Acorn Wishes

Turkey and chicken bones

Out of necessity, due to lack of funds for purchasing dolls from merchants, or because of the combined skill and expertise of making things by hand, homemade dolls have been made since time immemorial.   Household items, found objects, and repurposed items were often used to create homemade dolls in the past. Said to date back to the Victorian era, turkey and chicken wishbones were often used to make wishbone dolls.  Nuts have often been used to make nut head dolls.  Household rags were used for clothing these dolls.

Acorns were used for the heads of my wishbone dolls

I began saving wishbones and acorns some time ago with the intent of making a few dolls from each, separately.  With extra time on my hands, I decided to combine the two materials (wishbones and acorns) to make what I call Acorn Wish Dolls, a father, a mother, and a baby.

What Was Done

• Bodies were fashioned with air-dry clay.
• With the clay bodies still moist, the acorns and wishbones were pressed into the top and bottom of the clay bodies.  Between the legs, from the front to the back of the bodies, a thin strip of clay was attached to keep the wishbones secure.
• The clay was allowed to dry overnight.  

• Feet/shoes were made using polymer clay.  The feet/shoes were allowed to dry for 24 hours.

• Because the top of the chicken wishbone used for the baby projected forward, I knew that standing would be impossible.  Extra clay was added to the bottom of the body for this one to create buttocks for sitting.

• After the clay dried, the bodies and legs were painted and allowed to dry.

• Arms were fashioned using a brown pipe cleaner, which was cut the appropriate length for each doll.  Enough length for each was allowed so the ends could be bent inward to create the appearance of hands and to prevent pricking from the cut wire ends.  
• The pipe-cleaner-arms were hot glued to the back of the bodies.

• Simple faces were painted on next. 
• After their shoes were painted, felt was used to hand stitch their clothing.
• Finally, the top of the acorn (the hair) was painted.  Brown yarn was glued to the back of the mother's head to add length to her hair.  

Dad has black hair.  Black felt was used to make a black shirt and white felt was used for his pants. His shoes are black.

Mom has brown hair with strips of yarn added to the back and sides.  She wears a simple caftan-style black-and-white-patterned felt dress with a felt heart cutout glued to the neckline.

So that her red bottoms could be seen, Mom took this photo lying down.  Show off!

Baby's hair is black like Dad's.  Glue-on clothing is made of white felt and consists of a white bib and a white diaper.  A huge red felt heart decorates the bib.  The feet are painted white with tan soles.

The Acorn Wishes pose for a final picture.

Now that making wishbone and acorn dolls has been marked off my to-do list, I can move on to a couple of other long-overdue doll projects hopefully before my free time diminishes.

For additional information about wishbone dolls, google "wishbone dolls" and "wishbone pen wipers."  The latter type was used to wipe off extra ink from dip or nib pens during the 1800s.  An interesting article about wishbone dolls can be read here.  If you have a copy of the Fall 2015 issue of UFDC's Doll News, the article, "The Peculiar World of Wishbone Dolls" by Gae Ward will be an informative read.

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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D is for Doll and I is for Image Intense

Volume D, World Book Encyclopedia, 1962 and 1987, respectively

"DOLL.  In almost every part of the world, children play with dolls.  They may be made of anything from cooky [sic] dough and candy to cloth and rubber.  They may be made in factories and bought in shops, or they may be made at home and cost nothing.  It makes little difference what they look like or how much money is paid for them.  Dolls are loved the world around."  (World Book Encyclopedia, 1962, Volume D, "Doll," page 234.)


Someone recently asked me if I could suggest ideas for no-sew dolls. I offered a few quick suggestions which included African Wrap Dolls and clothespin dolls.  These suggestions piqued my own interest which led to a Google.com search for "no-sew dolls."  Included in the search results was a blog on how to make acorn dolls.  The blogger recalled discovering instructions to make acorn dolls while reading the "Doll" entry in volume D of her mother's 1950s set of World Book Enclyclopedia (WBE).

Reading the blogger's experience conjured up memories of time spent using my first non-electronic search tool:  an A to Z set of encyclopedias.  As a child I could easily spend hours reading several entries in one volume, prompted by an initial desire to gain information on just one subject.  

I was compelled to grab volume D of my 1962 childhood set that I still own to read the "Doll" entry. I am sure I read the entry as a child; and as evidenced by my sister's first name scribbled on one of the pages, she had read it as well or at least looked at the pictures.  Re-reading it refreshed my memory. This was followed by reading the "Doll" entry in the same lettered volume of my children's 1987 WBE.  

I was not surprised by the scarcity of Black dolls in the 1962 entry.  A recognizable few Black dolls are included in the volume published 25 years later.  Both entries cover a variety of doll topics to include historical and modern dolls and dolls as collectibles.  A collector and her collection are featured in the 1987 entry.  Scans of both entries follow in their entirety with the exception that the collector's identity is concealed.

Doll entry scans, pages 234-244, from volume D, World Book Encyclopedia (1962)
Click/swipe images to enlarge.  Alternatively, on a computer, hold down Ctrl and + to zoom in; Ctrl and - to zoom out. 

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Doll entry scans, pages 234-243, from volume D, World Book Encyclopedia (1987)

 

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The "Doll" entry in the 1962 edition of WBE contains how-to instructions for making an acorn doll and several other doll types. See also the 8th and 9th scans above of the 1962 volume.

During recent grocery store and post office trips, where acorns are plentiful, I gathered several fallen acorns.  The plan is to make my own acorn doll or two like this blogger did, using the instructions from the "Doll" entry in volume D of my childhood WBE.