Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-01-08
CENTURIES OF DOLLS
By Frederic j. HaSkin


thesis on the history of the world
this season has come to realize with "a
shock how incredibly young the race IS.
It seems only a few years ago that men
were gossiping about the new revolutionary
invention of fire building, and you feel as
if you can almost remember Rameses H.
But if you aren't reading Wells, con-
slider the of dolls. 1t will prove the
same thing.
Dolls are tremendously popular this sea-
son. They are enjoying a tremendous
vogue on the stage, and the sales man
ayers of toy departments are delighted with
the huge number of Christmas dolls that
were sold Yet, take a look into history
or even a city museum, and you find the
same thing occurring thousands OF years
ago. Dolls were quite as much in demand
in Cleopatra's time, and the dolls OF that
day we're just as deserving of admiration,
too. That is they were just as beautiful
and accomplished.
Who played with the first doll and
when remains a battling mystery, but 1t
is definitely suspected that the species pc
gan to appear soon after the cave man set
tied down to permanent domestic life
Dolls of a crude sort are found among the
belongings of the most primitive tribes,
where they usually possess some religious
significance having to do with the sun
or snakes, or whatever it is that the tribe
Worships.
Although there is no trace of them, the
first civilized dolls are supposed to have
the Orient almost all of the known
world, for the early mythology of the coun-
try abounds with stories concerning them
They were made, it is believed, in the
images of gods, but in every other way
they were quite modern. They walked and
moved their hands and closed their eyes
and talked, even as they do today, only
the talking was accomplished by the in
sertion of a talking starting into their hol-
low, anatom1es.
Dolls of Long Ago
With the rise Of the early Egyptian en-
pre-. we find the doll fully established as
an important accessory to child life. 1t
was probably more varied and amusing in
1000 B. C. than it has ever been since,
in spite of the many generations of doll
specialists that have followed. In some
cases it had a paddle-shaped body, painted
with black and white Squares pattern
which often led the adults of the house
hold to borrow it for a game of checkers
or chess. In others, it's wooden body was
brightly painted like a mummy case and
often bore lucky sign, such as the pic
ture of a pig. Sometimes it also had flow
ing locks consisting of mud beads made
from the mud of the sacred river Nile.
Like the cat, the doll was greatly esteemed
as a household pet in these days, and was
frequently mummified along with its mis-
tress.
In China and Japan the doll long ago
reached a high state of development. It
was there that the puppet and shadow
dolls originated, and there also the ro1y-
poly doll, which cannot be made to lie
down, was first produced The first dolls
of the Monaghan empire were made to rep
resent gods and later to represent promi-
nent priests or members of the emperors
family Doll gods are still used in the
Chinese joss houses, while in Japan they
are still patterned after prominent citizens,
such as the minister of war and the hon
orable superintendent of education.
In China, one of the most popular doll
iano so hot oodn nf 1xnU al wi
the head of human being and the body
of fish, bird some other animal. This
doll is flat, and, with the aid Of sheet,
and dark lantern, lends itself admirably
to shadow pictures. 1t is believed that
the first puppet play, which is being re-
vived to such large extent today, origi-
mated in China.
Japanese Dolls
Dolls have always been highly regarded in
Japan, where many curious customs have
grown up around them. According to one of
these, every Japanese baby girl whose family
could afford it, was presented with what is
known as a "hina"-a set of dolls, represent
ing the Mikado and hi wife and their favor
tie musicians and courtiers. The china" was
not played with daily, like other common
dolls, but was kept in large vault, known
as the "gowdown' and brought forth only
on holidays. Upon the marriage of the
Japanese maiden, the china became the
property of her husband, who guarded it Sc
curely until the marriage of his eldest son
when it would be turned over to him. In
this way doll collections grew in Japan with
every passing generation, so that when
prominent citizen died his property included
an enormous and valuable doll collection.
Japan still celebrates Doll Day when every
shop is filled with dolls. More dolls are sold
on this day in Japan than are sold in this
country during Christmas. 1t is day of
great festivity. But not so doll day in India,
which is time of great lamentation and sad
ness For then, the little girls of India bring
their dolls to the banks of the River Ganges
and weeping, throw them into its current,
custom having decreed that the river must
receive this sac1 ifice. Furthermore, for three
months after this dramatic ceremonial, play
with dolls is prohibited, and even doll-mak-
ing is regarded with stern disfavor.
The materials of which dolls are made
have varied but little in all the thousands of
years of their history according to the own
err of a remarkable doll collection in New
York art gallery. The Greek dolls we're of
wax and the Egyptian dolls of wood, and
there is still little stuffed doll in existence,
which scientists aver Is 100 years old. Dur
ing all this time, moreover, doll-makers have
shown the same characteristics. That is, the
ancient Greeks as we'll as modern Americans
have tired-at intervAls-of producing ideal
~ beautiful dolls, and have deliberately
striven to produce sensational results in the
comic or ugly mannikin. Thus, we have the
doll babies.
OUIPS AND QUIDDITIES .
One day Smith was complaining that he
was not feeling as fit as usual, and a friend