Doll-A-Day 2023 #94: Hillbilly Siblings

   Today's dolls came from the last doll show I went to. 

  I'm not sure who they are really supposed to be. I thought they might be Jack and Jill  for a bit. The boy seems to have an injured toe, and the girl is helping him along. ( I know. Jack cracked his head, not his toe. Get technical.)

But he has something in his mouth, and I couldn't quite figure out what it is.

At the tale end of their photo shoot I figured out that it was upside down/turned around, and fixed it. It's a pipe!

Maybe it's supposed to be a corn cob pipe?

That, added to the ragged clothes he's wearing, and his bare feet, led me to the conclusion that he's supposed to be an old timey hillbilly.

  I can say that, because my parents were hillbillies. My dad quite proudly claimed that title. They were both born and raised in Kentucky, and my mom's family did literally live on top of a hill. It was called Watermelon Hill, because my grandpa grew watermelons.

My mom and dad's families hung out together. this picture, From the 1940's, shows the two families eating watermelon together, probably on Watermelon Hill. My maternal grampa is on the far left, with his dad, (in the black hat), and stepmother, (Next to great grampa.). My dad's stepmom 'Mamaw', and his little sister are on the far right. I think Dad's dad is behind Mamaw, and his little brother can barely be seen behind the blonde girl standing next to Mamaw. Most of the blonde girls are my mom's cousins, except for the tiniest one, which is probably my dad's youngest sister. You will note that shoes are worn by all in this picture!

  It's still called Watermelon Hill, but my grandparents' house isn't there any more. The hill was sold years ago. These days the top of the hill is covered with houses. But I digress. The cliché old time hillbilly is always pictured as barefoot, and usually in bibbed overalls, and with a piece of straw hanging out of their mouths. You can see my hillbilly dolls HERE, and  HERE.

  But what threw me to begin with is that thing sticking out of the other side. I realize, now that I know what it is, that that is the pin or nail used to stick the pipe into his face. It shouldn't be showing, but must have worn through the clay or whatever the pipe is made of.

It's loose now, because the hole in the pipe has worn bigger, so the pipe is able to turn over like this.

  Anyway, I spotted these two at the doll show. They had such personality, and were only $5 for the two, so I couldn't resist. They're just the type of soft doll I like, with quirky looks, freckles, and the boy even has red hair.

I'm sure they're one of a kind, so I'll never see any more like them. She has a stockingette face, while his is made of a cottony fabric.

The faces are obviously hand painted, and have so much personality.

The faces have been sort of soft sculptured. There's shape to their features that is sewn in.

Especially hers.

Their arms, and at least his legs, are made of felt, and wired, so they are posable.

Even his toe bandage is made of felt.

  The girl has cloth shoes. I'm not sure if they are supposed to be Mary Janes, because they look more like sandals. There doesn't seem to be an actual shoe toe that comes up over her toes.

You'll notice that her feet aren't foot shaped, like his. They're just legs bent up at the ends. (That's kind of how my dad described my feet, because they were so small!)

But maybe that black part in the front is supposed to look like toes. The maker just didn't stuff it enough to make that convincing.

The stitching is all on the outside.

  The boy, as I have mentioned, is wearing clothes that were made to look worn and raggedy. He has a patch on his pants, which only have one shoulder strap, one leg of the pants is fraying at the bottom, and his shirt is in tatters.

His collar seems to be held together with a straight pin.

The girl, on the other hand, is wearing a nice dress.

She's fully undergarmented, with a slip, bloomers, and stockings.

Her dress has a ribbon at the neck that matches the one in her hair.

  And speaking of that hair, hers looks to be a natural fiber, like maybe a wool/mohair type thing. His is obviously yarn, but maybe wool yarn.

  They're different in the face fabric and the hair, so much so that you might think they weren't made by the same person, or at least not made to go together. But the faces are so similarly painted that it's obvious they were made by the same artist.

   They were linked arm in arm when I bought them. I don't know if they were always that way, or if the dealer, or someone along the way, did it to hold them together.

She does appear to be guiding him along the way though.

But he's not cooperating very much, obviously.

He obviously can't want to get away and cause some  trouble. (Nobody wants to listen to their older sister.) That might be difficult with his bad foot, and maybe that has something to do with what happened to his foot in the first place.

  Yes, he looks pretty troublesome. They kind of look to me like they could be the niece and nephew of my Garden Nymph doll.

They are about 9 inches tall.

  Those are the dolls for today. 

Bye!

See you tomorrow for another doll.