[Illustration]
Not all the dolls made by these children were of fruits, flowers and
vegetables. In fact it was a poor scrap that they could not make into a
satisfactory plaything. And not only the little Wests enjoyed them but
Mamma was just as much interested in the making as were the children
themselves.
One evening a little party of friends was gathered together at
Hollyhock Place and for amusement Mamma gave each a clay pipe, a lead
pencil, a square of white and a square of colored tissue paper and
requested each guest to dress the pipe for a doll.
To some this, at first, seemed impossible. One or two gentlemen asked
to be excused, but when they saw the others meeting with such success
they, too, became interested and went to work. Nearly all used needles
and thread, but a few were most successful with mucilage to hold their
materials together.
It was funny to see the different expressions on those pipe faces. No
two of them looked the least bit alike.
The minister’s wife did not use her colored paper at all, but from the
white she made a long baby dress with a big bow in the back and a white
cap with another big bow was made to cover the head. This baby had the
tiniest little eyes, nose and mouth you could imagine.
Another lady made a clown of her pipe, using orange paper for his clown
suit and pasting white circles all over it. This was a neater clown
than one ever seeks in a circus, for he wore the freshest of white
ruffles at his neck, wrists and ankles. The bump at the bottom of the
pipe made the funniest of chin whiskers for this queer creature who
could not keep from laughing at himself—and no wonder.
[Illustration: A CLAY PIPE CLOWN]
[Illustration: A CLAY PIPE OLD LADY]
One of the ladies made her pipe into an old lady doll with folded
kerchief and great tall cap. In this one the bump at the bottom of the
pipe served as a nose—a large, ill shaped one to be sure, but a very
good nose for all that.
A very dignified gentleman who was present said he always liked to see
a lady wear a sun-bonnet, so he drew a face inside of his pipe and
made lines outside for “slats” that used to be put in old fashioned
sun-bonnets. A woman who would wear a sun-bonnet would, of course, wear
an apron, so a large white apron was put on this doll. Her face was a
pretty one, but her hands were large and clumsy, showing that she had
done hard work in her day.
These last two dolls wore several full petticoats which enabled them to
stand up like real people.
There were a number of other good ones, but why tell you about them,
for I am sure you can make some just as good as the best of these.
[Illustration: A CLAY PIPE MAIDEN]