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Molly’s Nurse Doll.

I was looking for something else and ran into a nurse doll picture that reminded me of Molly’s doll from Molly’s Christmas Box. I did some initial research and found lots of great information and doll pictures and war advertises but realized they all referenced WWIII nurses in the United States and not in England. So I had to do some digging. First here is Molly’s Christmas Box:

The doll in the first version of the Christmas box probably looks more accurate:

Second Version:

The nurse doll is suppose to come from England so it would have been a British nurse—possibly a civilian nurse? ��The Nursing Auxiliary uniform was in a blue cotton with a very fine white stripe.” The Air Raid Precautions (ARP) nurses were civil were part of the Civil Nursing Reserve that included a quick two-week training for nurses without prior nursing experience to get more help in the hospitals.

Source: https://www.ww2civildefence.co.uk/nursing-uniforms.html

I can’t imagine how Molly’s dad *got* a new doll for her during WWII since I assume all the factories have been switched to making military things. However I guess they produced toys for a little while. Factories also did deep dives in their warehouses to find old new stock to sell toys.

Apparently there were a few dolls being sold with a portion going to charity

Source: https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/214533-doll-wwii?in=495-activity

“Advertising in 39-40 began to emphasise the usefulness of toys and construction kits as a "blackout hobby" to keep children occupied during the long blackout nights”

“Some manufacturers seemed to have gone through their warehouses and rediscovered old unsold stock – Meccano Ltd suddenly readvertised the Dolly Varden dollhouse that had been launched back in 1933 and had disappeared without trace almost immediately afterwards, and Bassett-Lowke similarly put out a "stock clearance" ad for the leftovers of their Nuways dollhouse furniture range, which had also not obviously been promoted or advertised since about ~1934.”

https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:World_War_Two#:~:text=Some%20manufacturers%20seemed%20to%20have,production%20would%20start%20really%20soon.

“Non-metal toys such as paper dolls, puzzles, and games saw increased popularity due to their availability” https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/3600#:~:text=Non%2Dmetal%20toys%20such%20as,and%20puzzles%20with%20patriotic%20images.

Molly does have paper dolls too in Molly’s Winter Activities https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Molly%27s_Winter_Activities

Now I’m convinced Molly probably would have more likely gotten paper dolls from her dad.

I found plenty of American nurse paper dolls but not a lot of British.

Source: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/dolly-joins-forces-paper-doll-booklet-1729145179

My conclusion is that Molly’s second version nurse doll is actually inspired by American-designed nurse dolls before and after WWII. The doll isn’t completely accurate but hopefully it is a little reminder of the hardship and sacrifices made during WWII.

Nurses with all levels of training and from all walks of life were vital to the war effort.

These little notes are just some quick research and not an academic reference. I am not a nurse or nurse expert and have not used peer-reviewed papers in scholarly journals. I have tried to post my sources. Please do some proper research with the help of your teacher or professor if you need more information.

[rainylanielane]

To reduce my screen time, I have weaponised my overactive and entirely impractical levels of empathy for inanimate objects. Wym you’re picking it up again? While it was sleeping? You complete and utter monster, let it rest!!

And it works. It works like a CHARM. Silly problems require silly solutions!

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I can’t believe this is even a thing. 🤦‍♀️

Looks like the NPR store is open for now:

Support NPR!

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I can’t believe this is even a thing. 🤦‍♀️

Here are some ways to support PBS:

Get PBS Passport!

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I fixed some of the typos and added more info.

I did a tiny bit of research on Claudie’s Travel Accessories.

Here is the wiki on it:

This set features two Madam C. J. Walker products. If you are not familiar with Madam C.J. Walker I suggest you do some research on her as she was an amazing women and the first female self-made millionaire. I tried to find the real products that she produced based on the Claudie set.

I could not find the exact packaging on the real Madam C.J. Walker's Complexion and Toilet Soap but found this:

Here’s an advertisement:

I did find Claudie’s Madam C.J. Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower:

The Smithsonian also has the Rose tooth powder:

Source:

Claudie’s brush and hair comb wasn’t this fancy but these are similar:

Source:

Green Comb: https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb

Butterfly Comb:

https://www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr/fr/petit-palais/oeuvres/peigne-papillon

I do recommend the “Self Made” movie if you’re interested in learning about Madam C.J. Walker.

Learn more about Madam C.J. Walker on wiki:

Th company is still around and here is the official website:

There is also a Barbie doll of her!

[rainylanielane]

I did a tiny bit of research on Claudie’s Travel Accessories.

Here is the wiki on it:

This set features two Madam C. J. Walker products. If you are not familiar with Madam C.J. Walker I suggest you do some research on her as she was an amazing women and the first female self-made millionaire. I tried to find the real products that she produced based on the Claudie set.

I could not find the exact packaging on the real Madam C.J. Walker's Complexion and Toilet Soap but found this:

Here’s an advertisement:

I did find Claudie’s Madam C.J. Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower:

The Smithsonian also has the Rose tooth powder:

Source:

Claudie’s brush and hair comb wasn’t this fancy but these are similar:

Source:

Green Comb: https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb

Butterfly Comb:

https://www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr/fr/petit-palais/oeuvres/peigne-papillon

I do recommend the “Self Made” movie if you’re interested in learning about Madam C.J. Walker.

Learn more about Madam C.J. Walker on wiki:

Th company is still around and here is the official website:

There is also a Barbie doll of her!

[rainylanielane]

Maryellen

Sears catalog, 1962.

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Old picture of my summer girls

[rainylanielane]

Not AG but if you collect Sesame Street or Peanuts the stores have them everywhere now it seems. I don’t collect them personally since I have enough collections but maybe you might be interested or at least nostalgic about some of these characters.

* I do collect Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake but I don’t need anymore lip oil!

There are a lot of Sesame Street things out now as well as Peanuts, Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake. Also I saw a little bit of Scoobie Doo. Look for them at Homegoods and Marshalls. I liked these things but I did not buy anything shown.

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Molly and Maryellen

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Courtney approved

Your weekend plans are sorted

Dazzling Designs for Easy Applique by Ginger Pahmeier

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Not much going on in my doll world right now. I’m still lusting after the Josefina Peaches ‘n Cream AG doll but I can’t right now. I also want those WellieWishers in sale at Amazon but no I can’t get it. I have to get ready for my big trip. I also have a lot of necessities to buy. I have to make this apartment look halfway decent for the pet sitter. 😂

I admit I do have a couple of toys on pre-order. Okay I got one Funko and way too many Halloween decorations. You have to get Halloween things you want now or it will be sold out by October! I learned that last year. But no AG items. I have more AG stuff than I know what to do with right now. New AG things is fun don’t get me wrong. It just might be on the back burner for a couple of months.

[rainylanielane]

Anyone relate?

[rainylanielane]

I doubt many doll collectors are also octopus fans but for the small minority who may also like octopus here is my blog entry about them!

My local zoo and aquarium recently got a huge octopus boy! He is a giant pacific octopus. (Learn more about this type of octopus here https://octonation.com/octopedia/giant-pacific-octopus/ ) I don’t know his name or if he has one yet.

He’s impressive. I hope he is settling nicely to this strange new experience being at a zoo.

I feel a little bad about how they have to get him from the wild since it’s nearly impossible to “breed” octopus in captivity but I guess at least he’s not in someone’s takoyaki or sushi dinner. I donno. I have mixed feelings.

Don’t get me wrong I still support this AZA-accredited zoo 100% and I think it’s important that people see these animals alive instead of on their dinner plates. This octopus could later inspire a child to be a marine biologist or something. Save the world! Save an octopus!

[Correction: octopus breeding in captivity is possible and is/has done but it is tricky because of a lot of unpleasant things including:

1) Breeding can be dangerous! One octopus can eat the other. https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/15/us/seattle-aquarium-octopus-mating-canceled

2) Octopus have tons of babies. Where do you house them all? It’s a litter of 100,000-500,000+ eggs!

3) Octopus die after having the babies from starvation. That is the way of things. Trying to force-feed an octopus is hard.

4) In short, it’s a complicated ordeal. Most (of not all) zoos and aquariums would rather not try to breed octopus. If you want to deep dive into octopus breeding go here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus_aquaculture]

I have recently read a couple books and seen a few movies on the octopus and I have a very different opinion about them now. Growing up they grossed me out. They gave me the heebie jeebies. I still find them a bit creepy but I now respect them and find them fascinating. They are in fact amazing animals.

If you are an octopus fan I recommend this website. https://octonation.com You can learn anything you ever wanted to know about them!

I am vegetarian anyway but I will certainly not be eating octopus if I don’t have to for survive and I hope you will consider doing the same. They are such smart creatures that should be left alone to live.

Book-wise, to learn more about the octopus I recommend reading:

As well as:

For a fiction book I recommend:

For movies I recommend:

Octopus are cool!

[rainylanielane]

one of the most beautiful AG dolls there is

gabriela i’m in awe of you 😻

[rainylanielane]

If I had a nickel for every-time a pioneer girl in Minnesota with pigtail braids adopted a raccoon, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice