Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

DOLL WARDBROBE

Date Range From

1940

Date Range To

1950

Materials

CARDBOARD

No. Pieces

13

Height

32.3

Length

17.1

Width

17.3

Description

CREAM AND BLUE PATTERNED CARDBOARD WARDROBE WITH TWO RED STRIPES THROUGH THE MIDDLE. HAS BRASS KEY LOCK FRONT AND CENTRE, AND IRON-BRASS PLATED HINGES AND CORNER COVERS. OPENS TO REVEAL ROYAL BLUE CLOSET ON RIGHT HALF WITH 5 IRON HANGERS, AND ON THE LEFT ARE TWO CUPBOARDS WITH DOORS, AND TWO DRAWERS STACKED ALL BLUE WITH PINK TRIM. CONTAINED IN DRAWERS WERE 1 CREAM COLORED DOLL SLIPPER WITH PINK LACE, 1 LIGHT PINK COMB, A 8.9 X 4.3 CM MIRROR, 1 BURGUNDY VINYL COMB AND MIRROR CASE, AND 1 LIGHT PINK HORSE HAIR BRUSH WITH PAINTED IMAGE OF A BABY ON THE TOP. BRUSH IS STAMPED "MADE IN JAPAN". WARDROBE IS WORN AND HAS SUFFERED SOME WATER DAMAGE. DOLL SLIPPER IS VERY BRITTLE, COMB AND BRUSH ARE SLIGHTLY DISCOLORED, AND CASE IS TORN AT THE SEAMS ON BOTH SIDES. SURFACE OF MIRROR IS CLOUDY AND DETERIORATING.

Subjects

TOY

Historical Association

LEISURE

History

DOLL ITEMS BELONGED TO DONOR AND HER SISTER DURING THE LATE 1930'S AND 1940'S. SOME CLOTHES BELONG TO THE EATON BEAUTY DOLL, WHILE OTHERS MAY BE INFANT CLOTHING. SOME OF THE CLOTHES WERE HAND MADE, WHILE OTHERS WERE PURCHASED. MORE HISTORY FROM P19930009001-GA: EARL WAGNESS REPAIRED WATCHES PRIMARILY AS A HOBBY BEGINNING AFTER 1949. PRIOR TO THAT WORKED AS A GRAIN PURCHASER FOR ALBERTA PACIFIC GRAIN COMPANY AT WOODHOUSE (1929-1939), BARONS (1939-1946), MILK RIVER (1946-1956). RETIRED TO LETHBRIDGE, 1956 & WORKED AT WESTERN SAVINGS & LOAN & HIS HOBBY OF WATCH REPAIRS. EARL & MARY WERE MARRIED IN STAVELY IN AUGUST 1929 AT UNITED CHURCH. EARL GRADUATED FROM ILLINOIS SCHOOL OF WATCH REPAIR IN NOVEMBER OF 1949. HIS GREATEST JOY WAS IN REPAIRING AND REVITALIZING OF OLD CLOCKS & WATCHES. HE DIED IN NOVEMBER OF 1990. *UPDATE* IN 2018, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF THE BOXED TEXTILE COLLECTION. ON 8 MARCH 2018, PUNDYK INTERVIEWED SISTERS SHIRLEY TUCKER AND JEAN SCMITT ABOUT THE ARTIFACTS DONATED BY TUCKER. WHEN ASKED IF THEY REMEMBERED THE ARTIFACT: SHIRLEY: “I DO, BUT I’M SURE IT WAS YOUR DOLL, BECAUSE IT STOOD UP THIS WAY, AND THE DOLL WAS HERE, AND THE CLOTHES WERE THERE.” JEAN: “YES. YOU KNOW I DON’T HAVE A SOLID MEMORY OF THAT, OF HANGING. I DIDN’T HAVE A LOT OF DOLLY CLOTHES FOR THE BEAUTY DOLL.” SHIRLEY: “WELL, THEN, MAYBE IT WAS MINE, I DON’T KNOW, BUT IT WAS DEFINITELY A DOLL SUITCASE. BEYOND THAT, WE DID HAVE A PLAYHOUSE. WE HAD THE PLAYHOUSE WHEN WE LIVED IN BARONS.” WHEN ASKED WHERE THEY STORED THEIR DOLLS CLOTHES: SHIRLEY: “WELL, OBVIOUSLY IN LITTLE SUITCASES LIKE THIS, OR IN A BOX, OR - DIDN’T WE HAVE A BOX THAT WAS KIND OF CRIBS, TOO?” JEAN: “MORE OFTEN, WE HAD APPLE BOXES – AND THAT BUILT UP WHATEVER LITTLE - LIKE STOVES, ANDTHE DISHES, AND EVERYTHING. WE PROBABLY COULD HAVE IMPROVISED. I DON’T REMEMBER IMPROVISING A BOX FOR THE CLOTHES – LIKE LITTLE HANGERS, ALTHOUGH THAT ONE, IT DID HAVE HANGERS IN IT.” SHIRLEY: “SO YOU CAN REMEMBER, HANGING UP? WE COULD HAVE HAD A ROD THAT HUNG STUFF, BUT MOST OF IT, TO ME, WAS FOLDED. WE COULD HAVE EVEN USED ORANGE CRATES, BECAUSE THEY WERE WOODEN AT THAT TIME, WEREN’T THEY? MANDARIN ORANGES?” JEAN: “OR LITTLE SUITCASES. I THINK THERE WERE LITTLE BROWN SUITCASES, AND YOU’D HAVE YOUR DOLLY THINGS IN THAT. THEY DIDN’T HAVE A LOT OF DOLL CLOTHES, TO BE HONEST, AT LEAST MY EATON BEAUTY DIDN’T.” ON THEIR MEMORIES OF THEIR DOLLS: JEAN: “… MY SPECIAL ONE WAS THE EATON BEAUTY DOLL, AND OTHER KINDS OF DOLLS.” SHIRLEY: “I HAD A DIFFERENT DOLL. MY DOLL WAS PLUMPER. YOUR EATON BEAUTY DOLL HAD HAIR, REAL HAIR, AND MY DOLL JUST HAD CARVED HAIR. IT WASN’T REAL HAIR; IT WAS JUST PART OF THE DOLL, BUT I THINK THAT WAS ABOUT IT. I DON’T RECALL ANY LITTLE ONES. …WE HAD THE PLAYHOUSE WHEN WE LIVED IN BARONS. …AND THEN WE MOVED THE PLAYHOUSE THAT WAS IN BARONS, TO MILK RIVER. …AND, WE HAD POTS AND PANS, AND PLATES – …IT ALL STAYED IN THE PLAY HOUSE, AND I THINK IT STAYED THERE ALL WINTER. I DON’T RECALL ANYTHING MUCH COMING IN, IN THE WINTER. …THEN, WE’D GO AT IT AGAIN IN THE SPRING.” JEAN: “BECAUSE WE HAD THE PLAYHOUSE, WE PLAYED AND PLAYED, HOURS, IN THE PLAYHOUSE. …AND, WE’D HAVE LOTS OF LITTLE FRIENDS THAT CAME. ALL THE NEIGHBOR KIDS DID KNOW THE PLAY HOUSE, AND SO THEY WERE OVER TO OUR PLACE TO PLAY.” ON WHY THEY THOUGHT THE DOLLS WERE SUCH A BIG PIECE OF THEIR CHILDHOOD: SHIRLEY: “WE JUST REALLY ENJOYED IT. WE WERE OUT OF THE ‘DOLL ERA’, I THINK YOU COULD CALL US, YOU KNOW.” JEAN: “YEAH, WE PLAYED DOLLS, FOREVER AND EVER. IT JUST SEEMED LIKE THAT WAS WHAT WAS HAPPENING. THAT WAS OUR AMUSEMENT.” SHIRLEY: “WE DIDN’T HAVE TV. I DON’T EVEN RECALL RADIO.” JEAN: “WE HAD A PIANO, AND WE TOOK MUSIC LESSONS.” SHIRLEY: “THAT WAS OLDER, THOUGH, NOT WHEN WE WERE YOUNG. WE WERE JUST HAPPY PLAYING WITH DOLLS. … BUT, THE CATS – CATS AND DOLLS. WE NEVER PUT CATS, I DON’T THINK WE EVER PUT CATS INTO THE BUGGIES IN BARONS. WE DID IN MILK RIVER. WHY WAS THAT, I WONDER? I GUESS BECAUSE WE HAD THE DIFFERENT CATS THERE? OR THE CATS, IN BARONS, WERE IN THE BARN? OR IN THAT SHED?” JEAN: “IF THEY WERE CLOSE ENOUGH, I THINK WE PROBABLY DRESSED THEM, SHIRLEY. POOR ANIMALS! THE HATS ON. THEY’D TRY TO GET OUT. … AND, WE WERE GIVEN LITTLE BUGGIES, EACH OF US …WE WOULD USE THEM QUITE OFTEN FOR OUR CATS. THEY DIDN’T LIKE IT, BUT WE LIKED TO DRESS THEM UP, WITH DOLLY CLOTHES, AND GIVE THEM A RIDE IN THE BUGGY.” SHIRLEY: “THEY ACTUALLY STAYED IN THERE, THOUGH. THEY DIDN’T SEEM TOTALLY BUCKED, BUT WE WOULD DRESS THEM UP, AND I WOULD IMAGINE DRESS THEM UP MORE IN BIGGER BONNETS… THEY’D TRY TO GET OUT AND THEN WE’D SMOTHER THEM WITH A BLANKET. THEN, AFTER THAT, KIND OF THE WHOLE ERA PASSED ON. WE DIDN’T GO BACK.” JEAN: “… OUR CHILDHOOD HAD BEEN A GOOD ONE, AND IT SEEMED LIKE WE HAD LOTS OF TIME TO PLAY, AND JUST BREATHE, AND I WOULD HOPE THAT KIDS HAVE THAT SAME OPPORTUNITY TODAY.” THE INTERVIEW AND A FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW CAN BE FOUND IN THE PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P19970007001

Acquisition Date

1997-02

Collection

Museum

Less detail