Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

DOLL DRESS

Date Range From

1940

Date Range To

1950

Materials

COTTON

No. Pieces

1

Length

34.7

Width

17.5

Description

SHEER WHITE VOILE DOLL DRESS WITH SHORT SLEEVES. HAS A FANCY PINK AND WHITE RIC RAC EDGING ON SLEEVES, IN A "W" PATTERN ACROSS CHEST, AND THREE HORIZONTAL STRIPES CENTRE ON FRONT NEAR BOTTOM. NECK HAS A COTTON EDGING SEWN ONTO IT. SKIRT OF DRESS HAS TWO WIDE VERTICAL STRIPES OF LACE SEWN ONTO FRONT ON EITHER SIDE OF RIC RAC. OPENING IN BACK HAS NO BUTTON TO CLOSE IT, AND THE OPENING HAS BEEN TORN OPEN FURTHER. FABRIC HAS DISCOLORED AND IS NOW GREYISH. SEAM ON RIGHT SLEEVE IS FRAYING, AND THERE ARE MANY LOOSE THREADS HANGING ALL OVER.

Subjects

TOY

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

LEISURE

History

ITEMS WERE USED FOR DOLLS BY DONOR AND HER SISTER IN THE LATE 1930'S AND 1940'S. ACCORDING TO DONOR SOME ITEMS WERE MADE BY HER MOTHER, MARY WAGNESS, AND OTHERS WERE PURCHASED. DONOR'S SISTER OWNED A EATON'S BEAUTY DOLL, AND THIS DRESS MAY HAVE BEEN MEANT FOR IT. FOR MORE HISTORY SEE P19970007001-GA. *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: JEAN: “THESE LITTLE GARMENTS HERE, I THINK, CERTAINLY WERE ON DOLLIES MORE. THAT LITTLE FRAGILE OUTFIT THERE. …VERY FRAGILE. VERY LIGHT.” SHIRLEY: “YES. IT WAS VERY LIGHT. AND, I THINK IT HAD A BONNET THAT WENT WITH IT.” 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

P19970007015

Acquisition Date

1997-02

Collection

Museum

Less detail