Paulina Smith, age 10, of Vancouver, Wash., for her question:
WHEN WAS THE FIRST DOLL MADE?
A doll is a figure resembling a human being, usually small. About 1700 the term came to mean a child's plaything but the earliest such objects had religious significances and certain cultures use dolls in religious ceremonies to this day.
Dolls fashioned on flat pieces of wood, painted with geometric designs and with hair made of strings of clay or wooden beads, have been found in Egyptian tombs dating from 3000 to 2000 B.C. We don't know when the first doll was made, but we do know that the presence of such dolls in children's graves suggest that they were cherished possessions as well as cult objects.
Dolls were also found buried in the graves of ancient Greek and Roman children.
Most ancient dolls were humble creations, made of common clay, rags, wood or bone Better examples fashioned of ivory or wax or terra cotta were found occasionally. Then, as now, the objective was to achieve a lifelike image. Some of the ancient dolls, dating back to about 600 B.C , had movable limbs and removable garments.
Beginning in the Middle Ages, the creche, with its doll figures of Holy Family, has been a part of Christmas observations in many parts of the world.
Fertility rites involving the kachina dolls of the Hopi Indians represent another continuation of ancient practice. These cottonwood or cactus root figures are given to children but are regarded as sacred objects, not as toys.
In Japan, children's festivals, which have been performed annually for almost 1,000 years, involved dolls representing historic figures.
The first dolls known to have been commercially produced as children's playthings were made in Germany in the early 15th century. Production methods were crude but their products, costumed to represent German women of the time, were made of wood, clay, rags and wax.
Beginning in the 15th century, manufacturers in England, France, Holland and Italy as well as Germany, began to produce dolls dressed in fashions typical of their respective locales. The more ornately costumed "lady" or "fashion" dolls were often used by rulers and courtiers as gifts.
By the 17th century simpler dolls, made of cloth or leather, were used as playthings by both girls and boys.
The 1600s saw several improvements in manufacturing. Dolls' heads were fashioned of glazed stoneware. In 1636 a doll with glass eyes that moved was offered in Holland and in 1675 another firm's dolls wore wigs of human hair.
Until the 18th century Germany remained the leading producer of dolls and toys.
Although virtually all dolls had been designed as adults up to 1710, one manufacturer then introduced a wax "baby" doll with movable eyes and a crying voice. Then in 1737 walking dolls were made in Paris.