Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

TURNOVER DOLL

Date

1943

Materials

COTTON, SAWDUST

No. Pieces

1

Height

25.4

Description

DOLL'S SKIRT EITHER COVERS THE WHITE FACED DOLL OR THE BLACK FACED DOLL. HANDMADE, FILLED WITH SAWDUST. WHITE FACED DOLL HAS A PINK HAT, PATTERNED TOP WITH SHIRT IN MATCHING PATTERN & WHITE (DIRTY) STRIPES. HER MOUTH & FINGER (END OF ARM) HAVE BEEN PUT ON WITH NAIL POLISH. THERE IS A SMALL TEAR WITH BROWNISH THREAD MENDING IT IN THE FACE. BLACK FACED DOLL HAS A PATTERNED RED DRESS & HAT. ARMS MISSING.

Subjects

TOY

Historical Association

LEISURE

History

A GIFT TO DONOR, HER FIRST DOLL, GIVEN AT BIRTH. THE DONOR'S MOTHER REMOVED THE BLACK ARMS BECAUSE THE DONOR CHEWED THEM & CAUSED THE COLOR TO RUN. DONOR BORN IN INDIAN HEAD, SASKATCHEWAN & MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1955. DOLL WAS NEW WHEN GIVEN TO DONOR. TURNOVER DOLLS ARE CHARACTERISTICALLY RAG DOLLS MADE WITH 2 DIFFERENT HEADS (USUALLY BLACK & WHITE), 1 WOULD BE COVERED BY SKIRT WHEN HELD UPRIGHT. ALSO KNOWN AS A REVERSIBLE DOLL. ONCE COMMON. *UPDATE* IN 2018, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF PERSONAL ARTIFACTS INCLUDING SOME DONATIONS MADE BY JEAN JOHNSTONE (NEE POTTS). AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ORIGINAL DONOR, JEAN JOHNSTONE WAS CONDUCTED. WHEN ASKED IF SHE REMEMBERED THE ARTIFACT SHE STATED, “IT WAS MY FIRST DOLL. ... YOU FLIP THE SKIRT OVER THERE’S A WHITE GIRL UNDERNEATH AND ON THIS SIDE THERE’S A BLACK FACED DOLL, AND APPARENTLY I CHEWED ITS ARMS SO MY MOTHER CUT THE ARMS OUT. THAT’S WHY IT IS ARMLESS - AND I USED TO TURN BLACK IN MY MOUTH SO SHE SAID SHE COULDN’T HAVE THAT, SO SHE CUT THEM OUT WHICH IS A SHAME BUT… IT WAS SOMETHING THAT SOMEBODY MADE FOR ME. I WAS BORN IN INDIAN HEAD, SASKATCHEWAN AND MY DAD WAS OFF IN THE ARMY DURING THE WAR AND, SO PEOPLE MADE THINGS AND YOU KNOW THAT’S JUST PROBABLY A LITTLE SCRAP OF MATERIAL AND THEY PROBABLY DYED IT WITH SOMETHING, QUITE TOXIC AS A MOTHER THOUGHT, AND MADE THIS LITTLE DOLL - AND SHE HAD OTHER THINGS. I HAVE OTHER THINGS THAT WERE MADE BECAUSE SHE GOT MARRIED TO MY FATHER IN 1938 AND, I DIDN’T COME ALONG UNTIL 1943 SO YOU KNOW - THE LITTLE THINGS THAT THEY MADE FOR SHOWERS WERE JUST REALLY SWEET. ALL THE DIFFERENT GIFTS THEY WOULD GIVE EACH OTHER BUT THEY HAD TO THINK ABOUT SOMETHING, YOU KNOW IT WASN’T PURCHASED I DON’T BELIEVE, I MEAN I WAS TOO YOUNG TO KNOW BUT IT WAS PROBABLY NEVER PURCHASED. JUST HANDMADE SWEET LITTLE THING.” “IT STAYED WITH US. WE MOVED FROM INDIAN HEAD AFTER THE WAR… SO HE WAS A PHARMACIST AND WE MOVED TO SUTHERLAND AND HE OPENED THE FIRST DRUGSTORE IN SUTHERLAND, SASKATCHEWAN WHICH IS PART OF SASKATOON NOW. … SO IN 1949 HE SOLD IT, AND WE MOVED… TO BRANDON, MANITOBA. WE WERE THERE ABOUT SIX YEARS AND THEN WE MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE SO I’VE BEEN HERE SINCE 1955. AND SO IT MOVED WITH ME ALWAYS THIS LITTLE DOLL, AND YOU KNOW I JUST COULD NEVER PART WITH IT AND I THOUGHT MY KIDS WOULD NEVER WANT IT. IT’S QUITE A HOMELY THING IT’S NOT FANCY IT’S JUST A POOR LITTLE THING AND SO THAT’S WHY IT CAME HERE. BUT I WAS - HOW OLD WAS I, ABOUT TWELVE WHEN I CAME HERE. SO I HAD CEASED PLAYING WITH IT OF COURSE.” THE INTERVIEW AND A FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW CAN BE FOUND IN PERMANENT FILE P20000011001.

Catalogue Number

P19780010000

Acquisition Date

1977-12

Collection

Museum

Less detail