A rag doll is a

doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

made from scraps of

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...

. They are one of the oldest children's toys in existence. Today, many rag dolls are commercially produced to mimic aspects of the original home-made dolls, such as simple features, soft cloth bodies, and

patchwork Patchwork or "pieced work" is a form of needlework that involves sewing together pieces of fabric into a larger design. The larger design is usually based on repeating patterns built up with different fabric shapes (which can be different colors) ...

clothing.

History

Traditionally home-made from (and stuffed with) spare scraps of material, they are one of the oldest children's toys in existence. The

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

has a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

rag doll, found in a child's grave dating from the 1st to 5th century AD. Historically, rag dolls have been used as comfort objects, and to teach young children nurturing skills. They were often used to teach children how to sew, as the children could practice sewing clothes for the doll and make some simple dolls themselves.Reef, Catherine. “Childhood in the United States, 1790–1850.” ''Childhood in America'', Facts On File, 2002. ''American History Online''. Accessed 1 Dec. 2018. In America, from the colonial era up to the early 20th century, children of various statuses would play with dolls made from rags or corn husks. Mass production of rag dolls began around 1830, when fabric color printing was first developed."Fabric and rag dolls." ''Miller's Antiques Encyclopedia'', edited by Judith Miller, Mitchell Beazley, 2nd edition, 2003. ''Credo Reference.'' Accessed 1 Dec. 2018.

Types

Amish

Amish dolls are a type of traditional American rag dolls which originated as children's toys among the

Old Order Amish The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss and Alsatian origins. As they maintain a degree of separation from surrounding populations, and ho ...

people. These dolls commonly have no facial features.

Mexican

Slavic

Motanka dolls (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

''motanka'', Ukrainian ''мо́танка'', from ''motać''/''мотати'' - to tangle/spool/wind) are a type of traditional

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

dolls made in Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. They were a part of

folk culture Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes mat ...

( Vasilisa the Beautiful) and its magical beliefs, made and tied without the use of a needle or other sharp objects, to "not poke/hurt the fate" and traditionally had no facial features, sometimes with a cross instead. Motanka dolls were made with specific intentions and wishes/tasks for them to grant, of various sorts, such as guarding the family or a prosperous marriage. Nowadays motanka dolls are coming back to popularity as a part of interest in Slavic cultures of the past, often as an educational device during educational and ethnographic workshops, or as a work of

folk artists Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

Commercially produced

Today, many rag dolls are commercially produced to mimic aspects of the original home-made dolls, such as simple features, soft cloth bodies, and patchwork clothing. One prominent example of a commercially produced ragdoll is the

Raggedy Ann Raggedy Ann is a character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) that appeared in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and a triangle nose. The cha ...

doll. Raggedy Ann first appeared in 1918 as the main character of a series of children's stories by Johnny Gruelle. Raggedy Andy, her brother, was introduced in 1920.Hovde, Karen. "Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy." ''St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture'', Gale, 2013. ''U.S. History in Context''. Accessed 2 Dec. 2018.

Traditional materials

In their earlier forms, rag dolls were made out of cloth scraps or cornhusks. In the 19th and 20th century, rag dolls were made out of stockinette, felt, or velvet.

References

{{Dolls Rag dolls Textile arts English folklore Talismans Amulets Magic items European witchcraft Cunning folk