Labor Day Dolls; Buy Braw Troggin

Buy braw troggin 

Frae the banks o' Dee!

Wha wants troggin 

Let him come to me!

(Buy fine wares

From the banks of Dee!

Who wants fine ware

Let him come to me!)

Robert Burns, 1795

Although street venders hawking their wares were long familiar to the streets of London, the rebuilding following the Great Fire displaced many small shop owners and stall holders. Some turned to peddling and street vending. By the Victorian period, peddlers and street vendors carrying an array of inexpensive goods and notions in a basket or displayed on a tray in the city streets were a common sight. Many labored long hours in every sort of weather trying to earn enough to keep themselves and their families fed and sheltered. It became a popular pastime for well-off ladies and girls to dress a doll as a peddler or "notion nanny" and fill her little basket or tray with all sorts of tiny treasures, some homemade and others purchased. The dolls were made from a wide variety of materials, such as wood, papier mache, china, or bisque. When completed, the notion nanny was typically displayed in a glass dome.

This pretty peddler stands in a stall offering a wide variety of goods.  Her dome is handblown.

Removing the dome allows a closer look at the doll and her wee wares.  The doll has a papier mache shoulder head and cloth body.  All her offerings are antique.

She offers several tiny toys for sale, including these delightful diminutive dolls.  

Labor Day Week; Peddler Dolls or Notion Nannies

During the Victorian period in England, peddlers and street vendors carrying an array of goods and notions in a basket or displayed on a tray traveled the city streets and rural roads offering bolts of lace and ribbon, sewing articles, costume jewelry, toys, and a wide of small inexpensive goods.  It became a popular pastime for women and girls to dress a small doll as a peddler, typically a woman, and fill her little basket or tray with all sorts of marvelous miniature goods, some ingeniously homemade and others commercially created.  The dolls were made from a wide variety of materials, such as wood, papier mache, china, or bisque and generally wore a cloak, a bonnet, a simple calico dress, and a white apron.  When completed, the peddler doll or "notion nanny" often was displayed in a glass dome.  Creating a notion nanny is still a popular theme for doll artists or a pastime for collectors, as it is a wonderful way to display a collection of miniatures.  This wood peddler doll from the collection of Elaine Jackson was carved by doll artist Helen Bullard.

This is an antique notion nanny with a tray overflowing with tiny trinkets, many homemade from beads, paper, and bits of lace or ribbon.  She typically sits under a hand blown glass dome.  Her character head is papier mache and she has a crude jointed wooden body.

Many of her goods are still labeled with tiny homemade signs, such as this offering of "dressed dolls."