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Monday, February 3, 2014

Peddler Doll



Last summer when I was in Montana visiting LaVonne, we got hooked on PEDDLER DOLLS.
What is a peddler doll? Peddler dolls were popular in the 18th and 19th century. Peddlers were women who traveled the roads in England "peddling their wares"....needles, thread, pins, lace, toys, yard goods as well as gossip. Sometimes they were also called notion nannies. Sadly these ladies were often real  thieves and not to be trusted.

Women became interested in making these dolls and showing off their doll making skills. They often wore a calico dress, an apron, and a cape with a white trimmed hood. They could have all their goodies in a basket around their neck or may just carry a big basket. The Peddler Dolls could be made from a wooden peg doll, a china head doll or a Parian doll.




I love their baskets filled with all kinds of treasures. I love miniatures, so this really appeals to me.


Tuesday morning when I got up and came out into the living room, I saw two beautiful Parian dolls in my living room. I was just stunned. LaVonne was sitting on the couch just grinning from ear to ear! One of the dolls was to be my Christmas gift! She said we she was afraid that we would never get another doll made, so she went on the hunt for two ready made dolls for us to use for our Peddlers.
They are 18 inch Parian dolls with blonde hair.


This one is mine. She is darling. LaVonne found a lady on Etsy who made her close to the Parian that LaVonne had found first on Ebay. They are the same size, but their faces are a bit different.



This one is her sweet dolly. She found a lady in Canada who made the outfits. She had her fashion the apron with pockets for all her goodies.


Can you see all the pockets in the apron?


Our friend Clarice calls LaVonne and I the SAUERKRAUT SISTERS...fermented in love. So we have decided that we need to give our dolls a German name. We are both German.


This is going to be such a fun project!!! Thanks so very much LaVonne!!!!!

10 comments:

mamasmercantile said...

The dolls are delightful, looking forward to seeing the end result.

Unknown said...

Hello from Spain: I really like women street vendors dolls. They have many nice things. Congratulations on your two dolls. Keep in touch

Bernideen said...

It is been a long time since I have seen one of these! Very interesting!

Suzanne said...

Love them , of course! LaVonne-what a sweetie:-)

Jan said...

LOVE your new dolls!! Can't wait to see them all fixed up as peddler dolls. Have fun!!

Susan said...

Oh congratulations, Linda. So darling. Fun, fun, fun. Susan

LBP said...

I have never seen any but they are sooo cool. I can't wait to see yours!

Blessings

Linda

Unknown said...

These are wonderful. Auberne gave me the doll she made for me with you guys. I love it. Thanks for sharing all the stuff to make these. Sorry I wasn't able to be there.

LaVonne said...

This makes me so happy, happy, happy! I thought we might be able to complete the cape together at least! ;-) We'll have to be on the look for a lovely wool to use for it! I love the hooded capes they wear. So Tasha-ish! It's so fun to have a friend who loves the same things!

Cathy Santarsiero, "The Christmas Corgi" said...

Love this!