Thursday, April 30, 2015

After 250 Years It's Still The Bangwell Putt Rag Doll


Image Courtesy of The Doll Book written in 1908 by Laura B. Starr

When I was doing my "The History of Faceless Dolls" research I ran across a faceless doll that was created in 1765 and, 250 years later, is still in existence.  It was included in the Memorial Hall Museum Online -  American Centuries....View From New England  website that allows you to "Explore American history with hands-on activities, exhibits, lessons, historic documents and artifacts."

The Children's Toys section of their online collection includes the Bangwell Putt Rag Doll which is a faceless rag doll that was made for Clarissa Field of Northfield, MA in 1765.

Here's what the website had to say about this doll, "Dolls could be purchased, but many people made them at home. A relative made this rag doll for Clarissa Field of Northfield, Massachusetts, around 1770. She named her Bangwell Putt. (Clarissa had several other dolls, all with equally fanciful names, including Pingo, Palica, Kimonarro, and Ebby Puttence.) Clarissa Field was born blind. Although Bangwell Putt lacks a face, her ten fingers were carefully made, suggesting the importance of touch in Clarissa's world. Like other little girls, Clarissa could use her doll to practice the skills she would need as an adult. She could dress and undress Bangwell, and sew fashionable clothes for her. Bangwell has a homespun body and is dressed in eighteenth-century fashion, including a corset. Clarissa also could tend Bangwell as a mother would a child. Clarissa never married. She kept Bangwell until she died in her eighties. Bangwell Putt is thought to be the oldest surviving rag doll in North America."

I became intrigued by this doll, especially her name, and wanted to see if there was more information on her. Here's what I found:


There is a beautiful interactive archives copy of a hand illustrated children's book that is part of the Internet Archives online collection entitled "The Journey of Bangwell Putt" by Marianna and published in 1945 by the F.A.R. Gallery that was re-published in 1965.  If you click the "play" triangle in the upper right hand corner you can interactively read through this adorable book.


Wendy Lawton, who is a world class porcelain doll maker, made the Clarissa Fields and Bangwell Putt doll shown in the picture above. Her porcelain doll was named for the owner of the Bangwell Putt doll and she is holding the rag doll in her hand.  Please click here for a larger image.

On their website they said, "Clarissa Fields and Bangwell Putt - 2000 - Edition of 175 - More than 225 years ago, a blind girl named Clarissa Fields was given a rag doll she named Bangwell Putt. Little did she know that her doll would be carefully tended by her descendants and finally gifted to Memorial Hall Museum. The poems young Clarissa dictated to her sister are still pinned to the doll's slip. Bangwell Putt is now the oldest extant rag doll in America. It is to Clarissa's memory that we dedicate our version of Clarissa Fields and Bangwell Putt.  - Bangwell Putt is used with permission from Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Memorial Hall Museum, Deerfield, Massachusetts."

If you would like to see a picture of the actual Bangwell Putt Rag Doll, please click here.

 

Page 29 of The Doll Book written in 1908 by Laura B. Starr under the chapter Historic Dolls & Other there is a paragraph about the Bangwell Putt Rag Doll. This chapter contained the picture shown at the beginning of this post and shown above.

According to Page 29, "In the collection at Deerfield Memorial Hall is a doll so beaten and battered that it has little resemblance to either ancient or modern dolls.  It is named Bangwell Putt and for nearly a century was the beloved companion of a blind girl, Clarissa Field, who lived in Northfield, Mass. At her death, some curious, crude attempts at versification were found pinned to the doll's clothing, which lent an unusual interest to the shapeless little creature. From the legend attached to the doll, it seems to have been a cherished companion of the blind woman in her old age as in her youth."


Page 147 of the Information Please Girls' Almanac by Alice Siegel said this about the Bangwell Putt Doll, "Clarissa Field's wooden doll named Bangwell Putt was given to the Memorial Museum of Deerfield, Massachusetts in 1882. Clarissa, who was born blind in 1765, had a great collection of dolls and an even greater list of names for them. They were: Pingo, Palica, Himonarro, Ebby Puttence, and Bangwell Putt. Bangwell Putt is one of the earliest dolls with a documented history."

 

The Child Life in Colonial Days, Volume 1 By Alice Morse Earle - Published 1909 not only mentioned the Bangwell Putt Doll but also had the picture shown above.  On page 366 they said, "A pathetic interest is attached to the shapeless similitude of a doll named Bangwell Putt, shown facing Page 370. It is in the collection of Deerfield memorial Hall.  It was cherished for eighty years by Clarissa Field of Northfield, Massachusetts, who was born blind, and whose halting but trusting rhymes of longing for the clear vision of another world are fastened to the plaything she loved in her youth and in old age."

I think it's wonderful that we still have this doll after 250 years.  What better statement than this of the loving affection a young girl had for her doll. Not only is Clarissa's love for her doll a beautiful story, but the fact that it has been kept all these years is amazing. I would love to see it some day. Wouldn't you?

I just wish I had found out the reason she named it 'Bangwell Putt."

Gotta Love Totes and My Purse, Bag & Tote Tutorials, Pouch, Clutch, Wallet, Case & Pocketbook Patterns, Video's & How-To's on Pinterest


I love making totes and have designed and made many of them for It's Raining Baby Showers collection, my Alpacas Rock collection, and my Custom Fabrics Designs collection. Big, small, lined, unlined - it doesn't matter. They are just so versatile. You can never have enough of them and you can never run out of uses for them.


Back in 2012 I decided to take my first online class with Pat Winter on Artful Gathering. The class was called Crazy Quilting 101 and I  LOVED every minute of the class. Pat was such a fantastic teacher. I only wish I had taken one of her classes years before.

In any event I made the crazy quilted purse shown in the picture above.  I posted about this here.  

After taking this class I had visions of making several semi-formal and formal clutches - some for me and some as gifts.  I haven't had the time to do this as of yet, but I will.


There are so many wonderful tutorials out there for making all sorts of purses, totes, bags, pouches, clutches, wallets, pocketbooks, bags, etc.  I, of course, love them all and have collected over 711 tutorials, patterns, and how-to's on my Purse, Bag,Tote Tutorials, Pouch, Clutch, Wallet, Pocketbook Patterns, Video's & How-To's Pinterest board.

I can't make all of them, but I can keep them for future use - when and if I get the chance to make some.

If you love making purses, totes, clutches, wallets, pocketbooks, etc. then you're going to love my Purse, Bag & Tote Tutorials, Pouch, Clutch, Wallet, Case & Pocketbook Patterns, Video's & How-To's Pinterest board.

If you love my Purse, Bag & Tote Tutorials, Pouch, Clutch, Wallet, Case & Pocketbook Patterns, Video's & How-To's board please follow my board by clicking on the link above.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

A Little Springtime Crafts Inspiration


Spring is in the air, the birds are chirping, the forsythia is bursting with yellow buds and the daffodils are blooming.


I couldn't be happier.


It was a very LONG winter this year and I'm so happy it's finally over. At least I hope it's over. In New England you can still get snow in the end of April and May. So, I've got my fingers crossed. Hopefully I haven't jinxed it just by mentioning that dreaded S-N-O-W word. With my luck I probably have.

The feel of Spring in the air always invigorates me for crafting and creating delightful cheery crafts. Then again, if you're a follower of my Linda's Blog you know that it doesn't take much to get my mo jo going for crafts just about any time of the year.


When it comes to Spring I love creating beautiful spring silk floral arrangements and wreaths and have made many of these over the years.


One of my favorite Spring silk florals is an arrangement I take out every year that I created about twenty years ago and is shown in the picture above. I made it using a small blue ceramic pot with blue silk floral roses, white azalea, and beautiful delphinium blue flowers. Lots of green leaves were added for fill.

It looks as good now - twenty years later - as it did when I first made it. That's the beauty of silk floral. They never deteriorate.  And, if you're careful when putting them away and storing them in the off seasons they'll last for decades.

This is where my baby sister, who is an amazing gardener, would add, "that may be true, but they can't compete with the real blue delphiniums in my garden!"  She's right about that.  There is no comparison to Mother Nature's beauty. However, silk florals never give you poison ivy - which my gardens always did.


Two years ago when I was creating needle felted art dolls I decided to create several flower fairies. It was springtime when I was working on my needle felted dolls so I shouldn't have been surprised with an urge to create something with flowers and gardens. Flower fairies were perfect. If you'd like to read my post about them please click here.


I also love creating painted birdhouses with little birds and silk floral decorations like the picture collage above. I made these back in 2002 when I was in a painted birdhouse phase and have been trying to find the time to create some how-to's on them. Hopefully, I'll be able to create those sometime soon.  

I also love adding wonderful Spring time craft tutorials that I find from all the talented crafters on the web to my Spring Craft Tutorials, Video's, Patterns and How-To's board on Pinterest.

There's over 150 pins on this board and it is filled with adorable tutorials for creating birdhouses, flowers, wreaths, bunnies, topiaries, floral decorations and so much more.   Of course, I want to make all of them, but that's not going to happen so instead I visit from time to time just for the springtime inspiration.



I hope you enjoy some of the spring seasonal crafts tutorials, video's and how-to's I have found.

If you love our Spring Craft Tutorials, Video's, Patterns and How-To's board please follow our board by clicking on the link above.

Wednesday, April 01, 2015

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Make My Tiny Bunny Wreath Decoration Free E-Book



If you're looking for a cute, adorable little wreath decoration for the Spring my bunny grapevine wreath would fit the bill.

Our adorable 4" grapevine wreath is adorned with wrapped fabric, a fabric tied bow decoration, moveable cloth bunny, and silk florals. Decorations don't get much better than this.

I had so much fun making my bunny wreath I thought you might enjoy a free e-book tutorial so you could make one of your own.




To view and download my free e-book please CLICK HERE. You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view my free e-book. Then just download my free .pdf e-book by clicking on the down arrow in the top center.

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

Please respect My Terms of Use:  All patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products © 2004-2023 Linda Walsh Originals-Designs by Linda Walsh. All rights reserved. Commercial selling or reselling by any means prohibited without the written consent of Linda Walsh.

Patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products are for personal use only. You may not modify, photocopy, download, upload, post, transmit, display, perform, publish, license, reprint, create derivative works from, mass duplicate, re-sell, digitize, and reproduce in any other form (print, digital or electric) or commercially apply, embed, share, Email, or redistribution in any other means. Use of any of the above is prohibited without the written permission of Linda Walsh.

However, you may link to my website(s)/blog(s) and the individual page(s)/blog post(s) (including 1 picture) but do not copy, reprint or duplicate my website(s)/blog(s) or individual page(s)/post(s ) without my permission.

Items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are intended for personal use for fun or small scale personal and business profit as long as you credit us with the design. Large scale commercial use (i.e. mass production) of items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are by permission only.

Please see my Terms and Conditions for additional information.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Make Our Tiny Bunny Heart Decoration Free E-Book



If you're looking for a fun and easy bunny decoration to make for Easter my tiny bunny heart decoration might be perfect.

Our adorable 3" sisal rope heart is adorned with  Easter eggs, a fabric tied bow decoration, and cloth poseable bunny. Decorations don't get much cuter than this.

I had so much fun making my little bunny heart I thought you might enjoy a free e-book tutorial so you could make one of your own.  Happy Easter.




To view and download my free e-book please CLICK HERE. You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view my free e-book. Then just download my free .pdf e-book by clicking on the down arrow in the top center.

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

Please respect My Terms of Use:  All patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products © 2004-2023 Linda Walsh Originals-Designs by Linda Walsh. All rights reserved. Commercial selling or reselling by any means prohibited without the written consent of Linda Walsh.

Patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products are for personal use only. You may not modify, photocopy, download, upload, post, transmit, display, perform, publish, license, reprint, create derivative works from, mass duplicate, re-sell, digitize, and reproduce in any other form (print, digital or electric) or commercially apply, embed, share, Email, or redistribution in any other means. Use of any of the above is prohibited without the written permission of Linda Walsh.

However, you may link to my website(s)/blog(s) and the individual page(s)/blog post(s) (including 1 picture) but do not copy, reprint or duplicate my website(s)/blog(s) or individual page(s)/post(s ) without my permission.

Items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are intended for personal use for fun or small scale personal and business profit as long as you credit us with the design. Large scale commercial use (i.e. mass production) of items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are by permission only.

Please see my Terms and Conditions for additional information.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.