"I belong to a race, the sole purpose of whose existence is to give pleasure to others. None will deny the goodness of such an end and I flatter myself that we amply fulfill it".

From: "The Doll and her Friends" A children's book published in Boston in 1852.

Encapsulated in this quotation is the notion that dolls possess characters of their own. They seem to incorporate an almost magical streak of immortality and their origin, like that of the human race, is enshrouded in the midst of antiquity. With each new archaeological expedition, we are bound to find some new piece of evidence enabling us to trace the evolution of the doll. Greco-Roman dolls of great antiquity survive, battered but with the same inherent potentialities they possessed six thousand years ago. It is this combination of past history and inherent personality which has given dolls their ability to fascinate every one of us.

Nowhere is this quality more in evidence than at a doll exhibition. The entire "behind the illusion network" is on display for all to see. It is an industry which is so successful that during the 1970's in America there were 225 million dolls, the majority of which were owned by adults! One sees displayed in an Aladdin's cave of multiples the wondrous mechanisms of doll immortality. Unlike their creators, dolls have the option of interchangeable limbs and torsos - a guarantee of perpetual existence. By creating an image of a human being at exactly the chosen age, one can capture infancy, childhood and adolescence for all time. Today, for an outlay of $4,000 - $15,000, the West German artist Annette Himstedt will create from photographs a superb image of your child in doll form. (There is, to my mind, a potential remake of "A Portrait of Dorian Gray" in that concept ... with a doll replica of oneself in the attic instead of a painting!