Mother's Doll

[Flying10uk]

I don't know if anyone is interested in seeing this, but it is my elderly mother's doll which she was given during WW2 by her grandmother. She got it to keep her entertained when she was ill with either measles or pneumonia, the latter caught due to spending many long, cold and damp nights sheltering from air raids in an Anderson air raid shelter in the garden.

Because no new toys were available, at the time, only a second-hand doll was available and the doll's clothes were home-made by mother's gran and my mother's mother. This particular doll is believed to date to the 1920's and is made in Germany. It is a Koppelsdorf Armand Manseile, model 1330 with a composite head and real mohair. Apparently the company was founded by a Russian immigrant and they only made the dolls heads. The doll's bodies were bought-in from other manufacturers.

Originally this doll had "sleeping eyes" that closed when the doll was laid flat but, sadly, this function stopped working after an unfortunate "childhood incident" involving the doll and my mother's 2 brothers. I never got to the bottom of exactly what happened but the doll's eyes never closed again. The doll has got damaged several times over the years and has had several trips to a "doll's hospital".

This doll is one of my mother's most treasured possessions and she proudly displays it in a glass cabinet in the lounge of her home.

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