Patsy Ann

We say that a girl with her doll anticipates the mother. It is more true, perhaps, that most mothers are still but children with playthings.

          ~F. H. Bradley

Yesterday was Mother's Day and I was so blessed to have my mother and my sister here in my home to celebrate. I also invited my son Mike and his daughter Addie, and my step-daughter Krissy to join us. We had a fun afternoon together. Addie has just turned 5 years old, and has impressed me with how grown up she is. She has wonderful manners, can sit at the table without wiggling (too much...) and always asks permission before she gets out the toys I keep here.

What she didn't know until now was that I have been waiting to share some very special toys with her. Waiting until she reached a little more maturity and could understand how special and fragile they are. Waiting to share Patsy Ann with her...

Patsy Ann was my mother's childhood doll. She is about 18 inches tall, the same size as an American Girl doll. She is made of a synthetic material that reminds me of plaster-- and because she is about 80 years old, she is fairly brittle. She has already been taken to a doll hospital, years ago when my own grandmother got her ready for me to play with. She has a scarred broken arm I worry about, lost most of her eyelashes and has cataracts... but she is beautiful to me. 

My mother did not have a sister, but she had 2 girl cousins who were about the same age as she was. They lived close enough that they played together often. Their mothers were sisters, and got together often. It was during the Great Depression, so doll clothes were a luxury. Doll clothes became the mothers' responsibility... so when the mother of one of the cousins made a doll outfit, she made three of them. Each of these girl cousins had a trunk full of doll clothes made by her mother or one of her aunts. Our Patsy Ann still has these clothes... so many they don't all fit in the trunk. And all styled from the early 1930's. A snapshot of that time, for sure!

I have vivid memories of playing with Patsy Ann when I visited my grandparents. Hours spent changing her clothes. As a young mother-to-be I dreamed of sharing her with a daughter... but then, I had two boys. I learned to parent boys, who played sports and cars and "Transformers"... and forgot about Patsy Ann. And then one day I became the grandmother of a little girl...

So yesterday, with her original owner here, we introduced Addie to Patsy Ann. I helped her change the doll's clothes over and over. We rocked her to sleep. Addie found the little toy kitchen set I have here and cooked and fed Patsy Ann. My mother told her the story of Patsy Ann. And Addie listened. She was very careful with the doll. She hugged us and told us, "I LOVE her!" And my mother and I smiled and remembered how we had loved Patsy Ann too...

Great Grandma Do, Grandma Barb and Addie help Patsy Ann change her dress. A very special moment for us!