1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,000
Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray.

2
00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:10,000
Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you welcome to stump Mom never told you?

3
00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:17,480
Speaker 1: From house Stop works dot com. Hello, and welcome to

4
00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,680
Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Kristen, I'm Molly. Molly. I feel like

5
00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,599
Speaker 1: I have told the story before, so always had a

6
00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,040
Speaker 1: good way to start story, I know, right, So if

7
00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,240
Speaker 1: I have you know, guys, just zone out for like

8
00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:31,800
Speaker 1: the next minute while I gab on. All right, we're

9
00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,400
Speaker 1: talking about dolls today, Okay, the non Barbie addition. And

10
00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:40,680
Speaker 1: this is perfect for me, Molly, because as a child,

11
00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:44,159
Speaker 1: as a young Kristen, I was not allowed to have

12
00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:48,199
Speaker 1: Barbies my mother because my mother thought that they u

13
00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,400
Speaker 1: and here, Mom, if you're listening, sorry about us spill

14
00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,720
Speaker 1: the beans. Because my mother thought that that she promoted

15
00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:59,000
Speaker 1: Barbie promoted an unhealthy and unrealistic body image. And you know,

16
00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,320
Speaker 1: I'm sure your mother was not alone in that. Yeah,

17
00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:05,199
Speaker 1: you know she she had all these brunette little girls

18
00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,119
Speaker 1: running around and uh, you know, why would she buy

19
00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:12,920
Speaker 1: us a bunch of blonde, big breasted dolls. She was

20
00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:17,280
Speaker 1: not a Barbie fan. So for that reason, I had

21
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:19,760
Speaker 1: a cabfge pachetl Oh, well, I had Barbie's hand a

22
00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,960
Speaker 1: cabbage pachetl we weren't she my mother so really love

23
00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:26,720
Speaker 1: to me and not been concerned about my butt? They image,

24
00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,640
Speaker 1: you know, tell me about your coach. Well, uh, my

25
00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:32,640
Speaker 1: cabbage pasch doll was named Jane, and I can't remember

26
00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:37,560
Speaker 1: if that was her name on her birth certificate or not. Nevertheless,

27
00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:39,399
Speaker 1: her name was Jane, and I would call her plane

28
00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:43,520
Speaker 1: Jane because Jane had really short hair that I couldn't

29
00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,319
Speaker 1: play with, unlike my sister's scabbage basche doll that had

30
00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:50,680
Speaker 1: long flowing brown yarn hair that she could braid and

31
00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:53,680
Speaker 1: do cool things like that with. Whereas Jane could just

32
00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:55,720
Speaker 1: I could put like a hat on her head and

33
00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:58,560
Speaker 1: that was it. So I was kind of displeased. Sound

34
00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,080
Speaker 1: kind of resemble about it. We other person I know

35
00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:04,280
Speaker 1: has fond memories of playing with their cat. Don't get

36
00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,520
Speaker 1: me wrong, I loved playing with plane Jane, but I

37
00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:10,959
Speaker 1: just wish I could have gotten like a cabbage patched

38
00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,600
Speaker 1: doll wig where that was my thing when I was

39
00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:17,600
Speaker 1: a kid. I really I just loved playing with dolls hair.

40
00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,640
Speaker 1: So a lot of my dolls had like crazy frazzled

41
00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,320
Speaker 1: messed up hair because I would I placed the lawn

42
00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:26,760
Speaker 1: all the time. I think that's a pretty common thing

43
00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,120
Speaker 1: to do with their dolls, which is reflected in you

44
00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,359
Speaker 1: Know my Lovely hairstyle today. It is currently up in dun.

45
00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:35,720
Speaker 1: Do you guys want to have a fun fact about Kristin?

46
00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,640
Speaker 1: Her power comes from her bun. She puts it up

47
00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,160
Speaker 1: whenever we start podcasting. This is related to nothing. It's

48
00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,160
Speaker 1: true though, I do feel like I think clearer when

49
00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,919
Speaker 1: my when my um. I have long hair, as you

50
00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,760
Speaker 1: guys might see on our Facebook page. But this has

51
00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 1: absolutely nothing to do with dolls. Molly, why are we

52
00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:54,799
Speaker 1: talking about my hair? Let's get back to dolls. Yeah,

53
00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:59,519
Speaker 1: today is a tribute to three famous dolls that we're

54
00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,320
Speaker 1: common in our childhoods. And of course we're gonna want

55
00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,840
Speaker 1: to hear about the dolls that are comment in your childhoods, um,

56
00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,160
Speaker 1: but these are three that meant something to us that

57
00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,919
Speaker 1: aren't Barbie, that are not Barbie dolls. Now, I will say, Molly,

58
00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:14,480
Speaker 1: I don't want to put words in our listeners mouths

59
00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:18,000
Speaker 1: or thoughts in their heads, but I'm banking on at

60
00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,760
Speaker 1: least a few people out there might be surprised that

61
00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,440
Speaker 1: we haven't brought up, you know, the gender implications of

62
00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:27,000
Speaker 1: girls playing with dolls. You know, because we have talked

63
00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:33,080
Speaker 1: about how toys are kind of gender segregated, where you know,

64
00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:35,960
Speaker 1: girls are taught to play with dollies and boys are

65
00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,680
Speaker 1: taught to play with trucks. Because you know, of our

66
00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,800
Speaker 1: because it feeds into our the social constructs of gender,

67
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,320
Speaker 1: and isn't that so heteronormative and blah blah blah. Are

68
00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,920
Speaker 1: we just teaching girls become moms? Exactly? We're not going

69
00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:51,160
Speaker 1: to do that. We're not doing that today. We love

70
00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:56,120
Speaker 1: dolls so much. Well you know, yes, as a child,

71
00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,960
Speaker 1: I did love my dolls. But you know, um one,

72
00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:01,680
Speaker 1: I think that Lee this into our first doll because

73
00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:03,960
Speaker 1: when we were doing our research about dolls, that message

74
00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,840
Speaker 1: to us. I really I found this quote from Madame

75
00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:11,520
Speaker 1: Alexander Fame Dollmaker, and she said that dolls should contribute

76
00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:15,040
Speaker 1: to a child's understanding of people other times, in other places,

77
00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,599
Speaker 1: dolls should develop an appreciation of art and literature, and

78
00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:20,599
Speaker 1: a child. Yeah, and I and I like to think

79
00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,000
Speaker 1: of dolls that way because while yes, we can, we

80
00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,599
Speaker 1: can argue all day long about whether or not it

81
00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,520
Speaker 1: is healthy to give a little girl a doll? What

82
00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:31,480
Speaker 1: kind of message that sends to her? However, from my

83
00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:33,960
Speaker 1: own childhood experience, and I think from a lot of

84
00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:40,039
Speaker 1: people's childhood experiences, playing with dolls fostered imagination and fostered

85
00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:44,400
Speaker 1: you know, play and fantasy and all of those things

86
00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,120
Speaker 1: that are really healthy for kids too. So let's go

87
00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,159
Speaker 1: into the stories behind these dolls that we still love.

88
00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,280
Speaker 1: We said, we mentioned that Madame Alexander quote, So why

89
00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:54,520
Speaker 1: don't we start with her, Kristen, Now, when Molly asked

90
00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,200
Speaker 1: me what dolls we should talk about, I immediately said

91
00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:01,800
Speaker 1: Madame Alexander, because well, I did have Barbie's people, I

92
00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,040
Speaker 1: did have lots of Madame Alexander dolls. I had the

93
00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:07,400
Speaker 1: big ones that you could kind of you could play

94
00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,760
Speaker 1: with more. They were more like bigger, heavier baby dolls.

95
00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:15,000
Speaker 1: And then I also had the collectible Madame Alexander dolls

96
00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,119
Speaker 1: as well. The story about characters and the little women

97
00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:21,480
Speaker 1: characters loved them and they were very fun to dress up.

98
00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,600
Speaker 1: And she Madame Alexander was known for using characters from

99
00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:30,000
Speaker 1: literature and using characters from from real life and making

100
00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,240
Speaker 1: these glorious clothes for them. In fact, she made some

101
00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:34,640
Speaker 1: of the first dolls that were actually based on already

102
00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,920
Speaker 1: existing characters. Yeah, and Madame Alexander maybe we should call

103
00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,400
Speaker 1: her by her real name, Beatrice, Beatrice Alexander. She was

104
00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:45,239
Speaker 1: a child of first generation Americans. Yeah, and she grew

105
00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,159
Speaker 1: up above her father's um store, which was a it

106
00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:51,760
Speaker 1: was essentially a doll hospital. It was the first doll

107
00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:55,360
Speaker 1: hospital in this country. And so she would play with

108
00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:57,560
Speaker 1: the dolls while they were waiting to be repaired with

109
00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,279
Speaker 1: the little broken dolls. And you know, most of these

110
00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:05,479
Speaker 1: really fine dolls were coming from Europe. Um. Strangely America,

111
00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:07,920
Speaker 1: despite the fact that we're talking talking about three American dolls.

112
00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:11,760
Speaker 1: UM not known for its doll no artist try. Yeah,

113
00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:13,400
Speaker 1: it took a while. I was surprised. It took a

114
00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:17,039
Speaker 1: while for the doll industry in the States to really

115
00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:25,640
Speaker 1: pick up. No. Why Um, but that's key because Um,

116
00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,360
Speaker 1: when World War One broke out, obviously we weren't weren't

117
00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,760
Speaker 1: begging for them to send us their dolls. So um,

118
00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,560
Speaker 1: the doll hospital was actually threatened. And so one of

119
00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,560
Speaker 1: the first dolls that Beatrice Alexander made was a Red

120
00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,800
Speaker 1: Cross doll to UM sort of rally the troops here

121
00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,120
Speaker 1: at home, and also to keep the doll hospital in

122
00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:47,880
Speaker 1: the doll business um going so that she could make

123
00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:51,200
Speaker 1: some money creating dolls. And the success of the Red

124
00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:56,400
Speaker 1: Cross doll started her career in es when she gets

125
00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:59,800
Speaker 1: going with the Alexander Doll Company. Yes, and by nineteen

126
00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:04,279
Speaker 1: eight she has adopted the title of Madame Alexander and

127
00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,839
Speaker 1: Beatrice Alexander was quite a savvy businesswoman. I mean she

128
00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:14,160
Speaker 1: built herself a doll empire. For instance, she forged a

129
00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:18,600
Speaker 1: relationship with Disney where she created specific dolls to go

130
00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,960
Speaker 1: with certain characters, for instance Aree. She came out with

131
00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:27,200
Speaker 1: dolls to go along with Walt Disney's The Three Little Pigs,

132
00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:31,240
Speaker 1: and then from there the partnership picked up. She also

133
00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,640
Speaker 1: created the very popular Scarlett O'Hara doll to go along

134
00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,440
Speaker 1: with Gone with the Wind, the book. She made the

135
00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:40,680
Speaker 1: first Scarlett doll before she'd even seen a movie and

136
00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,600
Speaker 1: seen any sort of um vision of Scarlett as conceived

137
00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:46,960
Speaker 1: by another person. Yeah, so of course once the movie

138
00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,840
Speaker 1: comes out they become highly popular. The U. S. Government

139
00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:55,080
Speaker 1: even got in on the Madame Alexander doll train during

140
00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:59,680
Speaker 1: World War Two because they considered dolls to be morale boosters,

141
00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:04,520
Speaker 1: and so they wanted her to um to create dolls

142
00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,600
Speaker 1: who essentially lift up American spirits. And she came out

143
00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,800
Speaker 1: with this Margaret O'Brien doll in the nineteen forties and

144
00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:17,160
Speaker 1: it was one of the most most successful dolls to date.

145
00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,120
Speaker 1: And uh, it was billed as quote everyone's ideal of

146
00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:23,640
Speaker 1: a dear little girl. And you know the thing I

147
00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:26,680
Speaker 1: love when I was researching Madame Alexander sizes the fact

148
00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,880
Speaker 1: that she's this really pioneering businesswoman, one of the really

149
00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:33,640
Speaker 1: first successful businesswomen. Um, it's just that she's constantly innovating.

150
00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,160
Speaker 1: I mean basically, you know, not to diss them, but barbies,

151
00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:39,920
Speaker 1: they found a formula they liked and they kind of

152
00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,600
Speaker 1: just keep repeating it, their variations in you know, skin

153
00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,600
Speaker 1: tone and clothes and all that. But when you start

154
00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:51,360
Speaker 1: looking at the amazing variety of dolls that Madame Alexander created,

155
00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:55,760
Speaker 1: she was constantly experimenting with fabrics, with materials that she

156
00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,199
Speaker 1: can make dolls out of. You know. Shortly after the

157
00:08:58,240 --> 00:08:59,960
Speaker 1: Margaret or bind all, she wants to make an un

158
00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,520
Speaker 1: breakable doll because she wanted kids to get down and

159
00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,439
Speaker 1: dirty with them and says she's pioneering the use of plastic. Yeah,

160
00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,600
Speaker 1: she actually partnered up with DuPont to create the first

161
00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:14,120
Speaker 1: plastic doll, and she also innovated UM the closing eyelids

162
00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,880
Speaker 1: on on dolls. I remember that distinctly about my Madam

163
00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:18,560
Speaker 1: mollis inner baby dolls because when you would lay them

164
00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:20,440
Speaker 1: down in the crib, their eyes would close and so

165
00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:22,679
Speaker 1: it looked like they were sleeping. So, I mean, she's

166
00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,920
Speaker 1: got dolls that can walk, dolls that can crawl. Um.

167
00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,839
Speaker 1: The nineteen fifties are considered the golden age of Madame

168
00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,360
Speaker 1: Alexander Dolls. UM. That's where she had a lot of

169
00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,199
Speaker 1: her story book characters come out, and also the international

170
00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,880
Speaker 1: dolls with all the costumes from around the world, and

171
00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:44,719
Speaker 1: that earned her um A some kudos from the United Nations.

172
00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,480
Speaker 1: I mean, that's impressive. We think, oh, it's just a

173
00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:53,320
Speaker 1: just a doll, baby. And the coolest, the coolest creation,

174
00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,960
Speaker 1: in my opinion, is the thirties six custom made dolls

175
00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,480
Speaker 1: that she made when Queen Elizabeth the Second was coronated

176
00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,839
Speaker 1: as Queen Um. It was just these to the to

177
00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:09,960
Speaker 1: the pinpoint of detail accurate dolls, so accurate that CBS

178
00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,480
Speaker 1: used them to re enact the coronation on television. Can

179
00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:15,920
Speaker 1: you imagine, like that's if you're a kid in America

180
00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,319
Speaker 1: watching TV and seeing dolls reenact the Coronation of Elizabeth,

181
00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,840
Speaker 1: I think my mind would be blown. It's really cool.

182
00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:26,079
Speaker 1: So right around the same time that Beatrice Alexander is

183
00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:30,640
Speaker 1: starting to build her doll empire, We've got a guy

184
00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:35,400
Speaker 1: who is building a doll empire as well, but very

185
00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,800
Speaker 1: different type of doll. Yeah. If if Madame Alexander represents

186
00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:44,240
Speaker 1: top of the line finery for dolls, then Johnny Grewell

187
00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:46,760
Speaker 1: and his creation of Raggedy Ann is sort of the

188
00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:51,680
Speaker 1: the homemade, um but no less loved version of of

189
00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,760
Speaker 1: a doll. The rag doll and Raggedy Ann was actually

190
00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,439
Speaker 1: um a bit of an inspiration in doing this podcast

191
00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,719
Speaker 1: at all, Kristen, because there were quite a few news

192
00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,680
Speaker 1: story is a few weeks ago about Raggedy Ann's ninety

193
00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:05,640
Speaker 1: fifth birthday. Wow, that's how long she's been around. So

194
00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:08,520
Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit about Johnny Grille and the

195
00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,640
Speaker 1: myths and legends are surrounding Raggedy Yeah, Raggedy Ann has

196
00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:15,040
Speaker 1: a much more mysterious background than Madame Alexander. Dolls and

197
00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:18,400
Speaker 1: Alexander dolls are pretty pretty straightforward, but there has been

198
00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:22,160
Speaker 1: some misconception about how Johnny Grille came up with the

199
00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,640
Speaker 1: Raggedy Ann doll. Now, the most popular tale about Raggedy

200
00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,440
Speaker 1: Ann is that Johnny's daughter Marcella was wandering around in

201
00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,240
Speaker 1: the attic one day, rummaging through things with little girls

202
00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,560
Speaker 1: are prone to do when they don't have dolls, when

203
00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:38,560
Speaker 1: they don't have dolls, and uh, she was actually in

204
00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:42,160
Speaker 1: her supposedly in her grandmother's attic, and she comes down

205
00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:46,960
Speaker 1: holding this tattered and faceless rag doll and she she

206
00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,880
Speaker 1: takes it to her dad says, Dad, look at this doll,

207
00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,240
Speaker 1: and I just found it's kind of face on it.

208
00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:58,120
Speaker 1: And uh and Johnny says, a little Mosella with is

209
00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:03,640
Speaker 1: that dollar for you? And he paint the face on

210
00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:06,280
Speaker 1: the doll, and Raggedy Anna is born. Christ And I

211
00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:08,719
Speaker 1: think we're seeing how you played with your dolls when

212
00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,520
Speaker 1: you were a little kid. Lots of lots of fun voices.

213
00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:15,079
Speaker 1: That's where it's coming from. Very realistic play. Um. Now,

214
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,160
Speaker 1: that's one story, and that's, like Christen said, the most

215
00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:20,960
Speaker 1: popular it's on Wikipedia, but according to one um site,

216
00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:25,400
Speaker 1: doll kind dot Com bookmarked it. It's a really great site.

217
00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,880
Speaker 1: You think Christen's joking, um, according to one. According to

218
00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:31,560
Speaker 1: another account, Johnny was in the attic and found the

219
00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,040
Speaker 1: doll himself and was just like, oh, I'm a writer

220
00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:36,080
Speaker 1: and an illustrator, this would be good to using some

221
00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,360
Speaker 1: of my pieces. Um. But the the doll will be

222
00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,160
Speaker 1: linked with Marcella forever because of the fact that a

223
00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,839
Speaker 1: he did tell her stories about this character, you know,

224
00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,720
Speaker 1: no matter who found it him or her. But also

225
00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:53,240
Speaker 1: she died very shortly after she was given this doll,

226
00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:58,120
Speaker 1: and the death obviously of his young child affected Johnny

227
00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,760
Speaker 1: Grille immensely, and he basically wanted to write down these

228
00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:04,760
Speaker 1: stories and illustrations to keep the memory of her alive.

229
00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:07,000
Speaker 1: In fact, in in one of the later books there

230
00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:09,880
Speaker 1: you know dozens of books about Raggedy Ann and Andy

231
00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:12,679
Speaker 1: who comes along five years later. Um, there is a

232
00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,720
Speaker 1: character named after his daughter. Now another myth that surrounded

233
00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,160
Speaker 1: her though, Raggedy Ann and the and the daughter, and

234
00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,360
Speaker 1: this might this might change your perception of Raggedy Ann

235
00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:25,200
Speaker 1: once you hear this. I don't know many people know this,

236
00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:26,760
Speaker 1: but I had certainly never heard of it, and heard

237
00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:30,160
Speaker 1: of it either. But the reason Marcella died at the

238
00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,040
Speaker 1: age of thirteen is because she was given a vaccine

239
00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:37,200
Speaker 1: for smallpox. It was mandatory, and the doctor said that

240
00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,600
Speaker 1: that's not what caused her death, but the parents became

241
00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,040
Speaker 1: convinced that that's what caused her death. And so Johnny

242
00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,839
Speaker 1: garrill in Uh in his life became this leading proponent

243
00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:52,560
Speaker 1: of the anti vaccine movement. And there was rumors and

244
00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:56,240
Speaker 1: gossips that he made Raggedy ann as a metaphor for

245
00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:01,120
Speaker 1: what happened when children got vaccinated for all him and

246
00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:04,319
Speaker 1: they couldn't they couldn't do anything, they were just there. Yeah,

247
00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:11,319
Speaker 1: he has supposedly made Raggedy ann Um intentionally lifeless, looking

248
00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:17,119
Speaker 1: to symbolize his daughter's death. There really is no concrete

249
00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:21,000
Speaker 1: evidence that that's the case. Well, they seemed to think

250
00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,120
Speaker 1: that based on when he patented the doll, that he

251
00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:26,560
Speaker 1: had been working on this doll and her back story

252
00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,920
Speaker 1: and her look before she died. So I don't think

253
00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:31,960
Speaker 1: he could have all of a sudden been like, yes,

254
00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,560
Speaker 1: this limp like creature now represents my daughter. But that

255
00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:38,880
Speaker 1: hasn't stopped anti vaccination groups from using her as a symbol.

256
00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,360
Speaker 1: From this story, kind of getting going. But here's a

257
00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:46,440
Speaker 1: fun fact though about Raggedy ann. Uh. Most of the

258
00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,400
Speaker 1: time we think of Raggedy Ann as you know, red

259
00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,800
Speaker 1: haired rag doll, right, all right, and then in the

260
00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:56,200
Speaker 1: early years she became a redhead. And now you know,

261
00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:58,880
Speaker 1: you can kind of design a Raggedy Ann as you

262
00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:03,040
Speaker 1: as you like. There is no really set Raggedy ann prototype.

263
00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,080
Speaker 1: And because she's in the public domain, any toy company

264
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,600
Speaker 1: can make their own version of her. So that's why

265
00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,280
Speaker 1: no two raggedy Ans. Maybe, like I can think of

266
00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:13,040
Speaker 1: several in my home that look different from one another. Yeah, yeah,

267
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:16,600
Speaker 1: different reggedy Ans look look different, It's true. So let's

268
00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:19,800
Speaker 1: go to another doll that has been mentioned already. But

269
00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,880
Speaker 1: another example of how two dolls do not look alike,

270
00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:29,720
Speaker 1: and that is the Cabbage Patch Kids. Cabbage Patch dolls. Yeah,

271
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:34,000
Speaker 1: cabbage Patch dolls were so hot when you and I

272
00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:36,440
Speaker 1: were growing up. Yes, and I can I can see

273
00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,240
Speaker 1: in my head vividly the year I was given a

274
00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:40,120
Speaker 1: cabbage Patch doll. It would have been at the height

275
00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,640
Speaker 1: of that mania. And I got at the same birthday

276
00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,480
Speaker 1: that I got the Baron's Team Bears book, Little Brother.

277
00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:53,120
Speaker 1: That's because I had a little brother coming. Um. Yeah,

278
00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:56,160
Speaker 1: I I did not realize until we started researching this

279
00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:00,800
Speaker 1: just what a sensation cabbage patch dolls were. Apparently in

280
00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:04,680
Speaker 1: the mid eighties when when cabbage patch dolls were such

281
00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:09,960
Speaker 1: hot items, parents around the holidays would just flood the

282
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,440
Speaker 1: toy stores trying to get their hands on a cabbage

283
00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:19,320
Speaker 1: patch doll. Fights broke out, fights broke out, people were injured. Um,

284
00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:23,200
Speaker 1: in the first year that they were on the market,

285
00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,920
Speaker 1: all right, this is more than two point five million

286
00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,680
Speaker 1: cabbage patch dolls were sold, which was an industry record.

287
00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,000
Speaker 1: Who knew Probably our parents knew Kristen because they were

288
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:36,680
Speaker 1: the ones trying to find it for us. And yeah,

289
00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,360
Speaker 1: we were luckily oblivious. I knew their battles. I don't

290
00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,840
Speaker 1: I don't remember. Um, I don't remember wanting a cabbage

291
00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,360
Speaker 1: patched doll or going crazy over cabbage patch doll. But like,

292
00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:49,560
Speaker 1: like you remember, you got the Bear and Seeing Bears

293
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:52,520
Speaker 1: book around the same time, same year I got my

294
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:56,040
Speaker 1: cabbage patch doll or playing Jane, I also received my

295
00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:59,720
Speaker 1: most beloved stuffed animal of all time, a puffal up.

296
00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:02,240
Speaker 1: Do you ever have a puffle up? Are they related

297
00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,320
Speaker 1: to popples? I don't know, but I got a puffle

298
00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:08,320
Speaker 1: up named Duckie and it was the best. All right,

299
00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,600
Speaker 1: Stuffed animals are another podcast. Get back to your dolls.

300
00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:14,600
Speaker 1: That's what we're always saying to little girls. Um, but

301
00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,080
Speaker 1: you were upset about playing Jane's hair. The fact the

302
00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:21,600
Speaker 1: matter is the no two dolls were alike. There was

303
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,480
Speaker 1: a computer system set up just to give each kid

304
00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,720
Speaker 1: different eye color, different hair. And of course, I think

305
00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,200
Speaker 1: one of the most distinguishing things about cabbage patch kids

306
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,359
Speaker 1: their adoption papers and name. Yes, And sometimes when I

307
00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,640
Speaker 1: just want like a good laugh when I'm shopping, I'll

308
00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:40,960
Speaker 1: go into a toy store and just read the birth

309
00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,560
Speaker 1: certificates of cabbage patch dolls because they have some wacky names.

310
00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:47,240
Speaker 1: I only remember what mine was called for real, or

311
00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:49,960
Speaker 1: what I named her after that, but you know, they've

312
00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:53,120
Speaker 1: always got some off off kilter names. Yeah. And the

313
00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:55,800
Speaker 1: the guy who came up with with cabbage patch dolls

314
00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:59,160
Speaker 1: actually invented them not too far from where we are

315
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,640
Speaker 1: sitting right now, Molly. They are cabbage Pasch dolls are

316
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:08,440
Speaker 1: grown in Georgia, Georgia by a man named Xavier Roberts. Yeah,

317
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,399
Speaker 1: he was an art student and he was working UM

318
00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:13,919
Speaker 1: in Helen, Georgia at the time and to put himself

319
00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:17,359
Speaker 1: through art school, and he came up with cabbage patch

320
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:19,320
Speaker 1: dolls and next thing you know, he has the most

321
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:24,600
Speaker 1: popular doll on the market. And before before the cabbage

322
00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:26,760
Speaker 1: patch dolls came out with their you know, the plastic

323
00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:30,480
Speaker 1: heads that they have today, um Xavier actually invented them

324
00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:35,960
Speaker 1: as soft headed dolls. Okay, and those original dolls are

325
00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:43,760
Speaker 1: incredibly valuable. Just as an example, Old Chuck from the

326
00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:47,879
Speaker 1: podcast Stuff You Should Know told us that his sister

327
00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:51,399
Speaker 1: actually has one of the original cabbage patch dolls that

328
00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:55,879
Speaker 1: has been estimated to be worth twenty five thousand dollars

329
00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,000
Speaker 1: and they were originally sold for forty dollars forty bucks,

330
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,840
Speaker 1: original little people with the soft heads. And that's just

331
00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,840
Speaker 1: how just how popular these dolls became. And so basically

332
00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:07,679
Speaker 1: he was made. He was doing just fine as a

333
00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:12,480
Speaker 1: businessman selling them the fabric sculpted dolls, and uh in

334
00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:15,280
Speaker 1: two he makes the deal with the toy company to

335
00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,439
Speaker 1: mass produce the ones with the vinyl heads so that

336
00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,720
Speaker 1: they can sell more, put them out faster, and like

337
00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:26,120
Speaker 1: Kristen said, that's the year that everything exploded. They put

338
00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:30,199
Speaker 1: a cabbage Patch kid in space and uh, you know,

339
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:32,800
Speaker 1: it just keeps. They kind of do fall out of

340
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,800
Speaker 1: fashion at the end of the eighties and the company

341
00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,760
Speaker 1: does go bankrupt that was originally making the first cabbage

342
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,400
Speaker 1: patch dolls. But they come back like throughout the nineties

343
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:44,720
Speaker 1: and you can still, like I said, go into toy

344
00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,720
Speaker 1: stores and see them today. They've been mascots for the

345
00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:50,639
Speaker 1: Olympic team. There have been a lot of rumors about

346
00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,560
Speaker 1: cabbage patch dolls, like weird urban legends. Yeah, there are

347
00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,240
Speaker 1: so many articles on Snopes just about the cabbage Patch kids,

348
00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:00,280
Speaker 1: Like for example, the whole reason that they were made

349
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:02,880
Speaker 1: was not because Xavier Roberts had discovered a cool new

350
00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,639
Speaker 1: way to sew a doll's head. It was because Ronald

351
00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,280
Speaker 1: Reagan wanted to teach America what the world would be like,

352
00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:11,720
Speaker 1: uh if if the bomb went off, Yeah, if what

353
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:15,000
Speaker 1: we would look like, We'd all look like cabbage patched. Yeah.

354
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,000
Speaker 1: It was to get us accustomed to a mutant race

355
00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:20,240
Speaker 1: of humans. And there was also the which isn't which

356
00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:22,400
Speaker 1: is a rumor I'm just gonna say after and then

357
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,920
Speaker 1: there is also the rumor that, um, if you sent

358
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,160
Speaker 1: off your cabbage Patch doll to get repaired. You wouldn't

359
00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:32,480
Speaker 1: get it back. Instead, they would mail you a death

360
00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,680
Speaker 1: certificate because you know, um, they come with these adoption

361
00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:39,440
Speaker 1: birth certificates and supposedly you would get a death certificate.

362
00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,560
Speaker 1: Not true. But you know what is not a rumor

363
00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:49,199
Speaker 1: is that cabbage patch dolls are quote unquote born in

364
00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:52,880
Speaker 1: a hospital in Georgia and given a magical formula called

365
00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:57,280
Speaker 1: a magic sillan that brings them to life. Kristen, have

366
00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,439
Speaker 1: you ever been to the Baby Land Hospital. I have

367
00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:01,399
Speaker 1: not been a big we laand hospital that ally you have,

368
00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,040
Speaker 1: and I want to hear about it. It is maybe

369
00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:08,840
Speaker 1: my favorite attraction all of Georgia. Whoa you go to Cleveland, George.

370
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,760
Speaker 1: It's an hour outside of Atlanta and I went just

371
00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:13,760
Speaker 1: a few years ago, not as a child. I can

372
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,560
Speaker 1: only imagine the glory that would have been to go

373
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:18,840
Speaker 1: as a child. And they take the fact that it's

374
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:22,400
Speaker 1: a hospital for these babies very seriously because the nurse

375
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,280
Speaker 1: greets you at the door and you and it's free.

376
00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:27,560
Speaker 1: That's what's so great about it. It's just a slice

377
00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,600
Speaker 1: of your childhood. Just they're waiting for you. And first

378
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:32,680
Speaker 1: you go through and you kind of see how the

379
00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,760
Speaker 1: cabbage patch dolls evolved. You see that original uh sown

380
00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,720
Speaker 1: face made out of all fabric, and then you just

381
00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,679
Speaker 1: see more cabbage patch dolls, and you could even imagine

382
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,440
Speaker 1: exists like just in all sorts of scenes of play,

383
00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:49,840
Speaker 1: Like they're on a boat, they're like having picnics together

384
00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:52,560
Speaker 1: there in school, they're on busses going on field trips.

385
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:55,680
Speaker 1: It's just if you can't imagine a cabbage patch doll

386
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,080
Speaker 1: doing something, it's doing it at that place. But yeah,

387
00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:01,080
Speaker 1: that's not the main at action. Yeah, this is what

388
00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:03,280
Speaker 1: I want to know about mother Cabbage. So in the

389
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:07,480
Speaker 1: middle of the whole place is a mother Cabbage about

390
00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:11,119
Speaker 1: every half hour on the dot, which is a little

391
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:13,920
Speaker 1: suspicious to me. She is ready to give us a

392
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,840
Speaker 1: new cabbage patch kid, because the cabbage patch kids are

393
00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:21,399
Speaker 1: like they come from the leaves and they're pollinated by crystals,

394
00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:25,719
Speaker 1: and there's an entire backstory to basically everyone gathers around

395
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,040
Speaker 1: the crystals start to light up on the cabbage patch.

396
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,720
Speaker 1: A doctor comes out and like you said, administers and

397
00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,679
Speaker 1: magic sillin so that the baby's form healthy. They can

398
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:35,199
Speaker 1: do a sonogram and they tell you if it's a

399
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,960
Speaker 1: boy or a girl, which means which essentially involves just

400
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,880
Speaker 1: like putting a tool on a tree and the tree

401
00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:43,959
Speaker 1: lights up pink or blue. They cut the cabbage leaves out,

402
00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:45,960
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden there's a new cabbage patch kid. Well,

403
00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,800
Speaker 1: your eyes are lighting up. I if you have been there,

404
00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,520
Speaker 1: then you know the magic that this is. I might

405
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:54,840
Speaker 1: have to go to baby land. It is fun for

406
00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:57,640
Speaker 1: children and adults alike, probably not for the same reasons.

407
00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:00,600
Speaker 1: It can be a bit of a campy and field

408
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:02,720
Speaker 1: trip if you will. Yeah, I gotta stay of all

409
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:06,320
Speaker 1: of all the doll back stories. Cabbage Patch takes the cake.

410
00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:08,920
Speaker 1: But you know that that's not really why I never

411
00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:11,560
Speaker 1: played with it, like, oh, come here, cabbage patch doll,

412
00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:13,399
Speaker 1: I'll take care of you. Now that you're not in

413
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 1: your leaf of cabbage anymore. I would give you a majestin.

414
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,960
Speaker 1: And you know it's I don't remember using that part

415
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,480
Speaker 1: of the backstory to make my fun with her, which

416
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:26,320
Speaker 1: I think speaks to why dolls are so beloved among

417
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,560
Speaker 1: girls and boys everywhere is because you make your own

418
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,399
Speaker 1: backstory for them, make your own backstory. You can treat them.

419
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:34,920
Speaker 1: As I was telling Kristen Um in the gift shop.

420
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,359
Speaker 1: You can buy like really boring crap for your dolls,

421
00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:39,639
Speaker 1: like you buy like the scale to weigh them on,

422
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:42,800
Speaker 1: like have all the access rates to buy for a doll.

423
00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,520
Speaker 1: That sounds like the most boring. But um, but I'm

424
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:46,960
Speaker 1: sure there are kids who love to do that, play

425
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 1: doctor and wag your cabbage patch kid. But I think

426
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:51,960
Speaker 1: that is why they're still appealing. As you can. You

427
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,480
Speaker 1: can treat them like kids. I never did. I treated

428
00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:57,600
Speaker 1: them as my students in my pretend school that my

429
00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,240
Speaker 1: brothers should not go to once I gave them yes.

430
00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:02,760
Speaker 1: And I know that you pretended you were a band

431
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:06,480
Speaker 1: of orphans with your dolls. Kristen, Yes, box cards, children,

432
00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:10,640
Speaker 1: Oh way too many, way too many personal effects. We're

433
00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,399
Speaker 1: sharing about our childhood in this podcast, which is why

434
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:18,080
Speaker 1: I think it's time to ask for listeners stories. What

435
00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,600
Speaker 1: kind of did you guys play with dolls? What kind

436
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,520
Speaker 1: of dolls did you play with? Don't be mad at

437
00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,080
Speaker 1: me and Molly for a for talking for twenty minutes

438
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:30,560
Speaker 1: about dolls and and and not bringing up the the

439
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,320
Speaker 1: potentially negative gender applications of dolls, because you know what,

440
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,840
Speaker 1: they are a part of our collective childhoods. Well, and

441
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:40,920
Speaker 1: I think that you know, I I agree with Madame

442
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:45,280
Speaker 1: Alexander that they foster imagination in ways that we're also

443
00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:48,000
Speaker 1: foster when I played with blocks, But I played with

444
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,359
Speaker 1: both of them exactly to worry about gender, Kristen, worry

445
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:59,200
Speaker 1: about fun. Fun. Let's have fun and read some emails. Well,

446
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,720
Speaker 1: I've got an email here from Kelly, and this is

447
00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,040
Speaker 1: in response to perhaps your favorite podcast of all time,

448
00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:08,880
Speaker 1: Molly and Women Magic. She said, I want to mention

449
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,480
Speaker 1: an area of female magic that you may have overlooked.

450
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,879
Speaker 1: It seems to be much more acceptable socially for women

451
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,320
Speaker 1: to perform elaborate magic tricks so long as they are

452
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:22,120
Speaker 1: dressed up as clowns. I wonder if that's because they're

453
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:26,520
Speaker 1: not presenting themselves as traditionally feminine but instead look childish

454
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:31,639
Speaker 1: or buffoonish. Interesting theory, theory, there might be something to

455
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,040
Speaker 1: that they might want to look into that, Molly. I've

456
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,560
Speaker 1: got one here from Katie about musical instruments in gender,

457
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 1: and she writes, in some matriarchal Native American tribes, only

458
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,160
Speaker 1: men are allowed to play ceremonial drums for one pretty

459
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,080
Speaker 1: cool reason. These traditional drums are played on the ground

460
00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:48,480
Speaker 1: and the Earth being a mother figure has immense power.

461
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:50,600
Speaker 1: If women were to play the drums, the power that

462
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,600
Speaker 1: comes from their connection with Mother Earth, but just be

463
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 1: far too great. Men here, being the weaker sex and

464
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:58,200
Speaker 1: not having that connection, need to play the drums so

465
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,159
Speaker 1: that the only powers from the drum beat and not

466
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,600
Speaker 1: from women and Mother Earth. I've always found this pretty

467
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:04,719
Speaker 1: interesting because it's the opposite of what we find sometimes

468
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,840
Speaker 1: in our culture, where a woman might not be able

469
00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:08,879
Speaker 1: to handle certain instruments because of the size or what

470
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:11,679
Speaker 1: have you. In this case, the woman is too strong

471
00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:15,240
Speaker 1: to even touch it. Very cool fun fact, Very cool

472
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,240
Speaker 1: fun facts. Keep sending us fun facts and um please

473
00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:22,160
Speaker 1: please send us and share your your childhood doll stories

474
00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:26,360
Speaker 1: um to balance out all of the all the childhood

475
00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:29,080
Speaker 1: stories of Molly and I just shared with you all,

476
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 1: and I hope that you enjoyed it. Uh, send us

477
00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:33,960
Speaker 1: an email. It's mom Stuff at how stuff works dot com.

478
00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:36,920
Speaker 1: You can also right right all over our Facebook wall.

479
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:41,560
Speaker 1: We're on there, and uh you can finally Twitter follow

480
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,320
Speaker 1: us or mom stuff podcasts. And then the last but

481
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:48,680
Speaker 1: not least, you can head over to our blog stuff

482
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,560
Speaker 1: Mom Never Told You at the u r L. How

483
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:56,680
Speaker 1: Stuff works dot Com for more on this and thousands

484
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 1: of other topics because at how stuff works dot Com.

485
00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,399
Speaker 1: Want more house staff works, check out our blogs on

486
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:10,359
Speaker 1: the house stuff works dot Com home page. Brought to

487
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 1: you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. It's ready,

488
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:14,120
Speaker 1: are you