Almost May and "Criminal Dolls"

It is cool, but nearly May. I started the blog on living green and will discuss planting, and spring, and recycling there, but really, the very nature of collecting in this contradictory society is recycling and preserving. The Green movement, or as we used to call it, The Ecology movement, is all about history and recycling, just as the earth depends on the Circle of Life. [Yes, I can link even this and The Lion King with dolls and toys, from the licensed products to July Taymor's puppets for the Broadway production!] If you think of it, many dolls come from natural substances, wooden dolls are still part of the living tree, folk dolls are made from nuts, plants, seeds, animal byproducts, rubber and plastic dolls are made from materials like resin and plants, coal is used in vinyl, cloth dolls often involve the use of plants, berries, and natural fibers, etc. Metal dolls and doll using precious or semiprecious stones come from the earth, etc.

Tomorrow, I am teaching one of my favorite classes on crime and capital punishment. I focus on capital punishment in popular culture, and of course, I found a way to incorporate toys and dolls, if only to strengthen my thesis that dolls are among the oldest cultural artifacts, and the need to play and create dolls permeats every aspect of society, both good and bad. I've asked before if anyone knew where I could find a photo, or a doll, of "Hanging Mary," the nineteenth century mechanical doll that may represent Mary Ann Cotton on the gallows, but there are other toys of this nature as well. Tomorrow, I will show my class Halloween dolls and toys of little skeletons on the gallows, sitting in an electric chair, on the Guillotine, etc. These talk and are mechanical; they are really modern automatons. They are funny, and say things like "Please sir, can I have another!" when activated. From Headless Historicals, there is a Catherine Howard doll holding her little head, and Marie Antoinette from Achie McFee who pops off her head. I have photos of "Death Row Joe" puppers, other dols representing Joan of Arc, Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots, Marie Antoinette, etc. Archie McFee also provides candy heads of Marie Antoinette on Lollipops, and soap head of Marie and Louis XVI. These are not unusual. Two Hundred years ago, Goethe, the great romantic poet, asked his mother to buy him a toy guillotine in France, during the heart of The Terror. She chastised him severely! I have a toy working guillotine, two, actually, and numerous skeletons and Halloween dolls of Vampires, skeletons, witches, and other figures associated with capital punishment in past times. There are also entire collections out there of Lizzie Borden and Freddy Kreuger dolls, Leather face, Frankenstein, and other murderous personages. Dracula himself would fill several buildings in doll, toy, and figure form. Here is a link for Headless Historicals; their links to historical information is top notch; http://www.spirithalloween.com/. Here is another link for Archie McFee:
http://www.mcphee.com/shop/

There are also Death Row bubble gum cigarettes, nursery rhymes associated with all types of criminals and capital punishments, folk songs, children's literature, and cartoons which deal with Captial Punishment and crime.

Children love these stories, and the Fairy Tales from The Brothers Grimm [who are Grimm!] and others. Video games and electronic diversions of all kinds address serial murder, violence, and crime. Many of us set up the hue and cry for the sake of our kids, and other parents, Stephen King, included, have argued that these games and films allow some type of catharis, an acceptable way to deal with agressions that should not be pent up.

I don't have an opinion other than as a concerned parent who monitors what her child watches, notices who his playmates are, etc. As a doll/toy/childhood culture/ childrens literature historian, I have an interest in studying all the games and gadgets, and the electronic diversions are close relatives of the automatons, mechanical dolls, and metal dolls I love to study.

There; I've brought it all full circle.

My spooky/criminal toys originally were meant to serve as a lesson to children to deter them from lives of crime and socially unacceptable behavior. In fact, public executions were meant to teach a moral lesson to the public in general and served a social control function. Now, they are a bit of a joke, neat Halloween decorations, and ways for us to laugh at our fears.

Thanks also as I write, to Spirit of Halloween, who let me photograph their life-sized axe man executioner. I would have loved to buy him, had I enough money and storage space! Here is their link for those interested; they have great things for little kids as well:http://www.spirithalloween.com/

Lastly, a great Scholastic kids book along these lines [besides all the Harry Potter books, etc.,} and the earlier "Goosebumps" series, is Encyclopedia Horrifica by Jonathan Gee, which also includes a "kid sized" article about the miniatures of Frances Glessner Lee.

Forgive my typos; if anyone would like to hear more about spooky dolls, capital punishment toys and dolls, etc., please let me know.

Adieu till next time!