From The Doll Book/Laura Starr-Dolls and Education

These are telling and important quotes the UFDC should adopt at p. 233 from Chapter 25, The Educational Value of the Doll: "What topic yet proposed for the education fo the young is not in part at least illustrated by doll study? A knowledge of history, geography, folklore, tadition of peoples, their poetry, music, sentiments, dances, social religious festivals are essential to the education of broad mindd individuals'. How better can these things be taught to children than to make object lessons of the mannikins that represent types and clsses of various ountries? Dolls have a social and religious significance; fundamentl principles, which undrlie folklroe and traditions, are embodied and set forth by dolls, which the majority of people look upon simply as children's toys." Starr refers to a pamphlet by G. Stanely Hall and A. Cassowell Ellis of Clark Unviersity, MA, published int he early 1900s asking certan data of response of childrent o objects representing a baby or child. Questions were: 1. With ragard to kind of doll, of what material it was made, etc. 2. The feeding of dolls, what kind of food and how given. 3. Medicine an disease were treated, what remedies were given adn how. 4. What constituted the death of a doll, funeral services and burial. 5. Details of psychic acts and qualities ascribed to dolls. 6. Information wanted re doll names, accesories, toilet articles, furnishings. 7. What did children think of doll families, doll discipline, hygiene, and regimen, rewards and pubnishments; how dolls are put to sleep. 8. What is the influence of dolls on children? etc. 9. Is there regularity and persistency in the care of dolls? etc. See p. 230-231 in Starr. The book is available on eBay and Amazon, and on Kindle.