Susie - A Wooden Shoe Box Doll

When I was in the 6-8 grades, my brothers and I attended the Avery Coonley School, a small private progessive school in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Every fall the parents would hold a Christmas Toy Workshop making toys for the less privileged children of the community. In 1933 or 1934, my father, Marion Syrek, was the chairman of the project. He decided on a set of nesting wooden boats for the boys and a wooden doll for the girls. I mentioned that I had seen a wooden doll in a library book and it became the pattern for the doll.

Much of the sawing, turning, shaping and painting for both the dolls and the boats were done in my Dad's workshop. My mother did all the painting of faces. She and another co-chairman, Ruth Dallwig, braided the hair and cut out the dressed from slaesman's samples of 1930's rayon dress fabrics that were supplied bu Ryth Dallwig's husband. One evening in December, the parents asssmbled to finish the projects, sewing the dresses and panties for the doll, attaching the hair and packing them into donated shoe-boxes.

I think the original doll in the book was made from a broom handle, but those my fahter made were from a 2"x2" wood piece turned on a wood lathe. Later he experimented with more complicated arm and leg joints, but I always felt the simplicitiy of the first ones made them so charming. They also explored other haircolors and also making a boy doll. They boy dolls just didn't have the charm of the yellow-pigtail girl dolls.

The dolls were delightful and appealing to many parents, and my parents took orders for them. Remember this was in 1934! My father was temporally out of work and it it hadn't been for the proceeds from making extra dolls and boats it would have been a very lean Christmas. I can't recall how much each doll cost - it might have been only $2. I know it wasn't as much as $10. The dolls were more popular than the boats and many little girls in that school received one for Christmas. I gave one to each of my three girl classmates for a gift.

The school is still inexistence and I attended a reunion of classes two years ago. Some of us hadn't seen each other for over 60 years. But I didn't remember to ask them if they still had their Susie Dolls of if the Toy Worskhop Tradition still carried on.

These dolls have been packed and unpacked countless times. I've always wanted to refurbish them and 'do something' with them. Their rayon dresses have almost disintigrated and the elastic in the panties has long disappeared. I am indebted to Emma Allebes who was charmed by them and made their new dresses in exchange for one.

Ruth Dallwig and Marion Syrek were co-cairmen in 1934.

Anita Syrek Corum