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Marianne Clay |
All across America, in communities big and small, we're preparing for our
4th of July. As for me, I'll be admiring my six feet, four-inch
father-in-law, Kenneth Strittmatter. Ken will be portraying Uncle Sam. A
newly retired stockbroker and a selfproclaimed "seamster" as opposed to a
seamstress, Ken dresses for this patriotic holiday in a red-white-andblue
Uncle Sam outfit he created for himself. From his shoes to his top hat, he
looks the part, and his head of white hair and his white goatee just add to
the dazzling effect. His mere presence makes any 4th of July party, whether
big and noisy with exploding fireworks or small and serene enough to hear the
frogs croak and the crickets chirp, come alive with American summer fun. And
American summer fun is what this issue is all about.
Robert Tonner's "Wizard of Oz" dolls lead our 4th of July parade. Robert,
like many of us, has long loved what he considers America's only fairy tale,
and he has translated the characters of L. Frank Baum's wonderful books into
dolls. L. Frank Baum, who was a poultry farmer and a journalist before
becoming a novelist, wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900. He
then wrote 13 more "Oz" books over the next 21 years including the one
published after his death in 1920. Though long dead, I believe he'd love the
beautiful but evil, glamorous, and green-skinned Wicked Witch of the
West that Robert has created.
Just as much an American icon as the "Oz" books, Patsy has been
adored since Effanbee introduced the fashionable toddler doll in 1928.
Patricia Schoonmaker, who tackles our readers' questions on composition dolls
in her Compo Corner, shares her research on this special doll. Nancie Anne
Lutz, another Patsy fan, offers her Patsy Ann paper doll and the outfits she
created based on the original outfits for this Patsy doll sibling. Then Kerra
Davis presents several of the Patsy look-alikes offered by the American doll
company Ralph Freundlich Inc. in the 1930s.
But enough from me, I'll let you discover the pleasures we've assembled
inside for yourself. Instead, enjoy a few words from the first "Oz" book,
The Wonderful World of Oz:
"All the same," said the Scarecrow, "I shall ask for brains
instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he
had one."
I shall take the heart," returned the Tin Woodman; "for brains do not
make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.'" (Chapter
5)
May your summer brim with all the happiness your heart can hold,
Marianne Clay
Editor
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