Chapter Synopsis

Memoirs of a London Doll
November 17, 2008

Chapter 1: My Making and Birth

This is the story about a doll and told by the doll. This doll began her life through the skills of a funny looking dollmaker named Spratt. Spratt lived in one room at the top of a large dusky house in High Holborn in England with his wife and three children, two boys and a girl. They were a poor family. They slept on the floor on one side of the room, and the other side of the room, which was well lit by windows, served as the workshop.

Spratt made many types of dolls, but mostly he made wooden dolls with jointed arms and legs. Each family member held a job in this little enterprise. Sprat was the “great manager” and “doer of most things”, and he was always the “finisher.” Mrs. Spratt excelled with a paintbrush and did all the eyes and eyebrows. The eldest boy painted hair on the dolls and fitted and glued the hair onto the head of the best dolls. The second boy fitted half legs and arms together by pegs at the joints. The little girl painted rosy cheeks and lips on all the dolls.

The doll in this story was made of wood.

DISCUSSION:

I think the names of the areas of London and the streets are very interesting. I always picture the area to be so colorful and bustling with people of all character (probably bursting at the seams with people) and I always tend to picture it in my mind as it might have been in old England as opposed to today. I always thought it would be interesting to go back in time and to be able to walk down the streets and see all the sights from the poor to the rich all bustling around at their errands. And what fun it would be to go into a doll shop back in those times. I wouldn’t want to live in those times and certainly not be poor as it was a very hard life for poor people. Although, I have to say, after watching Sweeny Todd (very gruesome movie) the other night, I don’t think those old days of London appeal quite so much to me any more. Maybe I can leave the bad things out of my thoughts.

It’s interesting that the entire Spratt family was involved in the family business, right down to the little girl who did cheeks and lips. Nothing much was said about clothing for the dolls, other than Mr. Spratt did not do clothes. He said that it was not work for an artist like him.

I’m not sure the children had much of a life. Did they have time to play and be children? I hope so.
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Did you read my mind before writing this post..lol... I have had the same thoughts..even before joining the group. Wow you’re good to be able to read the mind so far away.
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Interesting!!! Okay, when do we purchase our tickets for London???? That is definitely on my list of places to see before I croak!!! Did you read the rest of the book or are you reading a chapter a week?
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I have already read it. I couldn't wait. But I am reading over again with the group. I enjoy historical books, fact or fiction, which give such good detail you can almost feel the life of one or all of the characters.

As I read this book, I found myself daydreaming of my childhood dolls and the love I had for them. I have a couple of my dolls still, and every now and then I just hold them. Oh to be a child again.

Uhhhh, I don't know if I could actually go to London. LOL... I would love it if I could blink and be there... but the plane ride... I would probably croak over. I have a horrible fear of heights. I would love to be a world traveler but with the plane fear... I guess I will have to live my dreams through reading and listening to others stories.
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I feel the same about my old dolls. I only have two with me now. I came across some old photos with some of my dolls then.

Oh to daydream too.
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I started reading it and just kept going and going and finished it. But I am going to go back and reread each chapter as we go along. I agree about the street names and such. They are very interesting sounding. I felt terrible for the Spratt family. They all worked on the dolls and didn't seem to have much fun, especially the children. Seems like they were probably always cold and hungry.

Maria Poppet arrived at my house just the other day. I think she will be a good representative, as she is a Penny Wood Doll, and from what I read about her she originated in London and sold for 1 penny. She hasn't come out for photos yet as she arrived in the "buff" so to speak but she came with a pattern for a dress and pantalettes (I have visions of the ones made for Maria Poppet) so I am going to be working on getting her a dress made soon. Then she will agree to pictures. She has painted on black hair, but I think I could probably put a wig on her and no one would be the wiser.

This book is going to be fun.
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I love the name of the character, and I'm wondering how others are pronouncing it.... Maria with an E sound as in "West Side Story" and "Sound of Music," or with an I sound as in "They Call the Wind..."? I'm not sure if there's always a spelling difference between the two. I can't help thinking that the latter (with an I sound) sounds more Olde English. Any thoughts?

And poppet is such a fun word for a doll. I think I first encountered it in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible." It has just dawned on me that "poupee" (the French word for doll) must have the same origin as poppet. Poppet really sounds like a surname... perfect!
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I think a lot of little children worked either in the home in cottage industries or on the farm or worse yet in the mines. Children of the working class had a hard life. The Children of the rich land owners were the ones who got to play.
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My book, (1927 edition) has a forward called 'To Boys and Girls', by Clara Whitehill Hunt. Does everyone's?

First chapter thoughts--This was so vivid, I felt as if I could picture the workshop in its entirety! I enjoyed the process of Maria Poppet's creation! I did wonder though--what must it have been like when it rained, if the roof had chinks in it!!!

I also had the same thoughts about the children--hope they had a chance to play, and maybe that the little girl had her own poppet!
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My 1923 edition also has the introduction by Clara Whitehill Hunt. A Google search doesn't tell much about her, except for what is already clear from her introduction to "London Doll"; she was involved with children's library books. Obviously the earliest editions didn't have the introduction, as Hunt writes about the book having been out of print. But I do wonder if the most recent editions included the introduction, or cut it, or perhaps replaced it with a more modern one. If anyone has a later copy, please let us know.

Upon reading that the doll maker Mr. Sprat was "not altogether unlike a sprat in the face", I got out my trusty dictionary. I hadn't a clue that a sprat is "a herringlike fish"!

Maria Poppet's first recollections are of being assembled and painted... I couldn't help thinking of Hitty, whose first real memory is of Phoebe Preble crying out, "Look, now the doll has a face!" I have read ahead to the end of the book, and --- although Hitty's story is better written and more complex – there are numerous similarities between the two. We may never know for sure, but I would bet that Rachel Field read "London Doll" and gleaned a few important ideas which she improved upon for "Hitty". I think some of the similar devices both authors used could be an interesting facet of our discussion.

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I thought the same thing about the comparison between Hitty and Memoirs, but I don't think the way I would have worded my feelings would have sounded nearly as elegant. I have to agree that I think Hitty was better written, but Memoirs has some interesting bits in it.
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I have the 1967 version which includes a lengthy introduction and notes by Margery Fisher, but no forward at all.
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My copy is a 1967 edition, a discard from the Steele Memorial Library in Elmira, NY. The forward is by Margaret Gillies. She was the editor of "Growing Point," a British periodical on children's books.
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Interesting! So there are at least 3 different intros or forewords to the book: 1) Clara Whitehall Hunt, 1923 or earlier (Andrew's & Julie's books) 2) Margery Fisher, in a 1967 version which includes a lengthy introduction and notes (Kimberly's book, American?)
3) Margaret Gillies, also 1967 (Yvonne's book, British?) Any others?

Do any children even read introductions? I always skipped 'em!

Might there be any way to scan and post these? I think I could provide scans of the Clara Whitehall Hunt intro, but it's 9 pages, so it's a question of who's interested and how they can be shared.
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The plot thickens!

I've just done some Google searches and found the following description of a London Doll book: "With an introd. and notes by Margery Fisher. With four illus. by Margaret Gillies, and additional decorations by Richard Shirley Smith."

http://openlibrary.org/b/OL5610744M

Are you certain that Margaret Gillies wasn't the illustrator of your book, and that the intro isn't by Margery Fisher? Please let us know.
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Oops! You are right (where were my glasses? lol). It was Margery Fisher who wrote the intro and was editor of Growing Point (and author of "Intent Upon Reading," published in England etc. etc.

Margaret Gillies and Richard Shirley Smith did the drawings. Printed in the U.S., though, 1967.
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My Memoirs book is copyright 1967. This is exactly what it says on the cover page: Edited by Mrs. Fairstar (Otherwise known as Mr. Richard Henry Horne) with four illustrations by Miss Margaret Gillies and additional decorations by Richard Shirley Smith. The MacMillan Company, New York.

Across from the Title page is a full page black and white drawing of a doll that looks for all the world like a Raikes Hitty. In fact, if you dressed a Raikes Hitty in an old Victorian dress with elbow length sleeves, a V-waist, and a three tier skirt, a Raikes Hitty would look EXACTLY like the doll in my book.
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I bought my copy of MLD at an estate sale several years ago. It was published in 1922 by the Macmillan Company. The title page reads:

Memoirs of a London Doll written by herself.
Edited by Mrs. Fairstar
With an introduction by Clara Whitehill Hunt and
Illustrations by Emma L. Brock

On the flyleaf it states that the book belonged to Mercedez Miller and was donated by her to the Providence Academy Library in 1929.

Below this it is signed Margaret L. Lemmon.

It has several color illustrations and some in black and white.

The idea that a little girl owned the book so long ago is a large part of the charm and fits in so well with the story of the little doll.
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Vicki, it is wonderful to know that a little girl once read the book that you own. Don't you just imagine her reactions to reading the story?
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Mine is 1949 -has the To Boys and Girls-written by herself, edited by Mrs. Fairstar-Introduction by Clara Whitehill Hunt and illustrations by Emma L. Brock .
In the inside cover says Merry Christmas to Polly Rills. Cannot read from who, from 1980. So someone got this one for Christmas. Linda
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My copy is from 1922 and has the Clara Whitehill Hunt introduction. It's very interesting the way it is set up in mine. It looks like the first chapter until you start reading it.
Michelle
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My copy is 1967 and has an Introduction and Notes by Margery Fisher. Mine also has the photo of the doll in the Victorian dress where the front is pulled in a "V" design. I doubt I could re-create it myself, but I'm sure some of our talented seamstresses could make a good copy of it. Linda K. in OR
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My copy is the 1967 edition you referenced here - with a LONG intro by Margery Fisher, then editor of "Growing Point" the influential British periodical on children's books. I don't have time at the moment to go through the intro to pick out illustrators, but the Jacket design is by Patricia Davy, the end papers are from the early edition that I think Holly has posted, and the cover says drawings by Margaret Gillies and Richard Shirley Smith. Other than the end papers, the drawings are just ink drawings to begin chapters. The intro is informative, but dull. Publisher is Macmillan.