An apple doll, also known as an apple-head or applehead doll, is a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

folk craft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

in which the doll's head is made from dried

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

s. In modern times, apple dolls are mostly used as

decoration Decoration may refer to: * Decorative arts * A house painter and decorator's craft * An act or object intended to increase the beauty of a person, room, etc. * An award that is a token of recognition to the recipient intended for wearing Other ...

s or to display

craftsmanship Workmanship is a human attribute relating to knowledge and skill at performing a task. Workmanship is also a quality imparted to a product. The type of work may include the creation of handcrafts, art, writing, machinery and other products. Workman ...

, rather than as children's

toys A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

. Because of the different effects drying produces, no two dolls are alike.

History

colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

, white settlers and

enslaved people Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

fashioned children's toys from utilitarian objects and materials on hand such as

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

husks, clothes-pins and

rags Rag, rags, RAG or The Rag may refer to: Common uses * Rag, a piece of old cloth * Rags, tattered clothes * Rag (newspaper), a publication engaging in tabloid journalism * Rag paper, or cotton paper Arts and entertainment Film * ''Rags'' (1915 ...

, using ingenuity and imagination. The use of apples as doll heads was a Native American practice and may have originated among the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

Seneca people The Seneca () ( see, Onödowáʼga:, "Great Hill People") are a group of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their n ...

. As colonists came into contact with Native peoples, they copied their dolls; Native peoples also began to make brightly and elaborately costumed apple-head dolls to sell to tourists.

Skookum doll A Skookum doll was a Native American themed doll, sold as a souvenir item in the early 20th century. Although considered collectible, they are not authentic Native American dolls, as they were designed and created by a white woman, and quickly m ...

s in Native dress, which were popular novelties between 1913 and the early 1960s, were originally made with apple heads; however their creator, Mary Dwyer McAboy, was not Native.

Method of making

The doll is made in two parts: the head and the body. To make the head, an apple is peeled, then the flesh is carved or pressed using a spoon and paring knife to create the

facial feature The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...

s of the doll. In some early examples, the facial features and expressions were produced by pinching the apple as it began to shrink. Next the apple is pierced to the core with a wire and left to dry for up to 30 days. It can be immersed in lemon juice for a day to prevent its turning black. However, the apple will naturally darken in colour during the drying process, and will shrink to about a third its original size. As it shrinks the surface will wrinkle like an old person's face, giving character to the facial expression. One maker, Margaret Owens, explained that only after an apple dried did she decide whether to make the doll male or female, and that sometimes the face becomes misshapen during the drying process and she has to throw the apple away. When the apple is completely dry, white beads or grains of rice can be pushed into the mouth to serve as teeth, and buttons or sequins can be added to serve as eyes. Hair for the doll can be made from wool, yarn, fleece, cotton batting, faux fur, or human hair collected from a hairbrush. This is first glued to a piece of felt, which is then glued to the top of the apple. The finished head is positioned on the top of a wire armature which is shaped into the rest of the doll's body, and padded using rags, paper or wadding. The doll's hands are sometimes modelled using a clay made from bread. The body is then covered by the doll's clothing, which is usually sewn by hand to the maker's tastes.

References

{{Reflist Traditional dolls