The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-08-24
THE DOLLS FAME
is WORLDWIDE
In History it Has Played No In.
significant Part-Something
of its Versatility.

The doll under enc Ean:c or another
has played no Insignificant role in the
human drama. Far back in dim Etruria
or cid Egypt we find puppets, made with
movable limbs like the dolls OF to-day.
When King Philip Of Maceden gave his
son the fiery Thraeiln- colt. known to
history as Bucephalus, we read that
Alexander laid aside "hs puppet' and
childish toys. The y.Jung knight OF the
middle ages was trained with the mana
kin, which was only a rude sort OF wood
en- .Ioll. for his victories n steest Or bat
tie It was sore disgrace If he fii'ed
to transfix with his lance the suspended
manakinr as he urged his horse ut full
galop.
In China and Persia dolls were used by
unseen hands to perform shadow plays
with weird and striking effect, and Omar,
the Persian poet, compares man ana ms
fate to a jEGgler playing with such a
ruppet in the vain shadow. show or illu-
sicns Of life. There have been few coun-
tries. indeed, in which this kind CT mimic
stage, ninicry of a mimicry. has not
been used for the populace. Goetnes
Theatre. from which ne learned the prac-
teal action of the drama. as he tells us
In Wilhelm Meister, studies from which
a Faust was yet to come, was the toy Of
genius; quite different from the rude
puppet. shows of England which reached
their climax in Queen Anne's reign as the
popular Punch and Judy of a London
crowd and ethe good-natured Guignol OF
the city Of Lyons. The play OF Punch
and Judy is frankly coarse and brutal.
Gugnol is a good family man. though.
Perhaps, plebeian. but Poiichinello OF
| Faris. and the famous Pulcinello OF Italy
| are keen Of wit. Dangerous jests, flash
lights on the policy of rulers. wttttcisms
| that burned like sparks in dry finder.
may be traced to these wooden puppets
worked by wires. Pulcinello. with his
| brother, of Paris, was an inciter OF reYo-
| luton, stirrer OF mobs. They belonged
| to the street and the piazza and the
gaping listeners roared with laughter at
| their jests, though they cut with sharp
edge CHEESE were political puppets. wholly
| unlike the painted cardboard figures or
| the Turkish drama that are used simply
| to amuse slaves. water-carriers and don
| key drivers and appeal to rather
coarse sense of comedy. In Java and ia
| nan there is another side to the puppet
! show. and the dolls there have "a re-
| lis1ous significance. The Japanese Feast
| of the Dolls for instance, Is no mere dis
| play of q child's toys. In these small
| images is set forth the ancestral life for
a race with whom memory is more sub
tie and potent. more g. spirited vision
the early days, when witchcraft retained
It's hold on the minds OF men. there was
Relieved to be a spiritual connection be-
tween the little wax images Of men and
women that were allowed to melt before
a slow fire in the dark and secret ritual
Of hate. in order that those they repre-
scented might also dwindle and pine in a
slow and wasting fever
The mechanical appliances of the pup
eta simple. Punch and
Judy were only worked by thumb and
finger: the French marionettes by wires.
and the little wooden actors In the New
York Marionette Theatre where they act
the famous check OF Chariemagne's
palaGins in a sort of epic cycle to an
audience Of fruit sellers. peddlers, char
women, ETC., are fastened to strings moved
by human hands iasenlously hidden by the
arch above the stage. The name Mario
! beloved and familiar Marie; as doll is
supposed to be the common abbreviation
| OF Dorothy, a name one finds from the
Queen Dorothea through Dorothy down
even to the doll Of London tavern Gas
Doll Tearsheet in Shakespeare's Falstaff
! plays.)
The mos. charming place to make ac-
iuaintance with the dolls "of all nations
| is in the quarter OF the Etoile In Paris
at the Nfrseum Of NJ Maury. Here are
! the italian Marionettes. each represent
/ ing II costume a srcciaI town: here are
| the rs,dn E.ariish puppets and the ex-
| cuisi.s'r carrea ores of France: some are
| ever, si.tes. 80 4st. m this case ths pre-
| ,io--. i.6ETss ~ =. ,he sturriicity of the
i ..ees.hr: Ygteyss 70 i3-ger amply. thefe are
& even sacred dcIsashere from the mysti-
d .,i5east. dcl,s s.hat have been elevated e
Il So Gays . sreeial correspondent. to the
-, I5.Ss4 ~ prxaq md gOJuSSSeS.