Americans go doll-crazy during the holiday season. If you do not have any idea what to get, why not get a doll for your daughter?
I still remember my first doll as if I just played with her yesterday. Her name was Suzie. She was made out of sackcloth and her black hair was made out of yarn. It was not easy to comb out, but I was able to braid it.
I think dolls have been pretty much with us since prehistoric times. Early dolls were made from primitive materials such as clay, fur, or wood. Until after WWII, Europe was a major hub for doll production. First, Germany produced many peg wooden dolls, a type of doll that has very simple peg joints and resembles a clothespin.
In addition to wooden dolls, wax dolls became popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. Munich was a major manufacturing center for wax dolls, but some of the most distinctive wax dolls were created in England between 1850 and 1930. Wax modelers would model a doll head in wax or clay, and then use plaster to create a mold from the head. Then they would pour melted wax into the cast. The wax for the head would be very thin, no more than 3 mm. One of the first dolls that portrayed a baby was made in England from wax at the beginning of the 19th century.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Porcelain became popular. However, one had to be careful playing with dolls with porcelain heads, because they chipped easily, and these dolls ended up as collector items.
After World War II, doll makers experimented with plastics. They began to hard plastic dolls in the 1940s. - Although most dolls are now mass-manufactured using these modern materials, many modern doll makers are using the traditional materials of the past to make collectible dolls.
Throughout the years, doll play has been and still is a great pretend play of caring, nurturing and feeding activities. Doll play brings warmth, empathy and the ability to give care to others. Today they even make dolls talk, sing, drink and go potty.
Remember the "Cabbage Patch Craze" in the 1980s? People got up in the middle of the night and waited outside Toys- R-Us for hours on a frozen side walk until the doors opened up. Once they got inside the store, they ended up fighting with each other when the only available crate of Cabbage Patch Kids was put out on the floor.
Two years ago, the “Tickle Me Elmo” was the "must have" toy. Again, many parents literally fought other parents in North American toy stores to purchase one of the toys for Christmas. The short supply of the toy, due to unexpected demand, meant that stores hiked the price on the dolls drastically. Newspaper classifieds even sold the plush toy for hundreds of U.S.dollars.
This year’s holiday doll shoppers buy a new surprise. According to new reports, consumers across North America are returning a talking doll to stores that they claim says, “Islam is the light.” Fisher-Price’s Little Mommy Cuddle & Coo doll makes all sorts of noises, but some consumers say it also seems to produce Muslim propaganda.
I still remember my first doll as if I just played with her yesterday. Her name was Suzie. She was made out of sackcloth and her black hair was made out of yarn. It was not easy to comb out, but I was able to braid it.
I think dolls have been pretty much with us since prehistoric times. Early dolls were made from primitive materials such as clay, fur, or wood. Until after WWII, Europe was a major hub for doll production. First, Germany produced many peg wooden dolls, a type of doll that has very simple peg joints and resembles a clothespin.
In addition to wooden dolls, wax dolls became popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. Munich was a major manufacturing center for wax dolls, but some of the most distinctive wax dolls were created in England between 1850 and 1930. Wax modelers would model a doll head in wax or clay, and then use plaster to create a mold from the head. Then they would pour melted wax into the cast. The wax for the head would be very thin, no more than 3 mm. One of the first dolls that portrayed a baby was made in England from wax at the beginning of the 19th century.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Porcelain became popular. However, one had to be careful playing with dolls with porcelain heads, because they chipped easily, and these dolls ended up as collector items.
After World War II, doll makers experimented with plastics. They began to hard plastic dolls in the 1940s. - Although most dolls are now mass-manufactured using these modern materials, many modern doll makers are using the traditional materials of the past to make collectible dolls.
Throughout the years, doll play has been and still is a great pretend play of caring, nurturing and feeding activities. Doll play brings warmth, empathy and the ability to give care to others. Today they even make dolls talk, sing, drink and go potty.
Remember the "Cabbage Patch Craze" in the 1980s? People got up in the middle of the night and waited outside Toys- R-Us for hours on a frozen side walk until the doors opened up. Once they got inside the store, they ended up fighting with each other when the only available crate of Cabbage Patch Kids was put out on the floor.
Two years ago, the “Tickle Me Elmo” was the "must have" toy. Again, many parents literally fought other parents in North American toy stores to purchase one of the toys for Christmas. The short supply of the toy, due to unexpected demand, meant that stores hiked the price on the dolls drastically. Newspaper classifieds even sold the plush toy for hundreds of U.S.dollars.
This year’s holiday doll shoppers buy a new surprise. According to new reports, consumers across North America are returning a talking doll to stores that they claim says, “Islam is the light.” Fisher-Price’s Little Mommy Cuddle & Coo doll makes all sorts of noises, but some consumers say it also seems to produce Muslim propaganda.
There are 3 settings for playing with this doll: off, motion and sound, and motion with no sound. The girls prefer the motion and sound. A sensor in the forehead detects motion, and that will start the giggling, cooing, and movements. Besides giggling and making noises, it says "mama" which little mommies love to hear, but much to the parent’s surprise, it also says "Islam is the Light".
Mattel, the parent company, issued a statement saying that the doll says a word that could be interpreted as “night”, “right”, or “light.” “Because the original sound track is compressed into a file that can be played through an inexpensive toy speaker, actual sounds may be imprecise or distorted,” the company wrote in an October news release. Although Fisher-Price has changed the sound track, some stores have kept the controversially cooing dolls, where they will remain for unsuspecting consumers to buy.
“This is not a healthy thing to be putting out in the marketplace when we’re in a war on terror, and little children are so susceptible to the messages they hear – even from a doll – then to take them into the school and talk about them,” Minnesota Christian talk show host Jan Markell told OneNewsNow.
Why is this message deliberately hidden from the consumer inside a cute looking doll on a Wal-Mart shelf?
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