There's Something Very Endearing About Wishbone Dolls

Image Courtesy of Ebay by abclovell

Before doing my research for faceless dolls I would never have thought about making a doll from a turkey or chicken wishbone.  However, knowing the history of the colonial period and the pioneers and using materials on hand I shouldn't be surprised as to wishbones being used to make playthings.

Some of these dolls were faceless, but most had faces.  Even though they didn't fit the criteria for my "faceless" dolls research I was intriqued and had to know more.  Here's what I found:

They were also known as pen wiper dolls that were used about 150 years ago.  In Colonial times people kept them on their desks to wipe away extra ink from their pens.

The wishbone doll shown in the picture above is for sale on Ebay by abclovell and can be found here.

Page 205 of The Doll Book written in 1908 by Laura B. Starr under the Homemade Dolls chapter talks about the merry-thought doll which is made out of wishbones from turkeys, chickens, ducks, and birds - with all the different sizes being perfect for different family members.

According to the chapter, "The merry-thought doll affords no end of pleasure and amusement.  The wishbones from turkeys, chickens, ducks and birds offer various sizes for a large family of these dolls.  The head may be molded of ceiling wax, black, white or colored; here is a chance to show skill and artistic ability.  Again a head may be penciled on the flat surface of a cork and each end of the wishbone thrust into or glued on to the other pieces to give the manikin necessary stability, and make it flat-footed enough to let it stand alone unaided."

"Doll pen wipers are made from a wishbone and dressed like a ballet dancer.  They usually wear a card around the neck upon which is printed the following epitaph:  

One I was a wishbone and grew upon a hen,

Now I am a little slave and made to wipe your pen."

From my research I discovered that most wishbone dolls had cork heads, walnut heads, cloth heads, or wax heads.  Most had faces, but there were some that didn't so I gave some thought to including them in my The History of Faceless Dolls but decided not to.  

So I decided to write this blog post about them - mainly because I find the wishbone dolls so charming.

I'm In Love With Penny Wooden or Peg Wooden Dolls

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia.com

As you all know I absolutely love dolls of all kinds, shapes, and sizes.  However, while doing my research on the "The History of Faceless Dolls" I read an article about Penny Wooden Dolls, like the doll pictured above from Wikipedia.org, and fell in love with them.

According to Wikipedia.org, " Peg wooden dolls also known as Dutch dolls are a type of wooden doll from Germany and the Netherlands. They originated as simple lathe turned dolls from the Val Gardena in the Alps. These dolls were sold undressed. Young girls would then make their clothing from scraps of fabric."

"Other similarly constructed wooden dolls, using a jointing technique where the arms and/or legs are attached to the body with pegs, are some of the oldest surviving dolls, and were made worldwide. Sometimes a peg wooden doll's arms or legs are locked together by the jointing system, so if one arm is moved the other will move. An advanced form of peg joints is where the body pegs are "split" and attached separately allowing independent movement."

I was intrigued by the picture, shown here, and wanted to know more.  So, of course, I had to do some research.  Here's what I found.

Page 146 of the Information Please Girls' Almanac by Alice Siegel said this about Pennywooden Dolls, "These are English dolls carved out of wood.  The joints are moveable and fastened by pegs. These are also know as dancing dolls."

My question was whether Peg Wooden dolls and Penny Wooden dolls were the same thing.  I had to find out.

According to an article on eHow.com entitled Penny Wood Dolls History by Christy P., "Penny wood dolls were known by a variety of names, including peg wooden dolls, penny woodens and wooden poppets. These dolls typically resembled wooden clothespins with simple peg joints."

So now we know they may be called Dutch dolls, peg wooden dolls, penny wooden dolls, pedlar dolls, and tuck comb dolls.

There was a Grodnertal Wooden Peddler Doll that sold for thousands of dollars on the Rubylane.com website.  According to her description she was a spectacular example of a Grodnertal wooden pedlar doll.

There was a Grödnertal Carved Wooden Doll, ca. 1820 on the PBS.org WGBH Roadshow Archives website here.  This doll was appraised at several thousand dollars and was a tuck comb doll due to the little comb on the top of her head.

So now we know they may be called Dutch dolls, peg wooden dolls, penny wooden dolls, pedlar or peddler dolls, tuck comb dolls, Grodnertal Wooden Peddler, and Grodnertal carved wooden dolls.

Image Courtesy of Frills, Frocks and Fancies Blog

The doll pictured above is from a wonderful post on the Dolls from the Attic...Mis Muñecas blog, which I absolutely love,  about Grodner Tal, "Tuck Comb," Peg Wooden Dolls.    This post is filled with information on these dolls as well as a ton of beautiful pictures. If you would like to read this post please click here.

According to this post, "From the home industry of the Groden Valley, Grodner Tal and South Tyrol, came the little peg wooden dolls. These are some of the oldest surviving dolls. Although the term peg-wooden refers to a jointing technique the term came to be synonymous with lathe turned dolls from these areas of the Alps. They were the inexpensive play dolls of generations in both Europe and America."

"Most of the dolls had combs carved into their heads-hence the term Tuck Combs. Their heads and bodies were lathe turned as one piece and had simple peg joints, but the larger dolls had ball joints and even swivel waists. They had elongated graceful proportions, nicely carved details, painted slippers and sometimes with wood pendant earrings."

"The hair is usually painted with curled bangs. Once painted and varnished they were ready for whatever adventures their little owners could conjure up. They are often referred to as German Tuck Combs, probably because they were sold in the German Nuremberg Toy Market, and sometimes incorrectly they are called Dutch dolls but this was a mispronunciation of the word Deutsch."

This was confirmed by a excerpt from the Early North American Dollmaking: A Narrative History and Craft Instructions by Iris Sanderson Jones in 1976 which said, "Long before the American Revolution, Grodner Tal doll salesmen carried great containers of toys and dolls into Italy and Spain.  By the Civil War these dolls were known to English children as "Dutch dolls," probably the same distortion of the word "Deutsch," or "german," which occurred with the "Pennsylvaia Dutch" in the United States."

So, now we know they aren't actually Dutch dolls, but mispronounced Deutsch Dolls.  This means they've been called Dutch aka Deutsch dolls, peg wooden dolls, penny wooden dolls, pedlar or peddler dolls, tuck comb dolls, Grodnertal Wooden Peddler, Grodnertal carved wooden dolls, Grodner Tal dolls, and Grodner Tal peg wood dolls.

According to the Wood Dolls article by By Denise Van Patten, Doll Collecting Expert, on the About.com website, "Dates of Production Of Wood Dolls: As mentioned, wood dolls are known from ancient times. Italian creche figure examples are known as early as the 1500s (very rare) and English wood dolls from the late 1600s and early 1700s are quite rare. English wood dolls are more plentiful from the late 1700s and early 1800s, and German Grodner Tal and Peg Wood dolls are from the 1800s. A cottage industry created peg woodens well into the 20th century, and there are artists today still making wood dolls."

We learn from an exhibit on the Illinois State Museum website that,  "Berechtesgaden, Grödner Tal, Oberammgergau--Peg-wooden Dolls - In several German-speaking areas of central Europe, the making of wooden dolls with peg jointing became an important part of the local economy. Most of these dolls were made in the mountainous area surrounding St. Ulrich, which was part of Austria until World War II, and is now part of Italy. In this area, called the Grödner Tal (Valley), wooden dolls and doll heads were being carved as early as the 1700s. By 1800, about 300 wood carvers in the Grödner Tal were making dolls, and sales agents took their work all over the world. The farm families living in the mountains spent their winters making dolls in a wide range of sizes from local wood, mostly pine. Most of the attention was put into the head, which required the most skill in carving and painting. The peg-jointed wooden bodies allowed for movement of the arms and legs. Peg-wooden dolls were also made in the forests of Thuringia (a northern area of Germany) and in the Berchtesgaden and Oberammergau Tyrolean area. Craftspeople making these dolls were also working in England, America, and China, but the quantities produced could not match those of the Grödner Tal. The Verlagers in Grödner Tal were important middlemen who organized production, purchased dolls from the carvers, stored them, and marketed the dolls for export. By 1873 almost the entire population of the Grödner Tal (3,500) were involved in the doll business, and one Verlager had thirty large showrooms containing millions of dolls."

There is an utterly adorable children's book published in 1895 entitled "The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a 'Golliwogg' by Florence K. Upton" that is visible on the Gutenberg.org website that is so charming you have to read it.  I loved the story and the adorable illustrations.  If you would like to know more about the author, Florence K. Upton please click here.

Image Courtesy of Theriaults.com

The TWO GRODNERTAL WOODEN DOLLS,MOTHER AND SON,WITH ORIGINAL COSTUMES shown above were listed on the Theriaults.com website.  Here's what they had to say about them:

According to their description: "TWO GRODNERTAL WOODEN DOLLS,MOTHER AND SON,WITH ORIGINAL COSTUMES - Lot Number: 78 - 9" (23 cm.) Each is all-wooden with one-piece head and torso,dowel-jointing at shoulders,elbows,hips and knees,the woman with black painted hair decorated with highly- stylized spit curls and tuck comb,elongated throat,and tiny centered painted features; and the boy with short black hair,suggestion of sideburns,painted features. Condition: good,unrestored,costumes are original albeit frail. Comments: Grodnertal,circa 1830,the dolls were featured in Ackerman's Dolls in Miniature. Value Points: both dolls wear their original stylized costumes."

How beautiful are they? Are you in love with penny wooden dolls, too?

Perhaps It's Time I Made An Apple Head Doll - Maybe She'll Have A Victorian Outfit!

Image Courtesy of The National Gallery of Art

According to the Apple-Head Trio illustration shown above from the Dolls from the Index of American Design Collection at The National Gallery of Art: This apple-head trio was designed and made in North Carolina about 1892. Apple-head dolls probably originated with the Iroquois Indians. The expression on the face was produced by pinching the surface of the apple when it began to shrink.

Jane Iverson (artist), American, active c. 1935, Mrs. Almira Smith (object maker), Wenham Historical Society (object owner), American Dolls, c. 1936, watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink on paper, Index of American Design, 1943.8.15576

Viewing this illustration got me to thinking about apple head dolls and their history.  So, of course, I had to do a little research.

While doing my research on the "History of Faceless Dolls" I ran across the Wisconsin Historical Society website that had an amazing collection of 23 apple head dolls, including the beautiful apple head doll shown in the screenshot above.

She is described as, "Applehead doll, woman, black dress, white apron, USA, 1952-1956." I loved all the dolls in the collections and think it is well worth seeing. If you would like to see all 23 of the apple head dolls in their collection please click here.

According to Wikipedia.org, "An apple doll is a North American cultural phenomenon where the doll's head is made from dried apples. The apple is peeled, then carved with the facial features of the doll. Next the apple is left to dry for several days or weeks. When completely dry, the apple is positioned on the top of a wire frame which is shaped into the rest of the doll's body. The rest of the wire frame is covered up by the doll's clothing, which is usually sewn by hand. In modern times, apple dolls are mostly used as decorations or to display craftsmanship, rather than as children's toys. Because of the different effects drying produces, no two dolls are alike."

That latter statement is definitely true and all you have to do is look at the 23 apple head dolls in the Wisconsin collection above to see that no two dolls are alike.

According to the Encyclopedia of American Folk Art, "Unlike corn hisk dolls, which have dual origins in  the European and Native American cultures, nuts and apple dolls were largely indigenous to American soil."

"Americans made the first apple-head dolls.  As pioneers came into contact with various tribes, they began to copy their dolls.  Traders persuaded Native Americans to dress their apple-head dolls in bright costumes with elaborate ornamentation, for sale to tourists. Their apple faces were either carved or pinched in, to create the features before they shrunk as they dried."

The Springfield-Greene County Library District Springfield, Missouri website had a Bittersweet article in 1974, Volume II, No. 2, Winter 1974 by Verna Lucas entitled APPLEHEAD DOLLS.

The White House Doll

Image Courtesy of  Smithsonian National Museum of American History

In doing my research for the "The History of Faceless Dolls" I ran across several articles regarding a historical doll named "Sally" (shown in the picture above from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History) that is now in the Smithsonian and was otherwise known as "The White House Doll."  She was described as a rag doll, but from the picture above you'd think she was a china head doll.  So, of course I was intrigued and had to find out more.

According to the "Creating A Private Life" section of "Life and Death In The White House" this doll was made around 1829 for Mary Louisa Adams, granddaughter of John Quincy Adams.

  

According to Child Life in Colonial Days, Volume 1 By Alice Morse Earle - Published 1909, "The White House doll spent the days of her youth in the White House  at Washington, with the children of the president, John Quincy Adams and is still cherished by his descendants."

Section VI of  Our Early Presidents, Their Wives and Children: From Washington to Jackson By Harriet Taylor Upton published in 1890 contains a section about the family of John Quincy Adams and his grandchildren, including Mary Louisa Adams, shown in the picture below from a painting owned by her husband, W. C. Johnson, Esq., Newburyport, Mass.

The Molly Brinkerhoff Doll - Buried With A Family's Cherished Possession During The Revolutionary War

When I was doing my "History of Faceless Dolls" research I ran across another doll that I was intriqued with and wanted to know more.  She was also around in the colonial times and had an amazing history. It seems she was loved so much she was buried in a chest by her owners with other cherished possessions when the British invaded Long Island and then dug up later when the war was over.

Can you imagine loving a doll so much you want to safeguard her during a war? I certainly can.

While she wasn't pertinent to my research on "faceless" dolls I just had to know more. While there wasn't a lot of information on her there was some. Here's what I found.

The Chicago Tribune in 1948 had an article in their Books Alive column by Vincent Starrett that was reviewing a book "The Dolls of Yesterday" by Eleanor St. George (Scribner).

In their article they mentioned the Molly Brinkerhoff doll and said:  "YOU will not find the name of Molly Brinkerhoff in American history, and that is a pity, for she was a heroine of the Revolutionary War who merits our sympathy and respect. One of the oldest rag dolls in the United States, she has come down the years in fair condition, all things considered, and now lives in Vermont - aged perhaps 175 years - with her present owner, Mrs. Richard G. Miller of White River Junction."

"Molly is mother made of  old homespun linen stuffed with flax. Her hair and features are embroidered.  One arm now is missing, and her clothing has long since vanished: but with care she may last another century or two and survive seven more wars."

"Her adventures have already been notable.  Certain colonial Brinkerhoff kids loved her and wept to leave her when the British army swept toward their Long Island home. They hid her in a chest, with other treasures, and buried her in the sands of Long Island, then fled with their parents before the tide of war. Later, when the war was over, she was resurrected and restored to her adoring family."

"After her mother's death, Mrs. Miller -a direct descendant of two colonial famiies - found Molly in her attic, together with a plaque that had accompanied her to some fund-raising fair in Civil War times.  The plaque reads:"

Molly Brinkerhoff

I am not made of dust or wax,

But homespun linen stuffed with flax,

No human being treads the earth

That was alive at Molly's birth.

Many scores have I, old Molly,

Kept the Brinkerhoff children jolly.

During the war of '76

I ofken chest deep in the sand

I was buried on Long Island strand.

There safe from British and Tories I lay

Til the last of the redcoats skedaddled away.

"There is no signature, but the poet is obviously Molly herself, writing perhaps on her hudreth birthday.  The note of quiet authority is unmistakable."

In the book  "Cloth Dolls From Ancient to Modern - A Collector's Guide With Values by Linda Edward" there is a mention of the Molly Brinkerhoff doll on page 8 that said, "A Revolutionary America period doll known as Molly Brinkerhoff was oened by the Brinkerhoff children. She is 25 inches (63.5cm) tall and made of linen stuffed with flax. Her hair and features are neatly embroidered. She was held in such hig esteem by her owners that when the British troops advanced on Long Island, New York, she was buried in a chest on the Long Island Strand along with the other family valuables to protect her from the "Redcoats and torries." When the family returned home after the wa she was dug up again safe and sound to become a cherished family heirloom."

Also, according to The Information Please Girls' Almanac By Alice Siegel - Page 146, "Molly Brinkeroff - Molly was a doll that was buried by her owners along with their household goods when the British invaded Long Island in the days before the American revolution. When  Molly was dug up she became a keepsake for generations of Brinkeroffs, who associated her with that period in history."

I wish I had found more information on her and had found a picture.  I haven't yet, but I'll keep trying.