Clara and Matilda are two little cousins, who live together in the same house, to to the same school and share the same playroom. One day, when there had been a season of very bad weather, so that it was not pleasant to play out of doors for long periods of time and when several more days of even harder storms were predicted by their Uncle George, who knew all about weather signs, Clara and Matilda grew a bit restless and decided they would like to invent some perfectly new kind of play, something that could be played indoors and which would be very absorbing. They thought and thought for a very long time, when suddenly there were interrupted by the arrival of their Aunt Lillian.
"Oh, Aunt Lillian, what shall we play that is brand new?" they cried.
"Well," said Aunt Lillian, without waiting a single moment to think, "why don't you have a doll's beauty show?"
Clara and Matilda looked at each other with wide eyed admiration, because they had never thought of such a thing as a doll's beauty show before, and they were perfectly delighted with the suggestion. "It's just the very thing," they said.
They started in at once to make their arrangements. First they made a huge placard of cardboard and on this they printed in big letters the words "Dolls' Beauty Pageant, Friday afternoon, after school, at Clara and Matilda's House, No. 3 Union Street, All Entries Must Be in by 3 o'clock, Prizes, Prizes, Prizes."
Then they wrote several similar notices on small cards, put them in envelopes and sent them to the houses of their little girl friends. The large sign they meant to take to school with them and ask the teacher to permit them to put the notice up inside the cloakroom.
After the announcement of the show had been made the next thing to do was to select the prizes. Clara and Matilda and their Aunt Lillian hunted through the family jewel boxes for trinkets which could be awarded as prizes. Of course, these were the dolls' jewel boxes, not those of the human beings.
Clara and Matilda had each four dolls, all of which were quite well provided with jewelry, so that there were really plenty of things that could be given to the dolls who were to compete in the contest.
"Here is Eleanor Maud's watch," said Clara; "perhaps that would do for one prize. She has had it a long time, and she really ought to be willing to give it away."
Eleanor Maud was Matilda's very best Paris doll, and she had quantities of clothes and some very handsome jewelry.
"I don't really think Eleanor Maud would care to have her watch used as a prize for the beauty contest," said Matilda rather coldly, for she did not much like the idea of giving away Eleanor Maud's watch.
"Perhaps," she suggested "we could take Bo-Peep's bracelet for one of the prizes."
It was now Clara's turn to look gloomy, because Bo-Peep was her best doll and her bracelet was her favorite possession. She prized it even more highly than her sheep.
It looked for a moment as if there were to be no prizes and perhaps not even a show, but just at this most trying moment Aunt Lillian came to the rescue.
"I don't really think," she said "that we should take away the other dolls' jewelry for prizes. That would be hardly fair. But we can make some very attractive new jewelry from beads, and I happen to have some beads that are exactly right for this purpose."
Aunt Lillian then brought out a most fascinating box which contained beads of all colors and several sizes, and sewing silk, cord and wire and some small pins for the dolls hair.
First Aunt Lillian showed them how to make pearl earrings with some beautiful pearl beads which were fastened to thin wire so that they could be placed on the lobe of the doll's ear very neatly, while the wire was extended back to the ear and up to through the hair.
For the first prize they made a lovely pearl necklace, such as even the proudest doll would be glad to win, and for the second prize they made a necklace of blue beads that was almost as pretty and quite as valuable. There was a necklace of read beads for the third prize and a bracelet of beautiful gold glass beads for the fifth. The earrings were the sixth.
Other prizes were pins for the hair of gold, crystal and colored jewels, which were made on hairpins, the beads being strung on a small wire and twisted around the hairpin.
When they had finished making the prizes there were the honorable mention ribbons to make. These were made of white ribbon, on which the words "honorable mention" were written in ink. It was very difficult to mark them without having the ink run, and so Aunt Lillian got her indelible pencil, which is used to mark table linen, etc., do that it will not get lost in the laundry. This did very nicely. After the honorable mention ribbons were marked as follows: a blue ribbon for first prize and a red for second prize. All the rest of the awards were third prizes, and they were to be accompanied along with yellow ribbons marked third prize.
By this time all of one afternoon was used up and Clara and Matilda were obliged to wait until the next day before anymore work was done on the doll's beauty show. When they went to school the next day they were met by a twitter of excitement, for most of the girls had received the notices of the show and they were anxious to learn all about it. Those to whom notices had not been sent gathered eagerly about the sign which the two cousins put up in the cloak room. Clara and Matilda were showered with questions about entering the show.
It was explained that there was no charge of admission and that everybody who had a doll to show was welcome as an exhibitor. At recess tine the cousins were more popular than they had ever been, it seemed and all the girls at school declared that they were going to exhibit in the show even though some of them had not played with dolls for a long time.
The excitement grew as the time for the doll show drew near. Some girls made entire new costumes for their dolls and others got out their old playfellows and tried to renovate their complexions and smooth their frayed locks into new hair styles. Meanwhile Clara and Matilda arranged the playroom at home with rows of benches all against the walls for the doll contestants were to sit. At the door a small table was placed so that Aunt Lillian could pin a number on each doll's skirt which was recorded with the name of it's owner and the name of the doll.
Friday afternoon a large group of little girls carried dolls of all sizes to the home of Clara and Matilda. There were so many dolls entered into the competition that the benches were not sufficient enough to display them all. More tables had to be set up for all of the dolls to be presented and more chairs needed to be added to the center of the room so that everyone could be seated.
There were dolls of every country as well as a large number of lovely bisque dolls fashionably dressed. There were old Dinah dolls, funny rag dolls, wax-head dolls, Asian baby dolls, indigenous dolls with long black hair, quaint German dolls, frivolous French beauties in elaborate coiffures and tiny peg dolls exquisitely dressed by some great aunt long ago. There were more dolls displayed there than any one child had ever viewed in the finest doll shop!
Jane Austen, a doll dressed to represent the well known authoress, was the most famous doll in attendance. There were also several bride dolls. One of the most interesting dolls displayed there was Gretchen, a German character doll, who was so full of childlike spirit that she attracted the attention of all who admired her.
Cinderella, a fairy tale doll, was dressed in the finest satin gown, but she had only one glass slipper on her right foot and her left foot was bare! Another striking doll at the beauty pageant was Elizabeth, a Hessian doll wearing full peasant costume. There was also a boy doll who was busy reading a book all through the show, he never looked up from his intent study of it. One of the dolls had visited a doll hospital and had a gold tooth added where another had been chipped out; she was indeed a very proud doll! The most forlorn looking doll in the pageant was a rag doll named Sarah; this doll belonged to Jennie Marsh. Sarah had been handed down to her little owners through three generations in the Marsh family.
Instead of having judges who would decide which doll was to receive the first prize, it was decided that all those who entered a doll into the pageant would vote for their favorite in a secret ballet. Aunt Lillian would then count these votes. The doll to be awarded first prize would have the most votes and the second prize would go to the doll with the second largest tally of votes and so on.
Because every doll had a number attached to her garments, children were able to write down the assigned numeral in order to cast a ballet for the doll they most preferred. There were also many mothers, fathers and siblings at the pageant who were also allowed to vote for their favorite doll and these votes were thought to be far less prejudicial, assuring the pageant contestants would not all be voted for by their respective owners.
At last the final count was determined by Aunt Lillian after carefully counting every vote contained inside the ballet box. Everyone gathered around in breathless silence, all except Lillie de Lille, who was so certain that her French doll would win first prize. She thought it best to politely pretend to be interested in the many doll contestants all the while believing in quite confidence that her doll was the finest and would surely receive the first prize.
Aunt Lillian looked very pleased and also a bit puzzled too. She smiled at the little exhibitors and said mysteriously: "Things have turned out very oddly. I am very much surprised, and I think you will be too, but I am also very much pleased as I am sure you will be also."
The exhibitors waited expectantly, what on earth could Aunt Lillian mean?
"The first place prize," continued Aunt Lillian, in a clear voice, "goes to the oldest doll in the show -- No. 17 -- which is Sarah, the big rag doll that belongs to Mary Marsh."
Everybody looked perfectly astonished at this unexpected outcome and then suddenly there was a burst of laughter, followed by prolonged applause.
Then such a lot of conversation! The room rang with it. Everyone was explaining how poor old Sarah, the homeliest doll in the beauty pageant, had happened to win the first prize.
"You see," said Janie Marks, "I voted for her because she looked so forlorn that I thought she wouldn't have another vote."
"And I thought the same." said Matilda, "and I did too." said Sallie Redfern, "and I," "and I," chorused a host of others.
Then everybody had another laugh and they all danced around Aunt Lillian while she fastened the long beautiful pearl necklace over Sarah's plain calico frock.
Then the other prizes were awarded. The beautiful French doll took the second prize and everybody was satisfied with the way the other awards were distributed.
After it was all over the girls declared that the doll beauty pageant was the very best fun they had ever had in all their lives. "But the best of it all was that Sarah got the first prize." said Lillie de Lille, "That was perfectly glorious," and for once, everyone agreed with her. (edited, 1910)
"Oh, Aunt Lillian, what shall we play that is brand new?" they cried.
"Well," said Aunt Lillian, without waiting a single moment to think, "why don't you have a doll's beauty show?"
Clara and Matilda looked at each other with wide eyed admiration, because they had never thought of such a thing as a doll's beauty show before, and they were perfectly delighted with the suggestion. "It's just the very thing," they said.
They started in at once to make their arrangements. First they made a huge placard of cardboard and on this they printed in big letters the words "Dolls' Beauty Pageant, Friday afternoon, after school, at Clara and Matilda's House, No. 3 Union Street, All Entries Must Be in by 3 o'clock, Prizes, Prizes, Prizes."
Then they wrote several similar notices on small cards, put them in envelopes and sent them to the houses of their little girl friends. The large sign they meant to take to school with them and ask the teacher to permit them to put the notice up inside the cloakroom.
After the announcement of the show had been made the next thing to do was to select the prizes. Clara and Matilda and their Aunt Lillian hunted through the family jewel boxes for trinkets which could be awarded as prizes. Of course, these were the dolls' jewel boxes, not those of the human beings.
Clara and Matilda had each four dolls, all of which were quite well provided with jewelry, so that there were really plenty of things that could be given to the dolls who were to compete in the contest.
"Here is Eleanor Maud's watch," said Clara; "perhaps that would do for one prize. She has had it a long time, and she really ought to be willing to give it away."
Eleanor Maud was Matilda's very best Paris doll, and she had quantities of clothes and some very handsome jewelry.
"I don't really think Eleanor Maud would care to have her watch used as a prize for the beauty contest," said Matilda rather coldly, for she did not much like the idea of giving away Eleanor Maud's watch.
"Perhaps," she suggested "we could take Bo-Peep's bracelet for one of the prizes."
It was now Clara's turn to look gloomy, because Bo-Peep was her best doll and her bracelet was her favorite possession. She prized it even more highly than her sheep.
It looked for a moment as if there were to be no prizes and perhaps not even a show, but just at this most trying moment Aunt Lillian came to the rescue.
"I don't really think," she said "that we should take away the other dolls' jewelry for prizes. That would be hardly fair. But we can make some very attractive new jewelry from beads, and I happen to have some beads that are exactly right for this purpose."
Aunt Lillian then brought out a most fascinating box which contained beads of all colors and several sizes, and sewing silk, cord and wire and some small pins for the dolls hair.
First Aunt Lillian showed them how to make pearl earrings with some beautiful pearl beads which were fastened to thin wire so that they could be placed on the lobe of the doll's ear very neatly, while the wire was extended back to the ear and up to through the hair.
For the first prize they made a lovely pearl necklace, such as even the proudest doll would be glad to win, and for the second prize they made a necklace of blue beads that was almost as pretty and quite as valuable. There was a necklace of read beads for the third prize and a bracelet of beautiful gold glass beads for the fifth. The earrings were the sixth.
Other prizes were pins for the hair of gold, crystal and colored jewels, which were made on hairpins, the beads being strung on a small wire and twisted around the hairpin.
When they had finished making the prizes there were the honorable mention ribbons to make. These were made of white ribbon, on which the words "honorable mention" were written in ink. It was very difficult to mark them without having the ink run, and so Aunt Lillian got her indelible pencil, which is used to mark table linen, etc., do that it will not get lost in the laundry. This did very nicely. After the honorable mention ribbons were marked as follows: a blue ribbon for first prize and a red for second prize. All the rest of the awards were third prizes, and they were to be accompanied along with yellow ribbons marked third prize.
By this time all of one afternoon was used up and Clara and Matilda were obliged to wait until the next day before anymore work was done on the doll's beauty show. When they went to school the next day they were met by a twitter of excitement, for most of the girls had received the notices of the show and they were anxious to learn all about it. Those to whom notices had not been sent gathered eagerly about the sign which the two cousins put up in the cloak room. Clara and Matilda were showered with questions about entering the show.
It was explained that there was no charge of admission and that everybody who had a doll to show was welcome as an exhibitor. At recess tine the cousins were more popular than they had ever been, it seemed and all the girls at school declared that they were going to exhibit in the show even though some of them had not played with dolls for a long time.
The excitement grew as the time for the doll show drew near. Some girls made entire new costumes for their dolls and others got out their old playfellows and tried to renovate their complexions and smooth their frayed locks into new hair styles. Meanwhile Clara and Matilda arranged the playroom at home with rows of benches all against the walls for the doll contestants were to sit. At the door a small table was placed so that Aunt Lillian could pin a number on each doll's skirt which was recorded with the name of it's owner and the name of the doll.
Friday afternoon a large group of little girls carried dolls of all sizes to the home of Clara and Matilda. There were so many dolls entered into the competition that the benches were not sufficient enough to display them all. More tables had to be set up for all of the dolls to be presented and more chairs needed to be added to the center of the room so that everyone could be seated.
There were dolls of every country as well as a large number of lovely bisque dolls fashionably dressed. There were old Dinah dolls, funny rag dolls, wax-head dolls, Asian baby dolls, indigenous dolls with long black hair, quaint German dolls, frivolous French beauties in elaborate coiffures and tiny peg dolls exquisitely dressed by some great aunt long ago. There were more dolls displayed there than any one child had ever viewed in the finest doll shop!
Jane Austen, a doll dressed to represent the well known authoress, was the most famous doll in attendance. There were also several bride dolls. One of the most interesting dolls displayed there was Gretchen, a German character doll, who was so full of childlike spirit that she attracted the attention of all who admired her.
Cinderella, a fairy tale doll, was dressed in the finest satin gown, but she had only one glass slipper on her right foot and her left foot was bare! Another striking doll at the beauty pageant was Elizabeth, a Hessian doll wearing full peasant costume. There was also a boy doll who was busy reading a book all through the show, he never looked up from his intent study of it. One of the dolls had visited a doll hospital and had a gold tooth added where another had been chipped out; she was indeed a very proud doll! The most forlorn looking doll in the pageant was a rag doll named Sarah; this doll belonged to Jennie Marsh. Sarah had been handed down to her little owners through three generations in the Marsh family.
Instead of having judges who would decide which doll was to receive the first prize, it was decided that all those who entered a doll into the pageant would vote for their favorite in a secret ballet. Aunt Lillian would then count these votes. The doll to be awarded first prize would have the most votes and the second prize would go to the doll with the second largest tally of votes and so on.
Because every doll had a number attached to her garments, children were able to write down the assigned numeral in order to cast a ballet for the doll they most preferred. There were also many mothers, fathers and siblings at the pageant who were also allowed to vote for their favorite doll and these votes were thought to be far less prejudicial, assuring the pageant contestants would not all be voted for by their respective owners.
At last the final count was determined by Aunt Lillian after carefully counting every vote contained inside the ballet box. Everyone gathered around in breathless silence, all except Lillie de Lille, who was so certain that her French doll would win first prize. She thought it best to politely pretend to be interested in the many doll contestants all the while believing in quite confidence that her doll was the finest and would surely receive the first prize.
Aunt Lillian looked very pleased and also a bit puzzled too. She smiled at the little exhibitors and said mysteriously: "Things have turned out very oddly. I am very much surprised, and I think you will be too, but I am also very much pleased as I am sure you will be also."
The exhibitors waited expectantly, what on earth could Aunt Lillian mean?
"The first place prize," continued Aunt Lillian, in a clear voice, "goes to the oldest doll in the show -- No. 17 -- which is Sarah, the big rag doll that belongs to Mary Marsh."
Everybody looked perfectly astonished at this unexpected outcome and then suddenly there was a burst of laughter, followed by prolonged applause.
Then such a lot of conversation! The room rang with it. Everyone was explaining how poor old Sarah, the homeliest doll in the beauty pageant, had happened to win the first prize.
"You see," said Janie Marks, "I voted for her because she looked so forlorn that I thought she wouldn't have another vote."
"And I thought the same." said Matilda, "and I did too." said Sallie Redfern, "and I," "and I," chorused a host of others.
Then everybody had another laugh and they all danced around Aunt Lillian while she fastened the long beautiful pearl necklace over Sarah's plain calico frock.
Then the other prizes were awarded. The beautiful French doll took the second prize and everybody was satisfied with the way the other awards were distributed.
After it was all over the girls declared that the doll beauty pageant was the very best fun they had ever had in all their lives. "But the best of it all was that Sarah got the first prize." said Lillie de Lille, "That was perfectly glorious," and for once, everyone agreed with her. (edited, 1910)
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