We continue our club's virtual meeting in honor of Black History Month with this endearing cloth doll from member Elaine Jackson. Cloth or rag dolls are probably the earliest type of doll. Their soft bodies made them especially cuddly and comforting as children' playmates. The dolls could be made economically out of scraps of leftover fabric and a simple doll could be sewn by a loving mother or relative with no pattern other than the maker's imagination. Beginning in the 1800s, monthly women's magazines not only included stories, poetry, music, and articles, but also patterns and instructions for embroidery, sewing, and other handicrafts, including for making dolls and doll clothing. However, even as commercial patterns became more widely available, many homemade dolls were freehand creations. Cloth dolls can be dated by the style of their embroidered faces, the type of fabric, and whether they were made using a commercial pattern. This 10-inch rag doll has yarn braids, button eyes, and a sweet, but simply embroidered, features. Elaine says that the doll is wearing her original dress and was probably made in the 1930s to 1940s. The doll has stub hands and feet and is mostly likely on-of-a-kind.
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