Old Doll is Dressed

I used old linens with lovely crocheted edgings for the sleeves and trim on this dress. I buy them just for this purpose at yard/rummage sales. Often they have small tears or stains, but I can work around those. These dolls were very inexpensive and always sold without clothing; girls or their mothers were supposed to dress them, like I did this one. Now this doll is ready to go back to her home, and I will eventually dress the one that is mine, and give her a new lower leg.

Hitty's Face is Painted, sort of................

I'm not done with the face. She has that "deer in the headlights" look that I need to deal with. I "bit the bullet" and ordered a Starting Out carving kit from Little Shavers, that will have a Kevlar glove that fits my (small) hand, and tools that will also fit my hand.
This Hitty was carved with a jack knife, probably not the most precise carving, tool, but it was all I had. I used my Dremel a bit for sanding, but whoa!!! You have to be careful with that thing or it will just take a Hitty's nose right off, if you're not careful.
Am I satisfied with this Hitty? No, I'm not. But she will always be my number one carved Hitty, and will serve as a testimony to where I began. Hopefully, we'll all be able to see my progress as I carve future Hittys. But first, this one needs arms and legs.

Interesting Information about a Special Penny Wood Doll

Katrina, a member of TreadleOn, an online group to which I also belong, offers this interesting information about one of these "penny wood" dolls:
One of those (penny wood dolls) came across the plains from St. Louis to Sacramento in 1846 with Patty Reed, who was a member of the Donner Party. When the party got into trouble and had to abandon most of their belongings, the little wooden doll was the only thing Patty could take because it was small enough to fit into her pocket. (Many were about 4" tall, although Bonnie's two are 11.5".)
The book Patty Reed's Doll is the story of that journey, being trapped in the Sierra that winter, and the hardships the survivors encountered all written from the doll's point of view. When Patty later died, she donated the doll to Sutter's Fort, because that was the destination they were heading for. "Dolly" is on display at Sutter's Fort, and every spring, thousands of fourth graders descend upon it to see the doll as part of their California History curriculum. While this particular doll is important because of its unique history, these dolls were very common during the middle part of the 19th century.
Thanks, Katrina, for sharing this information.

Lovely Proposition from my Friend Bonnie

"I have a proposition for you," my friend Bonnie said, as she pulled a mysterious tissue-wrapped bundle from a bag. Unwrapping it, she showed me two old primitive wooden dolls, a kind I had never seen before.

She proceeded to present her "proposition:" "I know you can make doll clothes," she said, "so if you dress this one, I'll give you this one!" She pointed to the one missing the lower leg, the one she called "disabled." I was thrilled! I would be happy to make some handsewn clothes for her doll, so that I could earn the other for my own.

I am pretty sure I can make a nice outfit for Bonnie's doll and I'm also pretty sure I can fashion a new leg for my new doll, too.

Bonnie told me that the friend that gave her these dolls told her they were made for coal miners children, and that they had come from Virginia. She also guessed that they were pretty old.

I wanted to learn more about these dolls, so the first thing I did was post a picture of them on the Vintage Cloth Doll Making site. Several people responded that they were called "Penny Woods," inexpensive dolls that were sold in the 1800s in England, in Penny Shops, similar to our "dimestores," of the 1940s-60s. Most were small, about 4 1/2" tall, but Bonnie's are 11 1/2" tall.

One of the Vintage Cloth Dollmakers suggested I Google Penny Wood Doll as she had; she said there was a lot of information about them available online. I did and she was correct; I learned a lot about these dolls and saw some that were very similar to these two. WERE they made for coal miners children? I really don't know, but it's possible that these dolls were stocked at "company stores," for miners to purchase for their children. At the time these dolls were inexpensive; now, not so much!

At any rate, I am newly smitten by these dolls, as I have often been smitten before. See more of these dolls at:

http://http//auntpollysdollemporium.blogspot.com/2010/01/penny-wooden-dolls.html