trolly dolly

 

When I was about ten, I had a small collection of trolls who lived in the large bottom drawer of an old dressing table. The drawer was fully furnished and decorated with cardboard settees and beds, fabric rugs and carpets, hand-drawn pictures, and all sorts of thoughtful little extras to make their apartment as deluxe as possible. (As toilet rolls and cereal boxes were my main materials, I can look back now and see that this was possibly my best ever effort at interior design and that I was certainly well ahead of the time with my economy, recycled chic.)

 

Underneath their outfits, all of which were made from squares of bright pink, lime, purple and orange felt bought on Stockport market, each troll had a discernible appendix scar made with a real scalpel. My best friend was the daughter of a vet and, like me, had had her appendix removed, and together we performed many successful operations with the scalpel that probably belonged in her father's surgery.

 

I've been making Suffolk puffs [aka fabric yo yos] recently and I love the way they are transformed when you pull up the thread and they turn into a little 'puff'. But just before they close fully, they look like mini shower caps. I made so many and had the same thought so frequently, that I decided to see how a few would look as caps rather than puffs. Out came Phoebe's trolls (my trolls were saved for my sister who never looked after their home and health the way I did) and out came the felt for their towels and on went the Suffolk puffs. I draw the line at making them a home and checking out their appendixes, but I have to admit that the sight of them all lined up took me back to the days when I was a happy trolly dolly.

Comments

[Victoria]

How I loved my trolls too. x

[Helen in Switzerland]

Oh Jane, you certainly brought back some memories!! I used to go to my friend Kathleen's house because she had a bigger troll collection and a really cool home for them in the bottom of her wardrobe...I remember the trools all smelt kind of perfumey - not sure if they were born that way or if Kathleen had just raided her mother's perfume supply. Whatever happened to Kathleen?...happy days!!

[Susan M.]

I don't mean to show my ignorance, but, are Suffolk puffs the same as what we Americans call " fabric yo yos"? If so, do you mind me asking what you are really using them for...besides bathing caps? :)

[strikkelise]

Ha! So sweet. I remember them from my childhood in the seventies. I was so pleased the other day, to learn that my daughter's friend wanted one for her birthday and we got to buy one as a present. Eat your heart out, Bratz! :)

[jane]

Just lovely :O)

[potterjotter]

Oh Gosh! Haven't thought about those little things since I was a kid. Do they still sell them???

[Kat]

I, too, had a troll house instead of a doll house. My father cleverly designed it so that it could be turned into bookshelves when I got too old for them.

[Lucille]

Do you remember the wonderful smell? It would transport me back to childhood if I could smell one again.

[Deby (in Canada)]

Takes me back to sewing as a young teen. I made bedroom curtains (two fairly large panels). Like your bright solid felts I had basic bright solid cottons then loads of prints. I wonder what happened to them??

[Carla (from Alabama)]

Looks like the "puffs" made a perfect cap. I love the pink ones at top.

[Vicki W]

I loved the troll dolls when I was a kid, although mine were not nearly as well treated as your!

[Martina Tierney]

We women of a certain age remember trolls well... and fondly! I would love to see you make a room set in a drawer, I'm sure you could make a lovely interior now. I'd quite like to see the appendix operation and scalpel too. Simple times. Mx

[Nancy]

This post made me so nostalgic! I used to make little dresses by cutting two holes in a little piece of fabric for the arm wholes and tying on a little sash to hold the dress on. I used a small, multi-level Japanese bookcase/curio as their house.

[Lesley]

Like Lucille, I have a great memory of my troll's incredible smell. I had only one, bought for me by my grandmother as a huge treat in 1967, for the hefty price of 7/6. I loved it to bits, with that smile, and its bright orange hair - and that smell! And I too made it little felt tunics. Never loved a toy so much.
Modern ones don't have that smell - it was probably some sort of toxic VOC!

[Lisa]

Oh, my! My troll had kind of a tan, with dark brown sort-of frizzy hair. Rather on the normal side, compared to my friends' trolls, some of which had orange and mint green hair!
What an idea to make shower caps for them! Who else would think of such a thing!

[Suzanne]

My strongest troll memory is waking up to my little sister running in to tell me she flushed my very best friend's troll down the toilet. Major drama let me tell you! We spent hours making little outdoor palaces with beautiful landscaping for many trolls

[Rachel (BookSnob)]

I was obsessed with trolls in the 90's! I had so many. They made mini ones as well, and I used to have one on a keyring. I wonder what happened to those trolls?! I love the showercaps!

[jacky worby]

.....I still have my trolls from the 60/70s !!!!!!

[diane]

I never performed surgey on my trolls , but it is so good to know that someone else turned their drawers into rooms. I made cardboard furniture and knitted rugs and blanket as well as what passed for clothes for the poor trolls . I feel normal now :)

[lyn f]

Ooooohh, what lovely memories! I too can remember the smell, how odd. I may have to buy one now I've seen these looking so lovely. I cut the hair off of my trolls and ruined them, as well as my own, I was about 10. In the same summer, I made a skirt and 'top' from a pair of grey barkcloth kitchen curtains. My first sewing experience. I was plump and made the skirt too small, and spent hours sewing it onto me once I was in it!! I do remember wearing it, in the garden, for most of what seemed like very hot school summer holidays. Wish I had photos of those times:)

[Sarah]

What a clever thing to do, they look so cute. I can't imagine not looking at them and smiling.

[maggie]

They made me laugh, thank you.

[Elizabeth D]

I never played with baby dolls or even Barbies, but how I loved my trolls! I had 5 single-headed and two double-headed, and it was very important that they have the official "DAM" stamped on their backs. Mine lived in a maroon, tin Pullman car, with a leather strap and snap that held it closed. Inside, two thick green felt mattresses for the bunk beds, and a closet. It was my mom's when she was a kid. I was an unsentimental kid, and let the trolls and the train car go to a cousin -- I regret it to this day.

[Beth]

So cute!

It's also cute/sweet you built/designed your trolls a home when you were little. I'm sure they loved you for it. :)

[Rainy Daisy]

So cute!

[Susan Krzywicki]

And in my family, I became the keeper of the trolls and all their well-worn and loved hand-made clothing and accessories.

Sheets of felt - we could get about four outfits. Feathers from my grandma, the milliner, and buttons from my mom, the home ec teacher. Heaven!

[Janis Goodman]

I thought the smell of trolls was one of those weird mysteries which I needed to keep to myself - how strange that I am not alone in this memory And my best troll story would have taken place in about 1965 when having (illegally ?) taken my favourite troll to school I lost it on the way home. I think I was upset rather than distraught but was utterly thrilled to discover it the next afternoon standing on the traffic light button of the crossing to Finchley Road station awaiting my return.