First comes the stocking of little Nell.
Oh, dear Santa fill it well.
Give her a dolly that laughs and cries.
One that will open and shut it's eyes.
Ho, ho, ho! Who wouldn't go? Ho, ho, ho! Who wouldn't go?
Up on the housetop, click, click, click?
Down through the chimney with old Saint Nick?
Naked ones with crazy hair. Perfectly coiffed ones posed on a shelf. Homespun rags that come along as a best friend.
At some point, every girl has loved a doll or dreamed of a doll. On Christmas Eve, Northwest Arkansas neighbors shared memories of their favorite dolls.
"Memories take you back to a special place and time -- or some that we don't want to remember," said the Rev. Sandra Wanasek, associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Rogers. "We need to cherish" the happy ones.
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I remember a doll whose name was "Kissy." She was about waist high, and you pulled her arms together and she kissed. It was something I wanted for Christmas, and, boy, I dug into that box! I was probably about 7 or 8. She was hard and plastic, but it was the coolest thing that she kissed.
-- Wendy Wesson, Springdale
I really like American Girl dolls. Two of my favorites are Lanie and Caroline. I like them because they just look a lot like humans, and they have a lot of stuff to go with them that can put them in another time. Some are historical, and some are look-alikes. Lanie lives in the present, and she really likes being outside and animals and nature. I like to be outside, and she likes to be outside.
-- Bunny Rogerson, 12, Fayetteville
I got dolls as gifts at Christmas and many other occasions. The doll I remember was a Revlon doll. They were put out really as a precursor to Barbie.
She had stockings, high heels -- she had fancy shoes. She had a garter belt to hold up her stockings. She had auburn hair and eye makeup and dangling pearl earrings. She was a lot different from some of the other baby dolls.
She was a surprise. I don't remember asking for her. She was a more grown-up doll. I still have her today.
-- Marsha Jones, Springdale
I had a Holly Hobbie bedroom. I loved it. But I don't remember having the dolls. Also, my mom stood in line to get me a Cabbage Patch.
-- Pamela Jones, Springdale
I have collected vintage Barbie dolls for more than 10 years. I got started when I was in college and would baby sit the girls next door. Their mom brought them a Barbie doll, and I got mine out.
(My favorite) probably was a Barbie with a blue and white sundress. And I bought a reproduction from the Barbie Bazaar magazine. When it came, I was crying. I had a deep emotional response. Maybe it was one of the ones I wanted as kid. Maybe my heart desired it. We didn't have much money, and my Barbies were always the cheap clones.
Today, I have old ones, new ones, broken ones and naked ones. I never met a Barbie I didn't like.
-- Caroline Griggs, Siloam Springs
I like American Girl dolls. My favorites were the Bitty Baby Twins. It was the first American Girl doll I ever had, and I had always wanted one. They were a surprise from Santa.
The girl had brown hair and pigtails. The boy was blond headed. You were supposed to name them yourself. The girl doll was Brenda, and the boy was David, I think.
I don't play with dolls now. They're upstairs in the toy bucket.
-- Arrington Floyd, 12, Rogers
I was never much of a doll kid. I always wanted a train. I was the oldest of four girls.
I wanted to be a June Taylor dancer (featured on Jackie Gleason's television variety shows), but I was short. I wanted a ballerina doll. We didn't have much money, but ... Surprise! Surprise! I got that doll.
Her ankles were hinged, so she could go en pointe. She didn't say "Mama." That's all she did.
-- Sandra Wanasek, Rogers
I was about 5 or 6 in Houston, Texas. We were very, very poor, but I didn't know that. I fell in love with a composition-wood doll. She had the cutest little organdy dress. And she had a slip. And socks that were held on with ribbons. I knew I was going to get that doll for Christmas. It cost $2 or $1.95, but we weren't going to have any Christmas. But in my child's mind, I knew that's what I was going to get for Christmas.
The day before Christmas, a big truck came down our alley, giving each family a big bag. The bag was tied on the top with a little toy broom. Inside the bag were two gifts -- one for the boy and one for the girl. There was some candy and an apple.
Well, lo and behold, that little doll was in there. I knew that was my doll. I never had any doubt I was going to get that doll.
One day, I left it out in the rain. And you know what happens to composition wood when it gets wet: It melts. When I ran back outside to get her, her face was already gone. I cried and cried.
I never got over it, and now I have an obsession with little composition-wood baby dolls. I have two. And I have remade the pink organdy dress and the little socks with ribbons.
-- Rosie Davis, Siloam Springs
Editor's note: The year was about 1950, Davis said. Other gifts handed out from the truck were toy dishes, and Davis doesn't know how she got that doll. "God arranged it," she said. "To me, that was a special time in my life. Innocence is the greatest thing about being a child. You didn't know you were poor."
NAN Life on 12/24/2014