Wind-up doll jokes (or simply doll jokes) is a series of jokes in which an imagined

wind-up doll A wind-up toy is an automaton toy powered by a clockwork motor. Background Automata built for the sake of art, amusement, and simulation have been described since antiquity, in cases such as Heron of Alexandria designing clockwork birds during ...

of a well known person (a show business or sports

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

or a politician) acts in a way supposedly peculiar to this person."The Doll Joke Pattern in Contemporary American Oral Humor", "Wind-Up Dolls", An example is given in the biography of

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

by John Szwed. Miles had a habit to walk to the back of the band after finishing his solo, which was called "turning his back on the audience" by press. George Crater of the ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine cracked the following joke: "''Question:'' What does a Miles Davis doll do if you wind it up? - ''Answer:'' It turns its back on you!" A possible explanation of the appearance of this kind of jokes is that dolls of celebrities have long been part of American culture. These jokes are among relatively few examples of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

recorded by folklorists close to the time of their origination. They started to be transmitted verbally in the fall of 1960 in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

area, and in two years they have found their way to major popular periodicals as a new fad. They were variously called "Living Dolls", "Topical Dolls", but the "wind-up doll" was the most common term. A significant part of them had a character of sick jokes: "The

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

doll: wind it up and it sings, '' I'll Never Walk Alone''" This fad produced a book, ''Dolls My Mother Never Gave Me'', by Jack Wohl & Stan Rice (1962).

References

{{reflist Joke cycles Toy culture