Frozen Charlotte “Penny Doll”

Molly Lorence

NIACC US History

December 22, 2017

Frozen Charlotte ¨Penny Doll¨

Throughout history people have always been busy, either by simply trying to survive and

using all their free time to take care of all their basic necessities to survive or all on useless

activities. In the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, things to keep people busy consisted

of books, farm work, sewing or knitting, or few toys when families could afford them. Though

some were expensive, all kids wanted to have toys to cherish, so when a hot new toy came out,

mass production of the toy was made all around the world, especially cheaply made toys.

Description

The Frozen Charlotte doll, based on a poem from the past, is a valuable keepsake to

collectors today, though that has not always been case. These dolls, popular in the Victorian Era,

were molded into a doll shape out of pure china. Many stand in sizes ranging from a little under

an inch to over eighteen inches tall.1 Cheaper versions of these dolls was sold with accessories

painted on, such as hair or clothes. More expensive dolls could be sold unclothed, giving the

customers a chance to buy clothing and put them on the doll themselves, that is if they could

afford it. These dolls were made in Germany between 1850 and 1914, making their way to the

United States and Great Britain.2

Many of the dolls had different purposes, depending on where the consumer was located

in the world. People in Germany, Japan, and the U.S., used these dolls as cake decorations, most

of the time making them out of bisque. There was also dolls molded out of sugar, put in cake at

the holidays. Meanwhile, in Great Britain, these dolls are being used for bath toys for small

children. This type of doll had an unglazed, stoneware backside to it, enabling it to float. Some

1 "Frozen Charlotte Doll: Melbourne Museum - Museums Victoria." Accessed December 14, 2017. https://museumsvictoria.com.au/website/melbournemuseum/whatson/current-exhibitions/melbournestory/favourite-objects/frozen-charlotte-doll/index.html.2 "Wells, “Young Charlotte” - Maine Folklife Center - University of Maine." Accessed December 14, 2017. https://umaine.edu/folklife/what-we-do/programs-and-events/maine-song-and-story-sampler-map/places/wells-young-charlotte/.

dolls are even made out of wood, historians assuming the people of Melbourne adapting to the

popular culture of having the dolls.3

Origin of Frozen Charlotte Poem

Before the doll became popular, there was a poem written by Seba Smith in a newspaper

called, The Rover. The title of this poem was “A Corpse Going to a Ball”, later being called

“Young Charlotte” by Earnest Lord (See Appendix A). Though there is lots of controversy about

whether this was based off of true story or not, it was revealed that Smith based the poem on a

story of a woman freezing to death in a sleigh on December 31, 1839, in a New York Observer

issue in 1840. The poem is later sung as a song, Young Charlotte, by blind poet, William

Lorenzo Carter, who sang it wherever he went. The song grew widely popular and became a

traditional folk song of this time. The song went along to the well-known tune of “The False-

Hearted Knight” with two versions of it sang in Maine and New Brunswick. 4

The poem is about a young girl who is going out to a ball one night with her beau. It is a

bitterly cold winter night and her mother wished her to bundle up so she would not get ill. She

refused, saying no one would be able to see her beautiful dress underneath all of the blankets,

and was off. When they arrived at the ball, her beau found her dead next to him in the sleigh and

his heart is broken. This story was made into a lesson for children to alway obey their parents or

else bad things, such as death, could happen to them.5

The Frozen Charlotte dolls then came soon after, exploding with popularity. To match the

poem, the dolls were the pale color of a young girl in winter along with Frozen Charlie’s. To also

3 "Charlotte Is Frozen, but What a Doll - The Washington Post." Accessed December 15, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/11/16/charlotte-is-frozen-but-what-a-doll/c6559698-a3bb-4bf4-8ca1-7f830bd7e564/.4 Courtesy of Kinney Pioneer Museum. Taken by M. Lorence. 5 "Charlotte Is Frozen, but What a Doll - The Washington Post." 16 Nov. 1979, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/11/16/charlotte-is-frozen-but-what-a-doll/c6559698-a3bb-4bf4-8ca1-7f830bd7e564/. Accessed 14 Dec. 2017.

add to the story, some dolls were even sold in coffins, representing the death of the young

maiden herself and she will wake no more.6

Origins of the Frozen Charlotte Idea

This doll was originally made for bath toys or to be bakes in small cakes, until a poem by

Seba Smith made its appearance about a girl who had frozen on a cold winter night on her way to

a ball, despite her mother’s wishes to bundle up. Many people interpreted this doll as the famous

Charlotte spoken of in the poem and the dolls went viral. Many of the dolls even sold in coffins

to represent the death of these frozen-looking dolls. Though this seems like a morbid toy for

many children around the world, parents of these children viewed it as a lesson to children to

always listen to their parents. After this doll, the poem was later made into an old folk song,

Young Charlotte.7

Origin of “Penny Doll” Frozen Charlotte

In the decades that the Frozen Charlotte was popular, many people did not have very

much money to spare, making it difficult for kids to have very many toys. The Frozen Charlotte

doll was very cheap and easy to buy, costing only a penny, giving it the nickname of the “penny

doll”. Though some simply just a penny, others cost slightly more due to inexpensive accessories

children could use with the dolls, giving the dolls more imagination to them.8

Origin of the male Frozen Charlotte, Frozen Charlie

Alongside the Frozen Charlotte, there were also Frozen Charlies, an exact boy version of

the doll. These dolls are to represent Charlotte’s beau in the poem, A Corpse Going to a Ball.

6 "Maine Song and Story Sampler - DigitalCommons@UMaine." Accessed December 14, 2017. http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/songstorysamplercollection/images.kml.7 "Charlotte Is Frozen, but What a Doll - The Washington Post." Accessed December 15, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/11/16/charlotte-is-frozen-but-what-a-doll/c6559698-a3bb-4bf4-8ca1-7f830bd7e564/.8 Ibid.

They are slightly larger than the Frozen Charlotte, are naked, and do not move. Both dolls are

built the same, with a fair complexion and chubby features.9 These male versions are used for a

mate for the Charlotte and sold fairly well, though not as well at the female doll. Clothes are also

available to purchase for these male dolls as well.

Different Ways the Frozen Charlotte was used and sold

The Frozen Charlotte is the same doll around the world, even though different countries

had different ways to use it and play with it. In Great Britain, they generally used the doll for

mainly child’s play, specifically a bath toy for infants. The dolls are specially designed to have

one side of it be a glazed, stoneware enabling it to float. In the United States and a few other

countries, the doll is used for not just toys but also a surprise baked into pies and cakes during

the holidays. Many of these dolls are made out of sugar, allowing the consumer of the cake or pie

to eat the doll as well.10 Although today’s children will never feel the excitement of playing with

the penny doll, the children of it’s generation got the opportunity to play with the Barbie of their

time.

9 "Charlotte Is Frozen, but What a Doll - The Washington Post." Accessed December 14, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/11/16/charlotte-is-frozen-but-what-a-doll/c6559698-a3bb-4bf4-8ca1-7f830bd7e564/.10 "Frozen Charlotte (doll) - Wikipedia." Accessed December 14, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_Charlotte_(doll).

11

11 Ibid.

Appendix

Young Charlotte (Kenneth Peacock)

(Frozen Charlotte)Now, Charlotte lived on the

mountainside,in a bleak and dreary spot,

There was no house for miles around,

except her father's cot;And yet on many a wintry night

young swains were gathered there,For her father kept a social board,

and she was very fair.One New Year's Eve as the sun went

down,far looked her wishful eye,

Out from the frosty window paneas merry sleighs went by;

In a village fifteen miles away,was to be a ball that night,

And though the air was heavy and cold,

her heart was warm and light.How brightly beamed her laughing

eye,as a well-known voice was heard,

And driving up to the cottage door,her lover's sleigh appeared;

"O, daughter dear," her mother cried,"This blanket 'round you fold,It is a dreadful night tonight,

you'll catch your death of cold.""O, nay! O, nay!" young Charlotte

cried,and she laughed like a gypsy queen,

"To ride in blankets muffled up,I never would be seen;

My silken cloak is quite enough,you know 'tis lined throughout,Besides, I have my silken scarf

to twine my neck about."Her bonnet and her gloves were on,

she stepped into the sleigh,Rode swiftly down the mountainside

and o'er the hills away;With muffled face and silent lips,five miles at length were passed,

When Charles with few and shivering words,the silence broke at last.

"Such a dreadful night I never saw,the reins I scarce can hold."

Fair Charlotte shivering faintly said,"I am exceeding cold."

He cracked his whip, he urged his steed

much faster than before,And thus five other dreary miles

in silence were passed o'er.Said Charles, "How fast the

shivering iceis gathering on my brow."

And Charlotte still more faintly said,"I'm growing warmer now."

So on they rode through frosty airand glittering cold starlight,

Until at last the village lampsand the ballroom came in sight.

They reached the door and Charles sprang out,

he reached his hand for her,She sat there like a monument

that has no power to stir;He called her once, he called her

twice,she answered not a word,

He asked her for her hand again,and still she never stirred.

He took her hand in his - O, God!'Twas cold and hard as stone,

He tore the mantle from her face,cold stars upon it shone;

Then quickly to the glowing hall,her lifeless form he bore,

Fair Charlotte's eyes were closed in death,

her voice was heard no more.And there he sat down by her side

while bitter tears did flow,And cried, "My own, my charming

bride,you never more will know."

He twined his arms around her neck,he kissed her marble brow,

His thoughts flew back to where she said,

"I'm growing warmer now."

He carried her back to the sleigh,and with her he rode home,

And when he reached the cottage door,

O, how her parents mourned;Her parents mourned for many a

year,and Charles wept in the gloom,

Till at last her lover died of grief,and they both lie in one tomb.

-Seba Smith