DOLLS’ EXHIBITION

Southland Times, Issue 22774, 27 December 1935, Page 12

DOLLS’ EXHIBITION

QUAINT SPECIMENS OF ALL AGES. To swell the funds of the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children—the hospital where Princess Mary worked during the war—Hamley’s, a famous London toy-shop, recently organized a wonderful exhibition of dolls through the ages. It was a show just packed with delight for both grown-ups and children, states the New Zealand Herald. What astonished most of the visitors was the wonderful condition of the dolls of yesteryear. The children of the 1930’s love their dolls, but these same toys are certainly not fit for exhibition after a couple of years of wear and tear. In the Old World section of the show there was a Polly Peachum doll, aged 175, with her satins, linens, and laces almost as unspotted as they were all those years ago. Here, too, was the doll that delighted the heart of the beautiful Miss Gunnings, who became the Duchess of Hamilton. The date of this one is 1745. The dolls of the famous literary sisters—Charlotte and Emily Bronte—were also on show, and except for the loss of an arm, and the smoothness of feature and derangement of complexion, they might never have been loved at all. Perhaps children of those days were brought up with the idea of keeping things for the future generations, or perhaps they were only allowed to handle their toys on high days and holidays. Pedlar dolls were very much the vogue in Early Victorian days. Now, these little works of art are kept in glass cases. They have with them their little stalls and trays, equipped, with all their wares—minute Bibles, tiny embroidered kettle-holders, and a variety of the smallest pots and pans imaginable. Before the era of fashion drawings, the drapers used to dress dolls in the latest modes, and ladies of high rank bought these models as gifts. Quite a number of this variety found their way to the exhibition. Some American Civil War dolls were used to carry quinine and calomel to the beleaguered Southern troops, who were badly in need of these drugs. The drug was carried in the doll’s head, which was then fastened to the body with tapes, so that it was easy to remove. No one thought of stopping a child’s plaything from going through. From America, too, came a very interesting group of “Little Women” dolls, belonging to Louisa M. Alcott. Their wigs are made from the actual hair of herself and her sisters. Among the dolls of all nations the most interesting and least lovable were the Russian dolls. Their expressions alone were worth any amount of study. On faces made with a few inches of stockinette the artists managed to register almost every human emotion—hope and despair, cynicism and pride, pomposity and resignation . . . yet not one that looked really happy. The children’s favourites were the dolls made in Denmark and Finland. They had the loveliest possible faces, dainty clothes that could be taken off, and, joy of joys, the most beautiful fair hair done in plaits that could actually be undone, brushed, and plaited up again!