|
The
Birth Of Bailey
When I was a little girl about the
age of 3 to 5, I was sitting one day on the couch while my Mom was
busy about fixing dinner. I was looking out our window. I
watched as my neighbor across the street came down the long flight of
steps and she was carrying something. It looked like a baby.
Suddenly I saw her throw it into the trash can. I couldn’t
believe it, she had thrown a baby away. I began to cry and was
hardly able to call to my Mom, but I did. She came running to me and I
could not tell her what was wrong. Finally she understood me.
All I could say was, "Mommy, baby in trash, baby in trash",
as I pointed crying and very upset. My Mom calmed me as much as
she could and took me by the hand and called our neighbor and told her
what I had seen.
She then asked the neighbor if it
would be okay if she got the baby for me. She said yes that her
daughter wasn’t going to keep it any longer. Of all the dolls
I have had, this one was the one I have kept my whole life. I
remember every time her cloth body would tear, my Mom took a needle
and thread and stitched it. Her original stitching is still in
Baileys cloth body. Through the years my Mom kept her for me,
and when Mom went to be with Jesus I brought her home. I had
time to now look up on the Internet just what kind of doll I had.
I found out she was called a Blessed Event Doll, from 1950. The
article said that these dolls had a publicity event. They
arrived at the store by ambulance because , after all they were
newborns. I found the original ad on ebay and it had the details
of how the doll was dressed.
I became interested in restoring
it as close to the original as possible. I told all my friends I
wanted to restore my doll. Harriet Dash told me she would sew
clothes for her, so we went on a shopping trip for material and as you
can see from the picture, she is now dressed as she was in 1950.
When I first saw my doll I remember the crying look on her face and
when Mom asked me what I was going to name her I said, Cry Baby. and
that was her name, however now that we have her restored and we are
fixing a Birth Certificate of Adoption for her I have decided to name
her Bailey, my Mom’s last name. I know that somehow, in some
way, my Mom knows and is very happy.
By Mary Osborne: as told to her by
her Mother.
My Story of Restoration
By: Harriett Dash
I really enjoyed keeping Bailey
for a few days and I know how important it was to Mary to see Bailey
restored. Once I started working on her it was exciting. I
hand stitched all her clothes. I cut out a pattern as well as I
could . The little bottoms were hidden beneath the blanket but I
could see her little legs from the bottom of the blanket and the big
silk ribbon around her waist. Her little nightshirt was trimmed
in silk with a bow around her neck. It was impossible to stop as
I saw her becoming more real by the moment. I smile as I looked
at Bailey and as I placed her clothes upon her little cloth body with
so many stitches in her by Mary’s Mom I knew what a blessed event
this really was. No one knows until they have lost their Mom how
important things like this are. Mary’s Mom had kept this baby
doll in playing order all the years she had her. Mary had
carried her around by her arm and Mom Bailey had stitched it back on,
from the looks maybe several times. You could see a lot of
loving care had been taken by her to make sure her daughter was happy.
Now as I look at Bailey I think the little frown on her face is a
smile of satisfaction. Bailey will always have a special place
in Mary’s heart because her Mom’s hands have been there and the
love she put into Bailey is the same love she put into her daughter.
Original ad for Blessed Event
Doll, from 1950. Click Here
Bailey's adoption papers Click
Here |
