/i was feeling sad/ can’t help looking back/

Out shopping in the last few years I noticed a trend which I still cannot explain. There are huge numbers of dolls in thrift shops and second-hand stores (this is not the inexplicable trend). I understand the volume. Most dolls are collected and owned by children or old women. Children grow out of their doll phase and old women die. Physical detritus from each demographic is found in dense clusters in these establishments. The odd thing is that a much larger percentage of these dolls than I would have expected has a look of being, well, sad. This fact impressed me to such a degree that I decided to explore this phenomenon of SAD DOLLS.

Perhaps my query was somewhat shaped by reading books like The Velveteen Rabbit and Corduroy from which I got the idea that the outward appearance of toys in general might reflect their level of care and attention. By definition, the dolls at thrift shops are not being cared for and have suffered through having been discarded. So I began to wonder if there might be a social reason for the prevalence of SAD DOLLS in the second-hand world.

There are two sub-categories within the SAD DOLLS type.

1. Dolls that came sad. Dolls that came sad were made with sad-looking or unhappy-seeming facial expressions. This qualifies them within the type because they are really just dolls that happen to be sad. Not their fault. But why would anyone design a sad-looking doll? Aren’t dolls meant to keep children company? As receptacles for fantasy personalities that kids might think up and then want to play with? If a sad-looking doll is always looking sad wouldn’t that be a total downer for your kid? Maybe this sub-category was not intended so much for children but for adults. Then we have the older-lady doll collector. They seem to prize static captures of what being surrounded by children might be, or may once have been, like. All children are sad at some point. Do these ladies really like those moments so much that they want to keep them around, thus driving the market for their production? It doesn’t get them down?

2. Dolls that grew to be sad through neglect or disuse. These dolls may have serene or cheerful facial expressions. They are sad because their hair is a big rat’s nest, or they have dirt on their face, or someone scribbled all over their face with a ballpoint pen, you get the idea. They might be missing a limb or just be so worn-out that their determinedly go-get-em smile just looks…off. Maybe it is just because dolls are made in the human image that it seems that their dignity should be considered. Like they should be prevented from remaining out in public when they get to this point. Someone should do the right thing and send them to the place that parents might call ‘dolly heaven’ or a place where ‘rest’ is used euphemistically. These are dolls you might run across in someone’s basement or attic or crawl space. They also pile up at Goodwills and Value Villages.

Just go look for yourself. You will see them.