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Melissa C
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« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2010, 09:08:17 AM » |
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Aww Mother Dean you beat me to the punch!  I found this article to be very interesting! Thanks for posting this. |
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"How very little can be done under the spirit of fear?"
- Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)
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Eileen Hook
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« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2010, 10:21:53 AM » |
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That is awesome! Large dolls, too.
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Eileen Proprietor, Talbott & Co. Heritage Goods www. talbottandco.etsy.com |
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Maggie Koenig
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« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2010, 12:51:29 PM » |
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I don't really think these dolls were used to smuggle things. The only reason they think that is because the person donating them said so which is very shaky research ground and the heads were hollow. I have a feeling almost all doll heads were hollow to cut down on weight and materials costs. While is a great story to say these dolls were used to smuggle drugs into the confederacy I, personally, put it in the same category of civil war lore as the underground rail road quilts. Cute story for a children's book but not so good actual history. Ok, and I'm also a little peeved they didn't post better pictures of the doll's clothing. That peach colored wool with black braiding seems to have been a very common fabric and trim option in the 1850s/60's.
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Maggie Koenig
Gettysburg, PA
"If you can't make it good, you can at least make it shiny!"
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Paris-Lynne Graham
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« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2010, 01:38:16 PM » |
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Aww Mother Dean you beat me to the punch! I found this article to be very interesting! Thanks for posting this. I was just going to link to this and I saw that you already had.  Very interesting article. |
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NoahBriggs
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« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2010, 02:43:11 PM » |
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Elaine Kessinger and I noted the only safety pin was on Nina, near her "navel", and it's a post war pin. Everything else on the x-ray is consistent with period fastenings. The pin may have been used to keep an info sheet on the doll.
Something tells me also that the MOC staff may have been quoted way out of context.
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Noah Briggs
One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time.
Carl Sagan
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Beth Chamberlain
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« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2010, 05:25:11 PM » |
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I'm with Maggie on the skepticism. Well, the lack of decent pictures too.  Paper mache heads were manufactured hollow. There is nothing unusual about empty doll's heads. Besides, even with a larger doll like these there isn't a whole lot of space up there. The smaller doll's head is smaller than the tech's fist, I can't imagine it holding enough drugs to be worth it. I'm also confused by the jump directly to quinine. Why single that out. Either they have been wildly misquoted or they have been sucked into seeking sensationalism. But the xrays are really cool! Beth |
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Men are made in the image of God. Gentlemen are manufactured by tailors, barbers, and bootblacks. Woman is the last and most perfect work of God. Ladies are the productions of silk-worms, milliners
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Stephanie Brennan
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« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2010, 04:26:37 AM » |
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Maggie- The doll, Lucy Ann, is featured in The American Girl series of books about Addy. The book is not part of the story series but about the times Addy lives in. I think the Emmitsburg Library has a copy.
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Maggie Koenig
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« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2010, 07:45:31 AM » |
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Thanks Stephanie,
I actually own the book so I just popped over and took a look. Even the book says it was used for smuggling quinine. So much for the hopes that the MOC quotes were being taken out of context for the article......
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Maggie Koenig
Gettysburg, PA
"If you can't make it good, you can at least make it shiny!"
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catquiltlady
Guest
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« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2010, 11:15:15 AM » |
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I wish there were close ups of the dolls. I'd like to see some of the detailing on them.
Beth
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mmescher
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« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2010, 07:35:07 PM » |
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If you get to Richmond and make an appointment with the MOC staff, it is possible to view both of these dolls. I've had a great time in the vaults looking at their doll collection.
Michael Mescher
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mmescher
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« Reply #12 on: November 04, 2010, 04:42:29 PM » |
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In re-reading the article, there was a statement that just didn't make sense. One statement put forth the theory that the dolls were shipped from Europe with the drugs in the heads in order to escape detection if the ship was boarded. If a ship was trying to run the blockade, it wouldn't have been just a casual merchantman but would have been loaded with contraband. So the presence of the amount of drugs that could have been hidden inside a doll's head would have been less than the proverbial drop in the bucket when compared to all the other things that would have caused the ship to be captured. And a captured blockade runner would not have been allowed to continue on to its destination but would, instead, have been diverted to a union port.
An interesting theory that makes a great story but I don't think holds up to further consideration.
Just my opinion.
Michael Mescher
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E Topping
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« Reply #13 on: August 29, 2011, 11:19:56 AM » |
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The HISTORY DETECTIVES will be airing the results of swabbing the dolls on August 30 at 8pm Eastern Time. There was an article in ANTIQUE WEEK Aug 22 about this. Can't wait to see what they found Elizabeth Topping Columbus, Ohio Here's a link: http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigation/drug-smuggling-doll/ |
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« Last Edit: August 29, 2011, 02:45:31 PM by E Topping »
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Elizabeth Topping
"Shall men come here by the tens of thousands, and fight, and suffer, and die, and shall not some women be willing to die to sustain and succor them?"
Margaret E. Breckinridge
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