Victorian Children and Animals Illustrations From The Harper's Young People Illustrations Book From 1889

One of the things that delighted me so much with the illustrations from the Harper's Young People weekly was the number of illustrations of Victorian children with animals, like the illustration above that appeared in the August 31, 1889 weekly in the Harper's Young People Illustrated Book on page 670. The illustration was entitled "Getting ready for a walk."

When I was a young girl I can remember times when we found bird's nests with baby birds in them that seemed to be abandoned by their mothers.  We always tried to help the little babies and would take them home and with the help of our Dad try to feed them.  I can remember using a little eye dropper to feed them water and digging up worms to feed them.  Unfortunately we weren't successful in our endeavors.

Victorian Children At Play Illustrations From The Harper's Young People Illustrations Book From 1889

There's nothing more delightful than watching young children play.  As a young child I have such fond memories of playing with my older brother or friends.  We were usually outside running around, playing a sport, riding our bikes, playing on the beach and looking for crabs, or getting into trouble with our antics.....lol

Seems times have drastically changed for children as I rarely see any children playing outside anymore.

So, of course I was drawn to the Victorian images of children playing like the illustration above which appeared in the December 8, 1888 weekly of the Harper's Young People Illustrations Book from 1889 on page 46.  It's entitled "The Only Boy In The Family."

In looking at the illustration you might think it was labelled wrong and that the child is a girl.  Well, it seems in the Victorian era boys and girls clothing was indistinguishable. There was a practical reason for why boys worn dresses and it has to do with diapers and potty training.  It would have taken way too much time for changing a little boy.  It was so much easier to just lift the dress. Unbuttoning Victorian trousers was way too time consuming for mothers and way too difficult for little boys to do.

I just love the illustration above entitled 'The Gossips."  It appeared in the July 6, 1889 weekly of the Harper's Young People Illustrations Book on page 540.  How adorable are these two? Wonder what they were talking about?

For the Love of Reading - Victorian Girls and Their Books Illustrations

If you've been a reader of my Linda's Blog for awhile you know that I've had a long term love affair with dolls, doll patterns, the Victorian era, floral design, genealogy, research, history and books. As far as I'm concerned you can never have enough dolls and you can never have enough books.

So, of course, I would be drawn to illustrations of Victorian girls and their books from the Harper's Young People Illustrations Book of 1889, like the illustration shown above.  It appeared in the May 18, 1889 weekly of the Harper's Young People Illustrations Book from 1889 on Page 420.

It was drawn by Rosina Emmet Sherwood and appeared in a story "The A.O.I.B.R" by Elizabeth Eggleston Seelye.  According to her Wikipedia page: "Her story "“The A.O.I.B.R." appeared in Harper's Bazaar in 1889 with an illustration of a child reading. The Rockwell Centre for American Visual Studies cites this as a surprisingly early illustration of a girl reading. The subject of girls reading in the illustration by Rosina Emmet Sherwood is thought rare (like the ones in Louisa Allcott's Little Women)."

The caption reads: "She retired to the society of books." This brings back wonderful memories for me as so many times when I was growing up you could find me like this.

My house is filled with books of all kinds. My love affair with books and reading began very early on. My Mother was an avid reader, my Father was an avid reader, my Grandmother and Great-Aunt were avid readers, and so it was passed down to my siblings and I.

I have such fond memories of sitting in my Grandmother's rocking chair (which I still have) and having her read me a story. Sometimes we would sit there while she was watching her soap opera's and she would rock with me in her lap.  Kind of like in the illustration above from the March 9, 1889 weekly of the  Harper's Young People Illustrations Book from 1889 on page 270.

Sometimes she would read me a story. I never minded just sitting there with her. I always knew there would be a story. And, I always felt safe in her arms.

Now, when I read I think about sitting with my Grandmother or listening to my Mom and Dad talk about their love of reading and it brings back warm and pleasant feelings for me.

Victorian Children At School Illustrations From The Harper's Young People Illustrations Book From 1889

I don't really think it matters what the time frame is when it comes to school being difficult at times for students.  The look on the face of the little girl in the illustration above could just as well be from 2019 as 1889.  All you have to see is the expression on her face to feel her distress.

The illustration above is from the December 1, 1888 weekly of the Harper's Young People Illustrated book on page 45.  It was entitled "Katy's First Recitation in Geography After Vacation." (Or something that sounds very much like it.)

While you can easily feel the young girls distress in the recitation illustration at the beginning of this post you certainly can feel the sorry for the little girl in the engraving above who is so distressed she's sobbing while a friend tries to comfort her.  She's in detention for whatever reason and is upset by this.  I think we've all had times at school where as young children we were brought to tears.  I just want to go over to her, put my arms around her and comfort her.  I doubt the school mistress did that.

The Dolls Christmas Dinner Illustration From The Harper's Young People Illustrations Book From 1889

Some of the mixed media projects I created this summer required quite a bit of old book papers for collage purposes.  So much so I ran out of the book pages.  Truth be told it wasn't the projects themselves that used up the paper it was the number of projects I was creating..... lol

Well, in looking around the house I found an old Harper's Young People Illustrations Book from 1889 that was in poor condition and with some of the pages already missing.

I don't know where this book came from and who it belonged to.  Most of the old books I have belonged to my great Aunt Flossie but I didn't think this was one of hers.  The time-frame was right but the book wasn't signed with her name - which she always did on the inside of the front cover.

I can remember as a young girl asking her why she signed all her books and she said; "so that anyone who borrows them will know who the books belong to."  Makes sense to me.  So, for my whole life every book I've ever bought I've signed the inside of the front cover, too.  Kind of a sweet tribute to my great Aunt.

I was pretty sure this book didn't belong to my great Aunt but had no idea where it came from or who gave it to me.  After all this time suffice to say I'll probably never know.

My Victorian Miniature Dress Ornaments Free E-Patterns

I have been in love with beautiful little girl dresses my whole life. I have to blame my grandmother "Dee" for this as she used to buy me the most beautiful little girl dresses. They were frilly, flouncy, lacy, filled with tulle underskirt dresses and I just loved them. I could stand and look for hours at my dresses.  The dresses I loved - the tulle not so much!

I, of course, wasn't allowed to touch them - I'd get them dirty. They were for our best occasions which I was hoping would be that day or the next day just so I could wear the dresses. Inevitably, a holiday or special occasion would occur and I would get to wear one of my dresses.

I'd tell my mother I just wanted to put them on for a few minutes.  Truth be told I wanted to put them on and just twirl around and around and watch them poof out!

I could just twirl and twirl and twirl in them. Around and around I'd go.  Until I got dizzy and fell down and, you guessed it, the dresses would get dirty.

My mother always knew I'd get the dresses dirty and then she'd have to wash and iron them before the special occasion I might be wearing them to so she always said "no."

I never understood then why she'd say "no."  I do now, but didn't back then so I'd pout for the rest of the day.

In our family room we had some steps right next to a sofa. When I was wearing one of these dresses I would love to stand on the steps and then jump down into the sofa.

As I did my dress would fly up in the air like a parachute and then come landing down on me.  I loved it and thought this was a lot of fun!

Of course, everyone could see my frilly underwear, leotards, slip, etc. when I did this - but, only for the briefest of moments.

My Grandmother would "tsk, tsk" and would give me one of those looks of "that's not a lady like thing to do!" I'd just look back at her and smile. I just had to be me.

And, then I'd look over at my Mother and she'd be smiling. She knew I just had to be me, too.

My Grandmother was born in 1896 and she definitely had a closet of beautiful Victorian dresses when she was growing up, like the one shown in the picture to the right.  Unfortunately, she passed away in 1975.

While she is not here with me now she left an indelible impression on me, my life, and my creativity. She is largely responsible for my love of Victorian dresses.

When I was knee-high she gave me a very old print of Godey's Fashions for August 1870 that belonged to my great, great Aunt Flossie (the first female in my family to graduate from college). I was captivated with the dresses and forever hooked. That was the start of my love of Victorian dresses.

When I was designing some of my doll patterns I decided I wanted to design some Victorian dress ornaments.  I thought they would be cute and could be hung up as decorations for most of the year.

The History of Faceless Dolls By Linda Walsh - Introduction, Parts I - Part XXIII and Conclusion - Updated February 2015

I have loved Victorian dolls since I was a little girl and can blame my grandmother for that. You see, as a young girl she gave me a Godey’s Fashion print for August 1870 that belonged to my great, great Aunt Flossie. From that moment on I was hooked. I was captivated by the beautiful dresses and wanted to create dolls wearing them.

Eventually I was able to design my own Victorian "Lady" dolls, like the one pictured on the left, who are all faceless. Now you might be wondering why they are faceless. It's because I wanted each to have its' own distinct personality.

My feeling is that faces overwhelm the dolls personality and have a greater impact on their personality. I wanted the clothing, clothes, hair, color scheme, etc. of the period to determine the personality of the doll.

As far as I am concerned "Beauty lies not only in what is seen, but what is imagined. I believe the essence of a dolls beauty should determine her personality."

You could compare this to the use of mannequins by museums. Most mannequins in museum dress & textile exhibits are either headless or have heads, but they are generally faceless. Or, they have the sculpted definition of facial features but they are not painted. The idea is to not distract from the beauty of the dress or textile piece on display. The same holds true for store window displays.

I have also been a history buff since I was a little girl and loved doing research for history projects all throughout my school years. I especially loved to research everything and anything about the Victorian Era. Their history, their etiquette, their fashion, their hopes, their desires.... In fact, sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era.

Designing handmade faceless dolls was not a novel idea as faceless dolls have been around for a long, long time. However, given my penchant for history I, of course, was curious about the history of faceless dolls. So, back in 2006 I decided to do a little research on the history of faceless dolls and wrote a research article for my Linda's Blog that I subsequently updated in 2009.

I figured that there had to be a history of handmade faceless dolls out there or, at least, some cultures and norms. Believe it or not but there wasn't a lot of information back in 2006 on the web on either the history of faceless dolls or cultures and norms that started such a tradition. There was a little more when I updated my research in 2009.

There was some information on two of the most popular and widely known faceless dolls - Amish dolls and corn husk dolls. And there was the legend surrounding Raggedy Ann and "faceless" dolls.

In doing my research, what I was pleasantly surprised with was the application of "faceless" dolls for so many current charities or organizations. More on that a little later.

I was hoping that now, in 2015, things would have changed a little and there would be more information on their history. I'm happy to report that there is a lot more now and that over the last few years there is a growing trend towards creating faceless dolls in all sorts of doll mediums - which thrills me to no end.

Part of the new trend has to do with creating eco-friendly and nature dolls and part has to do with allowing children to use their imagination more. It also has to do with comforting children facing tough medical situations. Without a face the dolls can be happy or sad, they can be laughing or crying - in essence, they can mimic the emotions of the child holding them. Putting a face on the doll defines the emotion of the doll with the child - which may or may not be comforting.

So, I decided to update my history of faceless dolls research article and include new research as well as some of the new trends. I hope you enjoy it.

Part 1 -  Corn Husk Dolls and Native American Indian Faceless Dolls

Part II - Amish Dolls

Part III - Marafona Dolls of Portugal

Part IV - Dominican Republic Dolls

Part V - Russian Folk Rag Dolls 

Part VI - Japanese Sarubobo Dolls

Part VII - Goddess and Spirit Dolls

Part VIII - American Primitive, Prairie, Pioneer, Wagon Train, Appalachian and Folk Art Rag Dolls

Part VIIII - Handkerchief and Pillowcase Dolls

Part X - Twig, Pine Cone, Willow and Nature Craft  Dolls

Part XI - Worry Dolls and Toothpick Dolls

Part XII -  Fairies, Gnomes, Elves, Wee Folk, Bendy's, Pixies, and Trolls

Part XIII -  Waldorfs

Part XIIII -  Muslim Dolls

Part XV -  Yarn Dolls

Part XVI - Mixed Media Faceless Dolls 

Part XVII - Faceless Dolls of Francoise Bosteels 

Part XVIII -  Faceless Dolls From Carole's World Costume Doll Collection

Part XVIIII -  The Ruth E. Aten World Doll Collection: Americas

Part XX - Other Faceless Doll Art 

Part XXI - Books To Help You Create Your Own Faceless Dolls

Part XXII- A Very Famous Faceless Doll 

Part XXIII - Faceless Dolls For Charity

I also created a History Of Faceless Dolls .PDF.  If you would like to download my History Of Faceless Dolls .PDF please click here or on the picture below.

The History of Faceless Dolls

Copyright © 2004-2021- All Rights Reserved - Written by By Linda Walsh

I think you all know that I, personally, love faceless dolls. Victorians, primitives, colonial, prairie dolls, rag dolls, or country style dolls. It doesn't matter. I love them all.

In fact, I created a video to reflect my feelings about faceless dolls which is: "Beauty lies not only in what is seen, but what is imagined. I believe the essence of a dolls faceless beauty should determine her personality."

Please CLICK HERE or on the video below if you would like to view my "Linda's Faceless Beauties" video.

Why do I love the faceless doll so much?

Because I think by being "faceless' the doll can be anything you want him or her to be. You create the dolls personality to be exactly what you imagine it to be. Their personality, therefore, reflects your creativity and your feelings.

And, as we've seen from the above mentioned articles the application can be heartwarming, meaningful and beautiful.

In researching doing the research to update my History of Faceless Dolls article I was thrilled to see that there are hundreds of artists and crafters who are now creating various types of "faceless" dolls in all different medium. I couldn't be happier to see all these wonderful new applications for faceless dolls. I'm hoping you all will agree.

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

Please respect My Terms of Use:  All patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products © 2004-2021 Linda Walsh Originals-Designs by Linda Walsh. All rights reserved. Commercial selling or reselling by any means prohibited without the written consent of Linda Walsh.

Patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products are for personal use only. You may not modify, photocopy, download, upload, post, transmit, display, perform, publish, license, reprint, create derivative works from, mass duplicate, re-sell, digitize, and reproduce in any other form (print, digital or electric) or commercially apply, embed, share, Email, or redistribution in any other means. Use of any of the above is prohibited without the written permission of Linda Walsh.

However, you may link to my website(s)/blog(s) and the individual page(s)/blog post(s) (including 1 picture) but do not copy, reprint or duplicate my website(s)/blog(s) or individual page(s)/post(s ) without my permission.

Items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are intended for personal use for fun or small scale personal and business profit as long as you credit us with the design. Large scale commercial use (i.e. mass production) of items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are by permission only.

Please see my Terms and Conditions for additional information.

Copyright © 2004 - 2021 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

Gotta Love Doll Histories - Enjoy My Posts Free E-Books!

Besides being a lover of victorian dolls and genealogy I also love history - especially doll histories. Being a lover of doll histories prompted me to write all the doll history posts on my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me blog.

I thought if you were as interested in doll histories as I am you'd like an easier way to read all my dol history posts.  So, I created .PDF's for all of my posts.  In all there are 4 different .pdf's each with up to 50 pages.  If you would like to download my "Gotta Love Doll Histories Part 1 - Part 4 just click on the pictures or titles below:

Gotta Love Doll Histories - Part 1

Copyright © 2004-2021 - All Rights Reserved - Written by By Linda Walsh

The Bangwell Putt Rag Doll

The Molly Brinkerhoff Doll 

The White House Doll

Apple Head Dolls

Penny Wooden or Peg Wooden Dolls 

Wishbone Dolls

Early American Wooden Dolls By Joel Ellis 

Tuck Comb Wooden Dolls

Grodnertal Tuck Comb Wooden Peddler Dolls 

Grodnertal Wooden Costume Dolls

Beautiful Peddler or Pedlar Dolls 

William F. Goodwin Patent Walking Doll 

Dolls From The Index of American Design at National Gallery Of Art

Shell Dolls 

Frozen Charlotte Dolls 

Gotta Love Doll Histories - Part 2

Copyright © 2004-2021 - All Rights Reserved - Written by By Linda Walsh

Clay Pipe Dolls 

Roxanna Elizabeth McGee Cole's Dolls

Wooden Spoon Dolls and More 

Bartholomew's Babies 

Carved Nut Dolls 

Clothespin Dolls

Miss Columbia and the Columbian Rag Doll 

Pioneer & Prairie Dolls, Rag Dolls, Appalachian Dolls, Wagon Train Dolls, Table Cloth Dolls, Pillowcase Dolls, Handkerchief & Prayer Dolls, Folk Art Dolls 

Quaker Dolls 

Gotta Love Doll Histories - Part 3

Copyright © 2004-2021 - All Rights Reserved - Written by By Linda Walsh

 Missionary Rag Babies 

China Head Dolls 

Babyland Rag Dolls With Painted Faces and Lithograph Faces

Wax Dolls, Montanari and Pierotti Dolls 

Polly Heckewelder Moravian Rag Dolls 

First Presbyterian Church Rag Dolls 

Izannah Walker Dolls

Papier-Mâché Dolls

Milliner's Models Dolls 

Boudoir Dolls 

17th, 18th and 19th Century Wardrobe or Trousseau Dolls

Topsy-Turvy Dolls - Two In One 

Gotta Love Doll Histories - Part4

Copyright © 2004-2021- All Rights Reserved - Written by By Linda Walsh

The Maggie Bessie Cloth Doll

17th, 18th, and 19th Century Wooden Dolls

For The Love Of Rococo Dolls 

Hitty Dolls 

The Beautiful Collection of Fashion Dolls At The Strong National 

Museum of Play

How Wonderful! I Heard From A Descendant of Roxanna Cole - Hilarie Johnston

The French Doll Fashion Collection At The MET

The Innu Tea Doll

DOLL HISTORIES ON MY LINDA'S BLOG

A Little More Information on Making Goddess, Spirit and Healing Dolls Of Your Own

Barbie - A Young Girl's Obsession!

Who Doesn't Love Paper Dolls?

I hope you enjoy all my posts.  If you'd rather read them on my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me blog the links for the individual posts are below:

 

The History of Faceless Dolls By Linda Walsh - Introduction, Parts I - Part XXIII and Conclusion - Updated February 2015

I hadn't realized how many doll histories posts I'd written for my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog until I decided to create some free e-books for all the posts.

Most of the doll histories articles were posted to my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me blog.  If you would like to read any of these please click on the links below.

Doll Histories On My Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog

• 17th, 18th and 19th Century Wardrobe or Trousseau Dolls
• 17th, 18th, and 19th Century Wooden Dolls
• After 250 Years It's Still The Bangwell Putt Rag Doll
• Babyland Rag Dolls With Painted Faces Versus Babyland Rag Dolls With Lithograph Faces
• Bartholomew's Babies - Beautiful or Tawdry Dolls
• Beautiful Early American Wooden Dolls By Joel Ellis From 1873
• Boudoir Dolls Are Meant For Sitting - No Touching!
• Carved Nut Dolls - What? Unusual Indeed
• China Head Dolls - They're Just So Beautiful
• Clay Pipe Dolls - Definitely A Conversation Piece
• Dolls From The Index of American Design at National Gallery Of Art
• Early Grodnertal Tuck Comb Wooden Peddler Dolls and Other Grodnertal Peddler Dolls
• First Presbyterian Church Rag Dolls Otherwise Known as Presbyterian Rag Dolls
• For The Love Of Rococo Dolls - You Might Become Speechless,Too!
• Frozen Charlotte Dolls - How Adorable But Tragic
• Gotta Love Doll Histories Part 1 - Part 4 Free E-Book
• Grodnertal Wooden Costume Dolls
• Hitty Dolls - What's Not To Love!
• I'm In Love With Penny Wooden or Peg Wooden Dolls
• Izannah Walker Dolls
• Milliner's Models Dolls - Fashion Model or Toy?
• Miss Columbia and the Columbian Rag Doll
• Missionary Rag Babies - Loved So Much They're Well Worn
• Papier-Mâché Dolls
• Perhaps It's Time I Made An Apple Head Doll - Maybe She'll Have A Victorian Outfit!
• Pioneer & Prairie Dolls, Rag Dolls, Appalachian Dolls, Wagon Train Dolls, Table Cloth Dolls, Pillowcase Dolls, Handkerchief & Prayer Dolls, Folk Art Dolls - They're All Dolls That Were Loved By Early American Colonial Girls
• Polly Heckewelder Moravian Rag Dolls - Loved and Made For Over 140 Years
• Quaker Dolls - Quiet Beauty
• Roxanna Elizabeth McGee Cole - How Wonderful! I Heard From A Descendant of Roxanna Cole - Hilarie Johnston
• Roxanna Elizabeth McGee Cole's Beautiful Family Of 19th Century Dolls
• Shell Dolls - Who Knew The Victorians Did This? Did You?
• Some Of The Beautiful Peddler or Pedlar Dolls From the strong National Museum Of Play
• The Beautiful Collection of Fashion Dolls At The Strong National Museum of Play
• The French Doll Fashion Collection At The MET
• The History of Faceless Dolls By Linda Walsh - Introduction, Parts I - Part XXIII and Conclusion - Updated February 2015
• The Innu Tea Doll
• The Maggie Bessie Cloth Doll - A Doll of Simplicity and Grace
• The Molly Brinkerhoff Doll - Buried With A Families Cherished Possession During The Revolutionary War
• The Simple Beauty of Clothespin Dolls
• The Sweet Simplicity of Tuck Comb Wooden Dolls
• The White House Doll
• There's Something Very Endearing About Wishbone Dolls
• Topsy-Turvy Dolls - Two In One
• Wax Dolls, Montanari and Pierotti Dolls - Gotta Love The Beauty of Wax
• William F. Goodwin Patent Walking Doll - Circa 1870 and Other Autoperipatetikos Walking Dolls
• Wooden Spoon Dolls and More - Past and Present 

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

Please respect My Terms of Use:  All patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products © 2004-2021 Linda Walsh Originals-Designs by Linda Walsh. All rights reserved. Commercial selling or reselling by any means prohibited without the written consent of Linda Walsh.

Patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products are for personal use only. You may not modify, photocopy, download, upload, post, transmit, display, perform, publish, license, reprint, create derivative works from, mass duplicate, re-sell, digitize, and reproduce in any other form (print, digital or electric) or commercially apply, embed, share, Email, or redistribution in any other means. Use of any of the above is prohibited without the written permission of Linda Walsh.

However, you may link to my website(s)/blog(s) and the individual page(s)/blog post(s) (including 1 picture) but do not copy, reprint or duplicate my website(s)/blog(s) or individual page(s)/post(s ) without my permission.

Items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are intended for personal use for fun or small scale personal and business profit as long as you credit us with the design. Large scale commercial use (i.e. mass production) of items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are by permission only.

Please see my Terms and Conditions for additional information.

Copyright © 2004 - 2021 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

My New Victorian Doll - Will You Marry Me, Henri? - Victorian Gentleman Proposing Marriage Doll

For several years now my younger brother has wanted me to make a groom doll to go along with all the Victorian "Lady" bridal dolls I had made for my sister-in-law. I kept putting it off as I didn't want to create a Victorian doll the same way my Victorian "Ladies" had been created. I wanted something different and hadn't quite decided what I wanted until this summer.

I decided that I wanted to create a Victorian gentleman doll that would be entirely bendable and be on one knee proposing to his lovely lady while holding her engagement ring.

The doll could be made either on one knee proposing, standing and proposing or sitting and proposing and would make a unique and beautiful way for someone to propose to someone else.

Can you imagine siting at a fancy restaurant with your boyfriend and having him present you with a doll on one knee holding your engagement ring? What an adorable way to ask someone to marry you. 

Or, suddenly surprising you with this proposal doll at a family and friends gathering? How surprised would you be by that?

So, "Will You Marry Me, Henri!" was born.

Henri has been looking for the perfect way to ask his beautiful lady to marry him and decided that he'd follow the traditional way and propose to her on one knee this weekend. He had already spoken to her father and he had welcomed Henri into the family with open arms. He would be dressed in his finest outfit, be carrying her beautiful diamond engagement ring, and would propose to her in front of her family and friends. He was hoping she'd say, "Yes!"

Henri is a fully bendable 12" Victorian groom cloth doll with an embroidered and water-colored face. He is wearing his best Victorian satin suit with fully lined long black satin fabric jacket with folded back black check fabric lined collar and lapels adorned with buttons. His fancy white shirt is gathered at the neck and wrists and has a matching lace trimmed fancy ascot which is tied around his neck.

He is wearing black satin double cuffed pants that are gathered at the waist which is covered with a red satin cummerbund.

He has a full head of thick brown/gray roving hair underneath his matching black polyester fabric with black check lining hat which sits atop his head. His black polyester boots are criss-cross laced with black DMC embroidery floss for laces. His is bending down on one k nee is a proposal position and is holding his lovely ladies engagement ring. He is affixed to a wood stained doll stand.

Pattern includes instructions for making the wood stained stand and instructions for bending Henri on one knee and proposing, standing and proposing, or sitting and proposing.

Henri is hoping that his lovely lady will say, "Yes!" What do you think? Will she?

My Henri doll makes an adorable way to ask someone to marry you.

Designer - Linda Walsh Originals

My First Victorian Doll I Named "Linda" - Of Course!

If you aren't a reader of my Linda's Blog you might not know that I'm a doll maker and doll pattern designer. I'm also a bit of a genealogy buff. So, I decided to combine my love of doll making and love of genealogy by naming my doll patterns after members of my family - past and present. I thought by doing so that it would be a nice way to honor my ancestors.

In any event, I thought that the first article in my "The Story Behind Each of My Doll Patterns" series should be the first doll and doll pattern that I designed. Her name is "Linda" and her picture is the one at the top of this article. And, "yes" she is named after me. What a surprise? Bet you could see that coming a mile away.

I gave a lot of thought to "Linda" as I wasn't quite sure where and how to begin. Besides being a lover of dolls and genealogy I also have a passion for the clothes of the Victorian Era. I wanted my first doll, my namesake, to be a Victorian. I also knew that I wanted my dolls to be able to stand up on their own.

I'd seen a lot of porcelain dolls which were all very beautiful but, wanted something different. I wanted to design a doll who had a "distinct" personality that was not determined by her face. What I wanted was to create a "faceless" doll. My feeling is that faces overwhelm the dolls personality and, therefore, have a greater impact on her personality. I wanted the clothing, hair, accessories, color scheme, etc. of the Victorian period to determine the personality of the doll.

So, I decided that the best way to accomplish this was to use a wooden ball for the head, a 1/4" dowel for the neck, a 1" dowel for the body, and a wood circle for the base. Her wooden head would be painted with a flesh colored paint. I added a little blush for color. Her arms were going to be wires covered with batting so they were bendable. Also, her hands were going to be made out of old lace, preferably old lace gloves (talk about hard to find).

Batting was wrapped around the wood dowel for padding for the body. If I wanted her to be a little chunkier (what's wrong with chunky?) then I would just add more padding. A fitted slip was added to the lower part of her body and glued to the sides of the fitted circle so she was self-enclosed.

The fun part was that "Linda's" personality started to develop as I went along. Now this might sound a little crazy, but the doll kind of spoke to me as she was being created. If that sounds crazy to you that's okay. I know all my doll making and crafting friends will understand this.

"Linda" wanted to be a prim and proper Victorian so she decided that an 1850 Street Costume would be appropriate for herself. She wanted a lined 2-tier jacket with a 3-tiered lined shawl. She also wanted a lined bonnet, lace trimmed parasol, lace trimmed dress with long lace trimmed and gathered sleeves, lace gloves, lace trimmed slip and long curly blonde hair.

I tried to talk her out of being "blonde" with all the connotations that come with that. She didn't care. It was 1850 after all and they didn't have "dumb blondes" back then. Who came up with that term anyway? I told her that I, her namesake, had straight, fine hair. It didn't matter to her whether or not she looked like me. It was going to be long, curly blond hair or nothing. So, "Linda" had her way. Of course, my Mother would tell you that she was just like me in that regard.

So, "Linda" got her 1850 Street Costume and long, curly, blonde hair. She was well suited to be a prim and proper Victorian "Lady" if I didn't say so myself. Plus, as she tells me, she doesn't look anything like her namesake which she is thankful for. I don't know if I should be insulted or not. What do you think?

The Story Behind My "Celia's" Victorian Doll Pattern

A lot of my dolls have stories behind them. Here's the story of my "Celia" doll:

Celia is married to Elmer (see my post The Story Behind Elmers Little Boy ). They have been happily married for over 50 years and were recently moving into their new home. Since they were downsizing they had to either get rid of a lot of items or throw a lot away. So, they decided what to throw away and what to sell at their yard sale. When you've been married over fifty years there are a LOT of items.

In any event, one of the items Celia had decided to throw away was this old, grungy, doll who was just plain "a mess". She had lost most of her hair on the top of her head and had one long bunch of strands down one side of her head. Her fingers were all broken and her face was dirty. She had on an old, dirty, prairie dress and bonnet. I wish I had taken a picture of her so you could have seen how she was. Needless to say she was in desperate need of a make over. I think she was considering going to a day spa, but she wasn't aware of any dollie day spas. There definitely weren't any in the yellow pages.

So, of course, I took her home and we pondered her fate together. We decided she should be elegant. She'd had enough of this simple, primitive, country look and wanted to be a real "Lady". So we decided on a bit of a "French" aristocratic look for her. We needed something that would cover up her bald spots while still making it seem like she had a full head of hair. Definitely a twist was in store. The problem, however, was what to do with the rest of her head. I though maybe a combination of a large hat and "Gloria Swanson" type of turban would work. Celia was skeptical. It was a drastic step.

Penelope Pumpkin Lady - Victorian Pumpkin Art Doll - New Handmade Doll and E-Pattern

Penelope Pumpkin Lady is just the sweetest pumpkin lady you'd ever want to meet. She's very refined and loves dressing in her finest Victorian outfit and sipping English Breakfast Tea with scones. For her life doesn't get any better than that.

Penelope's pumpkin friends get angry at her because she doesn't spend any time in the pumpkin patch with them. She tries to explain to them that the pumpkin patch is not a place for a refined lady, especially one wearing her finest Victorian outfit. And, the bonnet - well, there's no way she'd wear that in the pumpkin patch. So, she tries to coax her friends into having tea and scones with her. It's not an easy sell as they like being outside in the pumpkin patch and hope that Penelope will one day come to her pumpkin senses and join them. They've got their fingers or should I say stems crossed.

Sometimes You Have A Favorite - Josephine Is One Of Them! - Victorian Lady Doll

Sometimes even designers have to admit they have favorite creations. They don't like to because they like to think that all of their creations are their favorites. It's kind of like mothers who when asked: "Mom, am I your favorite child?" reply with, "I love you all the same."

So, while I do love all my creations I do have to admit that some more than others just appeal to me. Just don't tell the "dollies" I said that. There will be sibling rivalry like unbelievable in our house if they find out.

In any event, Josephine is one such creation. I don't know whether it's her red hair or her green outfit with all the filly lace or both. There's just something beautifully appealing about her.

Josephine is a free-standing Victorian lady doll who can hardly wait for spring to show off her new toilette. When she saw it in the Godey Fashion Magazine she knew she had to have it. It was in her favorite color, after all. And, not too many outfits that season were in green. But, she knew that it would look wonderful on her and really highlight her beautiful red hair. So she ordered it and asked that it be sent as soon as possible.

Josephine is a 13" Victorian wood and cloth doll. Her arms are wire-shaped and covered. She also has a painted wood head and covered round wood base. Her inner body is made from a dowel covered with fabric and eyelet lace which is also covered by a gathered and lace trimmed slip.

Josephine is wearing a coordinated green outfit which consists of a lined jacket with large puffy sleeves, lined & fitted vest, large lace trimmed ruffled blouse with bow, and a multi-tiered lace trimmed and gathered skirt with floral decorations. Her beautiful red hair is fastened in a bun and is highlighted by a ribbon & floral trimmed lined hat with a large bow on the back. She is carrying a multi-tiered lace trimmed parasol.

Josephine thinks she looks quite fetching in her beautiful green outfit and hopes you agree. She doesn't mind being one of Linda's favorites. Just don't tell the other "dollies."

Designer - Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals

What's Fair Is Fair! What About Me! It's All About "Debra!"

In my household you can't showcase any one particular doll without causing some kind of resentment by another doll.

This time my "Debra", you know the pain in the...., doll that I created and named after my baby sister was annoyed by yesterday's post about "My Favorite Victorian Doll."

She feels that if I'm going to mention her that I should at least show some pictures of her, too.

Well, I really can't come up with a rationale for not doing so. She is right. I did mention her in my post and I probably should have shown some pictures.

So, to appease "Debra" I'll give in and post about her here. You know, it seems to me that I used to have to appease my baby sister a lot, too. Boy, Debra really is like her namesake.

So, here we go. It's all about "Debra."

“Debra”is named after my baby sister. She is a 27” free-standing faceless Victorian doll that I designed for my "other Victorians" e-patterns and is wearing a 1853 walking dress.

My Victorian Lady Doll LouArlene - Victorian Lady Doll

LouArlene is a free-standing doll all ready for her afternoon stroll and tea with the ladies.

She has been anxiously awaiting her afternoon tea today so she can show of her new hat from Paris, France. It's the latest in Paris fashion and she's been waiting months to show all her friends. It's a perfect compliment to her new tea gown.

She is wearing a fancy gathered ribbon & lace trimmed dress with gathered and two-tiered lace trimmed long sleeves adorned with large gold buttons, and a V-shaped lace bodice on the front of her dress trimmed with gathered ribbon & lace trim. Lace adorns her waistband and accentuates her tiny waist.

She also has a painted wood head and covered round wood base. Her inner body is made from a dowel covered with fabric and eyelet lace. Her arms are wire-shaped and covered.

Underneath her tea gown she is wearing a lace trimmed slip and around her shoulders is a fancy lace shawl that belongs to her Mother. Hanging from her neck is a pearl necklace that she borrowed from her Mother, as well.

Her long blonde hair is tied in a bun with a braid framing her face. Sitting atop her beautiful braided head of hair is her new fancy lace & floral trimmed and lined bonnet, with ribbons & bows.

LouArlene knows that her new bonnet is just beautiful and that all her friends will want to order one for themselves. As far as LouArlene is concerned it's okay if all her friends order one for themselves. She will always be the first to have it and wear it.

Designer - Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals