Pueblo chieftain., 1921-01-06
BY FREDERIC j. HAsk1N

New York City. Jan. 3.-Everybody
who is reading IL. G. Wells slender
thesis on the history of tho world this
season has como to realize with n
shock how incredibly young the race
is. 1t seems only a few years aga that
mon were eossiping about the new
rcvoluntary invention of firebuilding.
and you feel as II you can almost re-
member Rameses II.
But IL you aren't reading Wells.
consider the case ot dolls 1t will
prove the Same thing.
Dolls are tremendously popular this
season. They are enpoytng trcmen-
dous vogue on the stage. and the
sales managers of toy departments arc
delighted with tho huge number of
Christma1 dolls that were sold. Yet.
take look into history. or oven a
city museum. and you find the same
thing occurring thousands of years
ago. Dolls were quite as much in de-
mand in Cleopatra's time. and tho
dolls of that day were just as descrv-
ing OF admiration, too. That is, they
were just as beautiful and accomp-
lished.
Who played with the first doll and
when, remains battling mystery.
but it is definitely suspected that tho
species began to appear soon after
the cavc man settled down to prcman-
ent domestic life. Dolls OF a crude
sort arc found among the belongings
of tho most primitive tribes. where
they usually possess some religious
significance having to do with the sun
OF snakes. or whatever IL is that the
tribe worships.
Altho there is no trace OF them. tho
first civilized dolls hrc supposed TO
havo occurred in tho Orient at the
time when tho Orient was almost all
of the known world. for tho early my
tholoSy of the country abounds with
stories concerning them. They were
made, IL is believed. In tho 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 to-
Gay. only the talking was accomplish
cd by the insertion of a talking star
ling into their hollow anatomiea
Doll. OF Loss Ago
With tho rise OF the early Egytisn
empire, wc find the doh fully cstab-
ii.hed as an important accessory TO
child life. 1t was probably more
varied and amusing in 1000 b c..
than 1t has over been since. in spite
ialists that have followed. In some
cases IL had a paddle shaped body.
painted with black and white squares
"A pattern which often led tho adults
OF the household TO borrow II for a
game of checkers or chess. In others.
its wooden body was brightly painted
like a mummy case and often bore n
lucky sign. such as tho picture OF
pig Sometimes 1t also had flowing
Looks me pf hH1Ia do,
from the mud of the sacred river Nile.
Like tho cat, tho doll was greatly cs-
tccmed as n household pct in these
days, and was frequently mumificd
along with its mistress.
In China and Japan the doll long
ago reached n high state OF develop
mcnt. 1t was there that the puppot
and shadow dolls originated. and
thcre also that roly-poly doll. which
cannot be made to lie down. was first
produced. The first dolls of the Mon
colian Empire werc made to represent
gods and later TO represent prominent
priests or members of the Emperors
family. Doll gods arc still used in
the Chinese joss houses, whilo in
Japan they are still patterned after
prominent citizens. such as tho minis
ter of war and the honorable supcrin-
tcndont of education.
In China, one OF the most popular
doll versions is that msdo OF donkey
skin. with the head of a human being
and the body of a fish. bird or somo
ether animal. This doll is fiat, and.
with the aid of "A sheet. and dark Lam
tern. lends itself admirably to shadow
pictures. II is believed that the first
puppet play. which is being revived
to such n large extent today. originated
in China.
Jspaucae Dolls
Dolls have always been highly re-
garded in Japan. whcro 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. representing the Mikado and
mis- wifo and their favorito musicians
and courtiers The "hina" was not
played with daily. like other common
dolls. but was kept in a large vault
known as the "gowdown' and brought
forth only on holidays. Upon the
marriage of the Japanese maiden, tho
"hina" became the property of her
husband, who guarded it securely un-
I'll the marriage of his eldest son when
it would be turned over to him. In