Mary was bigger than Laura, and she had a rag doll named Nettie. Laura only had a corncob wrapped in a handkerchief, but it was a good doll.
Nowadays, where toys are so abundant and kids often have more toys than they can keep track of, it's interesting to think that a corncob wrapped in a handkerchief could be such a good doll for a little girl. Try to give that to most kids now and they'd pitch a fit because you were giving them trash.
I still have one of my very first dolls, or at least the earliest doll I can remember. She no longer has her dress, but her soft cloth body has been hugged many times, and her eyelids opened and closed depending on whether she was lying down or standing up, and her plastic face was soft and smooth. She was called Jennifer, because she reminded me so much of my cousin of the same name.
I've been thinking that I should make myself a rag doll. I'm a little old to take it to bed every night and to play with it by day, but there's something timeless and lovely about a ragdoll. Made from old clothes, stuffed with scraps too small to use elsewhere, face sewn on, and all sort of chances to improve my sewing skills by making clothes for it.
I have a few other crafts that I need to finish first (I need to sew knitted squares together for a blanket, and I'm knitting some red wool mittens for a store sample), but once those are done, I'll look through my old clothes and choose some good material, and then start making my first handmade rag doll.
She won't be a corncob wrapped in a handkerchief, but she'll be a good doll anyway.
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