Dolls and doll making #1

Source:

Robinson, David. “Babies, Balls, and Bull Roarers.” Babies, Balls, and Bull Roarers. Colonial Wiliamburg, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014. <http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/Christmas04/toys.cfm#top>.

URL:

http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/Christmas04/toys.cfm#top

Quote:

“When mother set her girl to husking the corn, the child saved some husks and made her own doll. It’s easy: tie four husks together near the big ends, double the long leaves back, tie off the neck, and there’s your head. Slide a twisted husk up the skirt to the neck, and there are your arms. If it’s a girl doll, add husks for a skirt, tie off the waist, and you’re done. Divide the skirt and tie it off into two legs, and it’s a boy. Give it a name, paint it a face with charcoal or poke-berry juice, sew it a wardrobe of remnants, and when it wears out, make a new one and use the old to kindle a hearth fire.”

 

“Indian children had been making corn-husk dolls for centuries…”

 

 

 

Paraphrase:

• This quote is shows how to make a Corn Husk Doll.
• This is what young girls played with.
• The kids would make toys out of what ever they could find
• When the doll was worn out they could easily make a new one and use the old one for kindling
• Boy and girl dolls were made differently
• Though the Indians were making corn husk dolls centuries before the English by the Colonial Period both of them were making them and playing with them.

My Ideas:

I wonder why it matters if the doll is a girl or a boy. It’s interesting that girls only wore skirts and that’s reflected in day to day life.  Some families were so poor that they had to use all of their resources. Though most people didn’t know how to read and write the children knew how to entertain themselves. This wasn’t the first time that the English stole Native American’s ideas and didn’t give them credit.