At a recent meeting of our local doll-collectors’ group, there was a presentation on Working Dolls, or dolls with other uses. We saw a fascinating assortment of dolls, old and new, that had been devised to serve other purposes.
There were some expected items, such as crinoline lady pincushions, and their louche sister, the crochet bathroom tissue cover doll. Barbie also surfaced in the guise of stick drives; keyring holders; and even Pez candy dispensers.
Among the more antique offerings were late nineteenth century patriotic dolls that served as a disguise for whole sewing kits, even down to a concealed tape measure, and a place for scissors.
There were doll bottle covers, bottle stoppers, Russian nesting dolls of various types, wooden knitting dolls, holiday ornaments (Barbie often featured here again), and even necklaces made from dolls.
Nutcrackers and bottle openers are often created in doll form. We were not disappointed as there were two highly politically incorrect versions featuring Hillary Clinton as a nutcracker and Bill as a corkscrew. You can use your imagination at this point …
The meeting made me think once more what a versatile hobby we have, and reminded me of the amazing art produced by the artists of Altered Barbie – not endorsed by Mattel in any way for reasons that will be entirely apparent if you visit their site! alteredbarbie.com/artwork/exhibition
Once home, I was surprised to find that I had some working dolls of my own, without really realizing it. The Dolly dishwashing brush was a recent gift. This makes me smile even when I have to scrub baked-on food from our no-longer non-stick pans. (Mrs Meyer’s Clean Day fragrant dish soaps help too!)
A few years ago, we worked with an Italian printer on a book about Venice. We didn’t get to go to Italy for the job, sadly, but the printers did present us with limited edition Alessi corkscrews. I got the prisoner one, not sure why, but I thought this also counts as a doll of sorts.
Why not look round your place to see how many working dolls you have? Manufacturers have long known that simply applying a winsome face to a product can help to shift stock. In this vein, it’s helpful to observe some sartorial advice I was once given by a fashion writer, “Never wear a t-shirt with a face on it that’s prettier than your own”. Comparisons will never be favorable. This will take Marilyn Monroe out for the equation for almost everyone, unless you are Marilyn Monroe, of course.
This story was first published in Fashion Doll Quarterly magazine.
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