The Doll that Inspired
By ML Condike
This doll inspired the magical realism in my second book, The Doll from Dunedin (Dunedin, NZ). As I researched Dorothy Arnold, I came across a photo of her sister, Majorie, sitting in a room embroidering. A small child stood in front of her and was presenting her with a bouquet of wildflowers. The little girl held a Patsy doll under her right arm.
As I stared at the photo, my mind wandered back to my plot. I knew at that moment the doll would become an important part of the story that I was about to tell. I found an antique Patsy doll online and ordered it that same day. She sat with me through my entire writing process.
I brought Patsy to my book signing. She attracted a good deal of attention, but not always with positive reactions.
Most of my signings have happened in Key West where the notorious “Robert the Doll” resides at the Fort East Martello Museum on South Roosevelt Street. He’s 40 inches tall and was stuffed with straw. The painter, Robert Eugene “Gene” Otto owned him in the early 1900s. Apparently, the Robert was gifted to Gene by a servant skilled in voodoo.
And then, of course, there’s the 1988 movie, Child’s Play” by Don Mancini where Chucky, a notorious serial killer, frequently escapes death by performing a voodoo ritual to transfer his soul into a “Good Guy” doll.
Some potential book enthusiasts, refused to touch my book because of the doll.
Honestly, Patsy’s not a voodoo doll. She’s one of the original, 1928 versions of Effanbee’s Patsy Ann dolls. Bernard E. Fleischaker was a furniture maker from Kentucky and Hugo Baum made puppets and had emigrated from Germany. They founded the company of Fleischaker & Baum (F&B) in NYC around 1910. They established an international distribution network.