MANIPULATED DOLL, Child

Child, see also father H89/236 and mother H89/237. Manipulated dolls were made on the same principal as Appalatian stick puppets. Between about 1910 and 1930 travelling tinkers sold manipulated dolls around Australia This one was probably made by Miss Rogers and would have been used by her students when they put on their own plays. The body and head are three ply cut from one piece. The body is almost rectangular and the head is simple and fairly round. The hair is painted brown, the eyes are blue and the mouth is red with white teeth. The reinforcing piece of three ply glued behind the head and neck has fairly large ears. The entire doll has been varnished. The arms are simple and cut from one piece of pine. They are attached at the shoulders with paper fasteners to enable them to swivel. The legs are also cut from one piece of pine. They have simple pine shoes painted brown with white socks. There is a notch at the top of each leg with a hole immediately below and a similar notch at the bottom of each side of the torso with hole above. They are joined with a piece of black elastic threaded through twice and tied at the back. The entire collection of marionettes and puppets, which includes 31 marionettes, 26 hand puppets (glove and rod), 20 puppet heads, 9 hand sticks, 3 stick dolls and a travelling stage, were used, and many were made, by Miss Frances Rogers. Miss Rogers, born on 19 Oct 1904, went to teacher's college in 1930 and joined the Education Department of WA in 1934. Between 1934 and her retirement in 1967, she taught at various country schools, took special classed for deaf and dumb children in Mosman Park, and classes for mentally and physically disabled children in Leederville. She used the puppets as teaching aids for the disabled children.

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