The Racketty-Packetty House
Week of June 2, 2008
Block 2:
Racketty-Packetty House originally belonged to Cynthia’s Grandmamma and had been made in the days when Queen Victoria was a little girl. It had been given to her as a birthday present. It came with ten dolls that she named Amelia, Charlotte, Victoria Leopoldina, Aurelia Matilda, Leontine, Clotilda, Augustus, Rowland, Vincent and Charles Edward Stewart. Cynthia’s Grandmamma took very good care of the house and its inhabitants. The dolls led a very gay and fashionable life for a long time, attending parties and balls, being presented at Court, and attending Royal Christenings and weddings. They were married themselves, had families and scarlet fever, whooping cough, funerals, and every luxury.
However, under Granddaughter Cynthia’s care, everything changed. The house grew shabbier, nothing was repaired, and the dolls and their clothes were ruined. Aurelia Matilda and Victoria Leopoldina had been broken to bits and thrown into the dust-bin. Leontine, the beauty of the family, had her paint nearly all licked off by a puppy. Roland and Vincent disappeared completely (Charlotte and Amelia believed they went off to seek their fortunes because things were so bad at home). The only dolls remaining were Clotilda, Amelia, Charlotte, Leontine, Augustus, and Charles Edward Stewart.
DISCUSSION:
This chapter certainly gives us all the details about the origin of the Racketty-Packetty House! I love the names Cynthia's Grandmamma gave the dolls--especially Victoria Leopoldina.
Cynthia's Grandmamma seems like she was very good to the dolls and
as it says--she was a good housekeeper. I wonder why Cynthia was not. Sometimes
people like to be the makers and fixers, and sometimes they don't, so I can
only suppose, at this point, that Cynthia was someone who preferred the playing
and not the upkeep.
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True, Cynthia may be just a player, but where is her concern?? She
did not seem to care that the house was going to ruin and just "replaced"
it with the new house. There was no indication of sadness about the house -
just get it to heck out of here seemed to be her attitude. And all the precious
little dolls - there was no thought as to maybe putting them in the new castle
as residents or staff or whatever. Just toss them behind the door. She's very
young though and maybe she just wasn't taught to take care of things. Maybe
she just could not connect to the dolls.
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I'd guess that the majority of kids and their parents today have the
same attitude. Look at the stuff that gets thrown out all the time. Some people
do attempt to sell at yard sales, etc., or donate to Salvation Army or Goodwill,
but lots of people would simply throw out
a doll house and dolls when they get too worn or need repairs or paint. Look
at the people that throw out toy cars, stuffed animals or clothing with a rip,
too. I knew one person who threw out perfectly good blouses if the buttons came
off as she had no idea they could be sewn back on - I don't know whether she
kept up with what I taught her, but you can bet she got a small sewing kit and
a lesson right away! If you aren't taught or shown how to fix things up, you
don't have any other choice really. And I'd be willing to bet that the mother
and nanny didn't have any interest in fixing up old things or they would have
helped her to do it instead of gifting her with a new one.
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This is a good point. Before we blame Cynthia we need to wonder what
she is being taught by the adults around her. I have noticed that when I give
out nice new pencils or bookmarks to my students most of them love it, but there
are some that look down on these little treats with a "Is that all I get?"
sort of attitude. It always makes me wonder what they get at home just for doing
what they should be expected to do.
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I remember as a child how exciting it was to get new toys. My mother had a way of making the old disappear. I remember an old record player I had taken over, with a stack of older 45 records. I would play that record player every day and sing with all the old songs. One day, it just disappeared along with all the old records. (Maybe I was a bad singer). For years I would search in the basement and garage to see if the records had been saved and stored away. I also remember being given an antique beaded purse by a lady who had an antique shop. I was only about 8 and my mother gave it to me to play with as a toy, I wonder where it ever went. I sure wish I had it now. My point being, I am the opposite of what I had witnessed. Things would just be gone as the new came in. Now my apartment is a museum of antique dolls, and vintage pottery, and I drag home just about anything I come across that peaks my interest from thrift shops, curbs, and, ahemmm, an occasional trash bin or two. Maybe I am trying to find the items from my youth to this day. Not one toy was saved from my childhood. Tee hee, but I have toys now. I think I took after my father, who pack ratted everything away in his basement, garage and attic. Everything but my toys. I have one daughter who is 24 and has just about every toy from her childhood, and another who is 29, who held onto nothing.
Cynthia, so far to me, seems just plain old mean and, I am supposing,
never cared about Racketty-Packetty house to begin with, or she would never
have allowed it to be hidden away behind a door, and her house and dolls would
never have been in such a state. My two cents.
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--- Yes, the dolls' names are wonderful. It is interesting that Cynthia's
grandmother gave the dolls such grand names. It signifies that they were important
to her, I think, and we learn that she took good care of them. Now that they
are Cynthia's dolls they have less importance and sillier names.
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Cynthia sounds a little spoiled. Since she had a new doll house, she didn't need to worry about her old toys. So the Racketty-Packetty House was shoved aside, and the dolls mistreated in play. Hmmmmm, I wonder if that could be it. Poor Aurelia Matilda and Victoria Leopoldina ending up in the dust-bin.
These are some great names, though. I may borrow a few for my "Future
Hitty dolls".
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In this chapter we learn that the doll family started out as ten and
now only six remain. Let us hope that the number of family members doesn't decrease
any further.
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Oh, you are right! I wonder if the missing few will show up? Poor dears!
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I enjoyed the names of all the dolls. Cynthia's Grandmamma certainly had bent to the royal and noble. I'm not sure that would be unexpected in early Victorian England, or, for that matter, the early 1900's when the book was written. Goodness knows Victoria had relations all over Europe. Here we have names from Roman history all the way to Bonny Prince Charlie!
And didn't you enjoy the pairing of the sophisticated social whirl
along with the diseases? These dolls LIVED!
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I love the names Cynthia's Grandmamma gave her dollies. I don't like
Cynthia much. She reminds me of my cousin, Buddy, who sat on my lovely doll
house and squashed it in the middle. Cynthia sounds a mean-spirited girl, who
only loves what is new and shiny. I confess my doll house did have some dust
bunnies, but the furniture was always in place and the dolls were in good repair.
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I was surprised by the mention of funerals. I only came across a doll
funeral in the movie "Meet Me in St. Louis".
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Oh, I do love that movie! And I adore Tootie, though she tormented
her dolls...Poor dears!