Great Aunt Rosa's Dolls

My Great Aunt Rosa was born in 1899 and sadly passed away when I was only ten. She was a first generation German American and my own grandfather's sister. I never met her but cherish her memory because of the cloth doll she made for me when I was very young. I always remember having the doll so can't tell you exactly when she was made but 1953/54 is probably about right.

I had many dolls as a child but Aunt Rosa's is one of the few that survived my mother's many doll purges (long story but you probably get the idea). I played with her a lot as a child and always remember the story of how Aunt Rosa made dolls like mine for all of the girls in the family. She was made with two dresses to play with, has brown wool hair and a wonderful hand embroidered face. I never named her when I was little but think she should now be called Clara since that was Aunt Rosa's middle name.


Like I mentioned before, Aunt Rosa made dolls for every girl in the family but I never saw any besides mine until my daughter was born. It was then that my cousin presented me with a doll she had in her family as a special gift for my new baby girl. This doll was obviously in much better condition than my Clara so I think she wasn't played with much. In fact, I think she most likely belonged to my Great Aunt Anna, who was Aunt Rosa's sister. She has a pretty dotted swiss dress and lovely hand sewn shoes plus that same endearing face as my Clara. Her dress is sewn on so I think she was mostly meant for display and not actual play. Her name is Anna.

I am so happy that I still have these dolls today and that a part of my Aunt Rosa may still live on thru me and my doll making. I hope she would be proud.

Sandy