My Mother was born in 1930. She made this for her Aunt, my Great Auntie Wyn. The doll has a silk & lace dress sewn at the hem and with a slit in the back.
Inside is a small piece of paper where mum wrote;
WHEN YOUR HANKIES HAVE DONE THEIR WORK
JUST PUT THEM IN THIS LITTLE SKIRT
STUFF THEM IN AND LET THEM STAY
UNTIL YOU SEND YOUR WASH AWAY
JUST PUT THEM IN THIS LITTLE SKIRT
STUFF THEM IN AND LET THEM STAY
UNTIL YOU SEND YOUR WASH AWAY
By R Downs
It's so charming. Auntie Win was a marvelous woman. She never married though she wasn't short of suitors according to her dance cards and written invitations which I now own.
We have wonderful photographs of her and my grandparents in the 20s & 30s and when I get printing on to fabric, I'm going to base my work on these.
Auntie Win worked in Ladies ' Gowns in Marshall & Snellgrove Southport. When I was a teenager she had just the right trim or accessories for me. Sadly a lot were lost when we moved here from Spain.
She lived to see my daughter grow to be a toddler and walk around with her walking stick which she thought was a hoot.
The skirted doll reminds me of the poem by Robert Luis Stevenson
WHENEVER AUNTIE MOVES AROUND
HER DRESSES MAKE A CURIOUS SOUND
THEY TRAIL BEHIND HER UP THE FLOOR
AND TRUNDLE AFTER THROUGH THE DOOR
HER DRESSES MAKE A CURIOUS SOUND
THEY TRAIL BEHIND HER UP THE FLOOR
AND TRUNDLE AFTER THROUGH THE DOOR
We miss you Auntie Win .
Beautiful doll and poetry.
ReplyDeleteIt must be wonderful to hold that history in your hand. We dont have much like that, but it is things like that I want to leave my family with
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness what a wonderful treasure to have, Penny! Thanks so much for sharing it with us. Your Aunt sounded like a fine lady. Xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic combination of family history, memories and crafting! That really is so moving, thanks.
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic to have all that history, Lovely post Penny. XXX
ReplyDeleteThank you. we are hoarders really so the things are kept, but I keep seeing things on Blogs & say " Oh we had one of those " Can't keep everything.
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful post Penny xx
ReplyDeleteI love the poems
You must do some printed work based on this................. A lovely, lovely post.
ReplyDeletethank you for your lovely comments
ReplyDelete