The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 8, 1903, Page 7

yme here right Mehitable vitation for wear? mated con- duly & her a birth- ady, had hundred was about gh the she W her =. Probably she 2go. At any rate, she didn’t vouchsafe a single word, but maintained a strict dig- THE SUNDAY CALL. Dolls have been used In every land-— clvillsed or otherwise—for years. In fact, nity, as becoming to vne of her exalted while the Bible does not distinetly say so, station. there probably were dolls of some de- scription in the Adam family Soclety first took them up of course, Others fol- lcwed, as a matter when the ge had about died out and the price re- ced to a mere song. At any rate, the » knowledge we have of wax figures was in the reign of Charles the Seventh of France. He enjoyed the repu~ mad, and when anything tocratic fancy he straight- way made it his particular hobby, to be ridden for all it was worth until thing else chanced to take its place. A ool offered strange figures. made to faithfully represent several royal pecple, gnd it was their mission to bur- lesque scenes well known in court circl The fool made a hit. Everybody considered himself anybody commenced to make a collection, and, more tham that, to play with them. £o began the lives of our doll babies. When Charles died, the new King had quite a different golored horse to ride, and, In order to keep up with the times, the fickle subjects cast aside their play- things. The children promptly took them up and have been perfectly devoted t6 them ever since - In this country it is not strange to hear of dolls as far back as seventy or even eighty years ago, but such dolis are, as a decided rule, just hear: s and were in all probability made of your great-grand mother's pillow-case and stuffed with any old thing that happened to be tation of beir p'eased his ari some- little who handy Everybody nus seen this type and has loved it more than all the Parislan beau- tles in existence. In the early '50's and in *49, when fami- lies were trudging wearily over the plains, the baby was frequently put in a water- bucket to keep him from rolling about. To keep his imperial highness amused he was given a handkerchief stuffed with a bit of wool, a few pencil marks for a mouth and nose, while two small beads served finely as ey®s. But one hundred years seems almost un- heard of. Yet this is the proud distinc- tion that Dolores Espejo, as she is called now, proclaimed right loudly at the doll show. While she graclously Invited her friends to be near her, near enough to chat and see her triumpns. she made it decidedly understood that she was alone in her glory. When Senora C. Palacios left Paris for Mazatlan she carried in the deepest re- cess of her trunk a beautiful French model. A court lady gowned In exquisite silks and laces, ornamented with pearls, while the lady herself was endowed with rare beauty. She was warranted to make & stir, When she reached Mexico she did all that and more, too. Sue was finest and first lady in the land. Dolores never was & joy or a comfort to her owners £he didn't care to listen and sympathize aver all the ttials and tribulations of this Lard old world. Indced not: She was a Laughty, arrogant beauty to be looked at with vd breath and never, never to be touched unless somebody was right-on Land to curefully inspect each and every finger 1o her glass.case she watched the tod- dling Laby. lLater she saw her put on her first lon frock and bind her curls a bright ribbon. She smiled little mald when her firsi She watched her with the shy high over swecthcart came to call, marry and finally fade and pass aws Tlen Dolores changed her home. The entire family had gone, but the Imperious little beauty was just the same. From one to another she was handed down un- til now she is the property of Senora Es- pejo, a dark-eyed. little shopkeeper on Bush street. In all ‘these years this doll has never been undressed or her hair unhound. The black hair, which Is real, is parted in the center and drawn well bagk into two close plaits. Just over the car it is colled round and round, each coil coming a lit- tie more over the cheek, but taking good cqre to stop before reaching the dimple line. Her face seems to be a sort of com- position, carefully painted, while her body is of thin material well stuffed. Her frock has the full round skirt draped with lace, white the waist is the funny little straight effect with the very decided dip over the hips to the front. Not for one single instant was she con- sidered other than a court lady to be treated with the utmost courtesy, for even the smaller things, such as a pear] neck- lace, have never been removed. She is a typical type of Parlsian fashion more thag one hundred years ago. To make a collection of dolls year by year and to dress them In the height ot the fashion would not be a bad idea. Al- most everybody has a fad, but this one would be Imstructive as well as rather valuable. There is hardly a masked ball that old papers are not eagerly gought and the quaint styles brbught Into used but seldom are the costumes exactly fit. Mehita Bubble Lamb stood on the antique doll table and - envied Do- lores her pretty pink . frock. She claims but little more t half one hundred years, still of two she certainly -presents a more - bat- teped appearance and looks the older china, with queer lttle Her pale bl eyes, of lashes, stare straight any commotion, while her taded cheeks testify that she has #en more summers than she would care to ad- mit. Mehitable Bubble Lamb is another saw- dust lady and not of the best proport either. Her fingers all/ look !ltke thumbs, and hér arms’ are guite the same size ail the way up and down. Poor Mehitable Bubble Lamb never grew up. She has the quaintest Httlé figured calico gown with an old fashioned white slip. The skirt has a ull yoke and 4 very full ruffie on that, while the same immense ones extend well over her shoulders. Altogether the child looks like a toy balloon Her shoes are perfectly curious. -Black kid, and what looks to us slipper form The soles are heavy and the heels come nearer to the military heel of to-day than anything else. ~Straps buttoned tightly over black lace open-work socks hold them in plage, while a large silver buckle run through black satin bows makes the grand distinction between “everyday’ and “Sunday” shoes. \ Like all ehildren, she hhks a strong fan- cy for beads, and Miss Elsle Gorham, her mistress, didn’t deprive her of a red strand just because she caught her in the jam_pot. Baby Bertha ' feit terribly abused be- cause she wagn't put to bed at half after six, but instead had to sit propped up until after midnight just because Madame Zitka Laptized her fully forty-five years ago. Bertha is a regular baby. Hex round head hasn't a sign of a hair upon {t, but there is the little indentation on the top just where really truly bables have them. What seems the most peculiar about this doll is her eyes. They are a deep, deep brown, and furthermore move quite freely with the motions of her-body. While dolls were in use quits generally forty-five years ago they wers not the kind. that go to sieep when laid on a tiny bed, nor did they call “Mamma, papa” in response to a hidden spring. Wherever she goes dalnty Murlel at- tracts att She fs a bride and dur- ing t f century has never discarded her white her vell and orange blossoms fifty years ago when a trousseau was being made for a happy girl, Christmas came around. The tinjest maid in t! use wanted to see & bride, eca as the household word. With scraps of satin, a bit of lace and some sheer cambrics, Bertha was fitted out to suit the oceasion Hér m k Is made princess and wi The skirt is ltned through even t ast ruffie of lace. The petticoat is made e the smalest imaginab! and bi f 1 resents a swell traine and has @ tucks and billows ace. In fact, Muriel rep- bride of some forty years he regulation long vell fas- e with a crown of orange and a dlamond brooch had not hen s a Dutch damsel. Not esps- pretty, but plump and sweet ap- ng. When she was first given to M: © was & heavy brocade: shade somewhere ba- a red. The skirt is snug hose queer old double box ares but little about her is one of few dolls’ that are hirty years ago a ned as women >t them. Such sformed into bables and the t a or even a boy ready to vith a wee gun. Ever 'ge and a lady ays a lady ar ew irksome Gretchien’s walst is made surplice and the tiny white V fits snugly to her dain figure. ‘ To complete her outfit she has broad seal tippet just for all the world ows ¢ clally dolls were not with long skirts swell society lady e day ress ldren like what we are wea is winter. Broad on the shoulders w generous width reaching almost tc The hat s of fur also. A sw turban that gives the lady qui of satista tion in ber own wh nly makes her look broader and rounder Of all ‘the thousand and one dolls of to-day these qua old ladies are far the most interesting and Vvaiuable from a financial poir view. Time and usage haye dene for them what no manufacturer could or w ra do. but notwithstand ing they are a fair example of the eternal onward march of progress. Whatevers they may lack In mechanism and beauty they more than make up in quaintness, in neatness and durability, not to mention faithtully representing curipus ty other days. pes of