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.

Information

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[GColloton]

Thanks for sharing the story and photos. It’s amazing to think about being a child during that time period.

[RASelkirk]

Great story! I had to laugh though, brought up memories of us 3 "brothers" back in the 60's torching all of sis's Barbie-dolls "flamethrower style" using pint squeeze bottles of model airplane fuel and a match. It gets better! In the early 70's, we shot up all our GI Joes with our newly acquired .22 Nylon 66. No telling how much $$$ those would be worth now...

Russ

[Surpmil]

Now being middle-aged, it both touches and amuses me to see how little girls are at certain ages almost all instinctively drawn to dolls etc., as little boys are usually instinctively drawn to their typical toys.

One only has to see for example, a row of strollers lined up along the edge of a construction site with little boys untiringly fascinated by the machinery to know that gender is not a "social construct"; despite the best efforts of some to "deconstruct" it.

It seems even the monkeys do it: Toy story: Why do monkey and human males prefer trucks? Comment on “Sex differences in rhesus monkey toy preferences parallel those of children” by Hassett, Siebert and Wallen

Why do so many small children find their dolls or stuffed toys etc. so important to them? The reassurance of a "relationship" in which they are in a sense "in control" or the "senior partner", in contrast to almost all their human relationships?

A few hints here: Why children become so attached to toys and comfort blankets | Psychology | The Guardian

The phenomenon tends to be confined to the western world, where children usually sleep apart from their parents at an early age.

Maternal absence would be another name for it, but we're not having any such patriarchal notions here!:

...consider whether there's an underlying cause, such as a stressful situation at home or a problem with a child-care provider.

Ah yes, the "child-care providers" again. Or is it the non-providers?