Creepy or a Peek Into History?
Meet Mickey
While I was at a flea market with my daughter, I noticed this little guy from across the room. He looked so sad and worn with such a sweet face that it reminded me of my first baby doll.
Then, as I picked him up, I noticed he had a music box that still played music. I could not resist and happily shelled out a few dollars to bring him home.
Both of my children and some friends and family have commented that they find him creepy. He has quite a bit of damage on the side of his head along with some water damage on his cloth body. Not to mention he is covered in dirt.
I did a little research, and this doll is Mickey or Tommy Tucker, but I’m sticking to calling him Mickey. They were a line of Effanbee composition dolls created during the 1940s. What is extra interesting is none were made with a music box.
I started working on restoring him and saw his back was poorly resewn to allow the music box to be inserted. The music box appears to have been broken off of something else. The casing has random screws of different sizes and a beaten sheet of metal to close it in with an extra-long turnkey.
During the 1940s, the great depression just ended and WWII began and ran through 1945. Rationing was still going on through 1947 due to WWII and many families were struggling both financially and emotionally.
A theory of what may have occurred is that it may have been cheaper to purchase a factory-made composition doll and break apart an old jewelry box to make a musical baby doll for a little girl or boy instead of buying a brand-new musical doll. This is purely speculation, but it feels like a good theory.
The dive into the history of dolls has been exciting and the backstory of this doll makes him even more interesting and amazing rather than creepy.
