D is for Dolls

Today is brought to you by the letter ‘D’.
I could have chosen any number of ‘D’ words to talk about in my life right now, such as depression (it comes and goes), decisions (aren’t there a lot of them to make?) or debating (the Teen’s team won the area championship).
I chose however the word ‘Dolls’.
You know you’re never too old for dolls. Right Mum?
Yes, I’m looking at you. ha haI know I’m teasing my mother but she has a home filled with dolls of every shape and size right now. She collects dolls and mannequins. I’ve given one or two of her mannequins special names but Mum doesn’t like me calling them what I do. 🙂 Just as well she loves me.

I too have a very small collection of dolls. Some were brought back for me from overseas by family members. My little Peruvian couple were given to me by my sister in law. Then when I was at the Stanthorpe Apple & Grape Festival a few months back I found an alpaca made in Peru to complement them.
My Maori doll was found in an op shop. The other day I was looking at a couple of Chinese dolls in an op shop as well. I figure if I’m meant to have them, they will still be there the next time I visit. 😉 Up in my cupboard I have more dolls brought home from South America by my sister in law. When I have somewhere to display them all, I will bring them out to join the ones that have taken up current residence on my shelving in my craft/computer room.

I used to have a collection of dolls from other countries when I was a child. I had a little Scottish doll and some others but I have no idea what happened to them over the years. I kept my dolls that I used to play with though. There was Sandra (she was a little brown doll), Lisa (complete with original wedding dress) and Dancerina (the ballet dancer).
I recently gave these to Mum and Dad has repaired them. Except for Lisa’s hair. He can’t fix that. 😦

I grew up reading Enid Blyton fairy tales in which the dolls came to life at night and had adventures. One day I decided that Lisa needed a hair cut (her bangs) truly believing that her hair would grow back. Sadly for Lisa, it never did. Still it makes for a good story to tell my grandchildren.

As a fan of Enid Blyton’s stories, I also read about the Golliwogs. They were the mischief makers in the tales, but I loved them anyway.
In this politically correct world of ours, Golliwogs were banned for some time due to them being deemed racist (as were many of Enid Blyton’s stories featuring them) but they appear to be making a come back in recent times. The little fellow in the red jacket was purchased several years ago when I was holidaying on the Great Ocean Road and I found him high on a shelf in a gift shop. The other fellow in the blue jacket is an antique that I purchased from a swap meet last year. He’s an original from the 1950’s.
I see my Golligwogs just as memories from a wonderful childhood where my imagination was inspired by the books that I read and nothing more.

I often look out for dolls for either myself or Mum when I’m in op shops. You can find some beautiful old girls in some of them. They don’t make dolls like they used to. Time and fashions change and little girl’s tastes change with them.
I guess there is a part of me that wants to hang on to the little girl inside so that’s why I collect dolls (only not on as large a scale as someone else I know 😉 ).