden undiscovered accounts for my doll blog.
For instance, one of our most well known inventors, Thomas Edison, the one who invented the light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera also created a doll. In 1890, Thomas Edison found a way to record sound and brought that technology to dolls. They could say things like “as they lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep,” as part of the 3 fun phrases.
The kids found them so scary they were discontinued only after 6 weeks of production.
I loved my Chatty Cathy as a kid. I carried her around and dressed her in her pink pinstriped dress. I brushed her hair over and over. She could talk when you pulled her neck string.
As the years went by, her voice got scratchy and words were garbled until she sounded like nails on a chalkboard. As I sit here now, I have no idea what became of her, but I was never scared of her.
I am sitting here on my bed casually glancing at “Rosemary.” An early 1900 doll of my mothers. Now standing by my bedroom door in her new wig and purple dress my daughter once wore. She is held up by a metal doll stand and is approximately 22″ tall. She hasn’t moved but I keep glancing, you know out of the corner of your eye you know you see something? This would make a great late night horror movie at 3am. As I sit here and write two or three more sentence I realize her arms had fallen off a few weeks ago. She’s old and her strings are rotted and she’s not what she used to be. I haven’t spent the time to reattached her arms. Silly, silly me, she couldn’t kill me, she couldn’t choke me-not without any arms!
Has anyone seen a Daruma doll? It is a hollow round Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Sen sect of Buddhism. These dolls are typically red and depicting a bearded man are rich in symbolism and are seen as a talisman of good luck.
A while ago, my grandson was playing with a large man. The toy wasn’t working and needed juice – batteries. Granny (me) naturally went to her full jar stashed with new batteries to fix said man. This man was not a talisman of luck but he was red with slits for eyes and a protector of mankind – he was Ironman! (Music ensues.)
My grandson was in fear as Ironman powered back alive to shoot the dog and put fire in a stack of magazines on the floor. My grandson watches Ironman out of the corner of his eye. Now that he is older, he isn’t scared of Ironman anymore. He realizes it’s a toy now, so it’s not as creepy as he seemed. What creeps you out?