Artifacts from archaeology excavation of History Colorado site: Frozen Charlotte dolls
Date
2009 November 20
Donor
History Colorado - OAHP
Summary
Frozen Charlotte dolls were popular Victorian ceramic dolls made between ca. 1850 - 1920 named after a cautionary folk ballad. The song was based on a poem by Seba Smith in 1840, and set to music by William Lorenzo Carter, and tells the tale of a girl who does not take her mother's advice to wear a wrap in the cold weather on an outing with her beau.
The dolls ranged in size from tiny dolls under an inch in length to 18 inches. Sometimes little Frozen Charlotte dolls were baked into confections for children's parties.
Many were made to float in a tub, so were also called Bathing Dolls. Many if not most were made in Germany, but seldom do the dolls have a manufacturers mark.
Public -- Creating Communities
