Caroline

I decided that Caroline needs a post of her own.
She is a very special doll living on a shelf in Mum's sewing room.

Nana was given her when she was a child. Mum reckons it was possibly when she was about 10 and as Nana was born in 1916, that makes Caroline over 90 years old. Nana's Aunty Carrie Dixon gave her the doll and that is how she got her name, Caroline.

Mum remembers she was a very special doll even when she was growing up. If she or her closest sister were sick but were on the road to recovery, they were allowed to play with Caroline. She was always kept on Nana's dressing table. I remember seeing her there when I was young but don't ever remember playing with her.

During the 1940s sometime, Caroline had to go to the Doll Hospital for a new wig and a bit of a makeover. I'm sure she was very happy...until Mum's youngest sisters (twins who were 15 years younger than mum) got busy with the scissors one day and gave her a bit of a haircut. She's worn a bonnet ever since.
(The sisters in question appeared on my blog *here* albeit a lot more grown up)

She had a variety of clothes; some very 'old fashioned outfits' according to Mum (Probably the height of fashion in the 1920s) but all that is left now is this sweet outfit Nana knitted during the 60s.

Looking closely at her and after a wee search with Mr Google, I think Caroline is what they call a Composite doll, made from a combination of materials/glue/etc and quite popular during the earlier 1900s. Some pictures I saw showed the dolls flaking or the glaze cracked, but Caroline doesn't show these features. Her fingers are a little chipped though.

One last photo -

'til next time,

happy stitching,