This lovely doll is part of an extensive collection of toys donated to the DAR Museum in Washington DC by the Giddings family of Nebraska and (later) Illinois. Her name is “Miss Hetty” (1), according to the collection’s information on the DAR Museum website.

Today’s blog post is part of a history challenge! Click here to read about the challenge and download the free PDF to join the history challenge.

Take a look at this doll’s lovely head. Her hands are made of the same porcelain material, which is why Miss Hetty is referred to as a china (lower-case) doll.

According to Wikipedia, “A china doll is a doll made partially or wholly out of glazed porcelain. The name comes from china being used to refer to the material porcelain. Colloquially the term china doll is sometimes used to refer to any porcelain or bisque doll, but more specifically it describes only glazed dolls” (2), so these dolls aren’t necessarily made in China. The word “china” in lower-case refers instead to the material the dolls’ heads and hands are made of.

The body of a china doll is often made of cotton, and the hands and head are then affixed to a stuffed cotton body, sometimes by sewing the china pieces into the cloth of the doll’s body.  The DAR Museum article describes Miss Hetty thus, “Doll with china head and shoulders with molded and black painted hair, black eyebrows, blue eyes, red on lip and nostril, and pink cheeks. Stuffed cloth body and upper arm and legs, bisque lower arms.”

But what I love most about this doll is the fact that she comes with accessories! The DAR Museum article implies that one of the Giddings family members very likely made the doll’s clothing, as she was learning to sew. “The doll dates to about 1860 and was made in Germany; it probably first belonged to Catherine Giddings and was played with during her childhood… The dresses, skirt, and quilt are made of prints from the late 19th century for her daughter Hazel’s use. It is quite possible that Hazel herself sewed the clothes and quilt, as these were projects typically assigned to children as they learned to sew.”

And yes, you read that correctly… There’s even a little tiny quilt for this doll! How sweet is that?

Now if you’re part of the history challenge, we have a specific date for this doll. She was, as the article tells us, made in Germany around 1860 or so.

And I have one more surprise to share with you. This doll also has a precious little miniature four-poster bed:

Don’t you just love that little yarn canopy with the teeny-tiny tassels? A little girl’s dream come true!

Today’s images and much of the information provided come from the DAR Museum online. Please click on the links provided to learn more about the DAR Museum. The address of the museum is 1776 D Street NW Washington, DC 20006, so if you plan to visit our nation’s capital, you might think about going to see the DAR Museum in person.

I’m a museum liaison for my local (Twin Falls, Idaho) chapter of the DAR, which means that I sometimes do museum research for our local club.

The letters, DAR, stand for Daughters of the American Revolution. What does this mean? It means I have an ancestor who was in the American Revolutionary War. I’m very proud of the fact that my ancestor served in the Revolution for American Independence from Great Britain, and as such, helped establish the United States of America as an independent nation.

The DAR is a club that offers its members an opportunity to serve our nation by doing organized volunteer work. In particular, over the summer, I sewed drawstring bags for a public school to use as storage in one of the teachers’ classrooms. Last year I made doll clothes to give as Christmas presents to a.) the families of United States military service members and b.) a homeless shelter in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Although the doll clothes I made for these purposes were featured in some of my articles here on ChellyWood.com, the volunteer work I do for the DAR is separate from the work I do to maintain this website. They are not affiliated with one another in any way. ChellyWood LLC is recognized by the state of Idaho as a for-profit business, whereas the DAR is a nonprofit organization.

Some members of the DAR serve as volunteers at local voting locations, soup kitchens, food banks and so much more. If you’d like to contact your local DAR to request volunteers to act in service capacities in your neighborhood, or if you’d like to learn whether or not you could qualify to join the DAR (you must do genealogy research to find out whether or not you are a descendent of a person who served in the American Revolutionary War), feel free to contact members of the Daughters of the American Revolution on their website, by using one of the links I’ve provided here.

REFERENCES:

Please note: images were used, with permission, and they come from the DAR Museum website. Click on the link provided to visit the DAR Museum website for yourself, to see a higher-resolution image and to learn more details about each of the dolls featured.

1. Artist/maker unknown. “Doll, china.” [Medium: porcelain and cloth]. Around 1860. DAR Museum, Washington, DC. Associated image is in the public domain.
2. Wikipedia contributors. “China doll.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 7 Mar. 2024. Web. 13 Sep. 2024.
3. “Become a Member.” National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR), 24 July 2024. Web. 2024.