Porcelain dolls, truly one of the most interesting things to affect anthropecene. With a cultural and a paranormal significance they’ve engraved themselves into our societies and our hearts.
I was given porcelain dolls at a young age, my grandparents whom I lived with at the time had given me two porcelain dolls for my 11th birthday. The first; a purple porcelain doll wearing a Victorian ball gown. The second a pearly white doll with golden curls, a 1920’s silk white dress and barrettes covered in pearls. However when I turned 15, in my move across states I had decided the dolls were lame, and as such I got rid of them. After the move, when I was maybe 16, I had been at the Deseret Industries when I discovered this gorgeous mint green doll with auburn hair and pearls that draped her. I took her home, which had not fared well with my parents who could not fathom why I got a new porcelain doll after having got rid of old sentimental ones. This doll had earned a spot in my heart and therefore my room. I gave her a spot in my room and even gave her some of my necklaces that matched the doll. I would light incense for her, and give her little pearls I would come across. This particular doll of whom I named Eliza, had sparked my love of porcelain dolls once more. I found her frightfully joyous.
My collecting of porcelain dolls had become somewhat of a hobby, so when I had gone to Lagoon late October one year with a past lover, we ended up in a frightmare haunted house. We’d chosen a lesser rated haunted house, for our first one. The haunted house wasn’t particularly scary, the rooms were mostly decorated with moss, mold and fog machines, so you wouldn’t believe it when we came across a room full of porcelain dolls. An older couple behind us had been disturbed and scurried out of the room. But my past lover and I had been over the moon. Out of a pure joke we asked the worker if we could take one of the dolls, and to our luck the worker had said yes. We left that day with a light blue porcelain doll who was in a mahogany wood box. We named her Einora.
Porcelain dolls don’t really have much to do with the current anthropocene, but when they were in their prime in the late 1800’s-early 1900’s they affected the anthropocene drastically. Porcelain dolls, which were originally invented in the 1840’s in France and Germany, were made for children. They were supposed to be the standard of beauty and fashion for the time, meant to give children a view of proper attire and culture. Perhaps that’s why we fear them so much, as they represent standards we can’t achieve. And humans feel the need to be able to fit in. The dolls were often given names and certificates, to prove the dolls’ humanity. These dolls weren’t traded despite their rarities, as they mostly ended up in China cupboards as future antiques.
People have instilled a sort of superstition around porcelaine dolls. We have two main concepts or ideas about these dolls, that one; they are haunted, or that two; they are for old people. Porcelain dolls often are seen as haunted, making them hated or feared. Modernly, people often go out of their way to avoid these dolls. The pretense is that souls are trapped inside these little life-like dolls, which seems to perturb people. The other idea is that porcelain dolls are only to be loved by older women, specifically grandmas. Which is likely a time period thing and not actually based on them being grandmas. However no matter the case on why these dolls are less liked, these dolls have sort of shaped our society. Some barbie dolls used to be made of porcelain, and barbie dolls have revolutionized the toy industry. You can find barbie dolls at almost any store that sells more than food, they are seen as the revolutionary doll. But even these too had something that predated them, and that is the original porcelain doll from brands like madame alexander.
Porcelain dolls extend as more than just fears they are reminiscent of the past. Gentle reminders of where we came from, what we looked like, what the cultures were like in the past. They’re examples of time periods which we have lived in. They represent more than just the Americas but also the world outside as well. Porcelain dolls are meant to be a cultural entertainment which makes other cultures, races, and societies feel seen and remembered.
Overall I’d give porcelain dolls 3 and ½ stars, while they are culturally significant they only hold as much meaning as the collector gives them. By themselves they are frankly useless.
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