Sold: WWI Child’s Play

Antique composition doll of an World War I-era American soldier, c. 1917-18. In tie and jodhpurs, the jointed doll is dressed in the uniform of a Doughboy and ready to play war. The United States entered the Great War in 1917 with the bright-eyed optimistic adventurism this doll seems to embody. One can imagine a child on the homefront playing with this idealized representation of his father, who, in the charnel house of trench warfare in France, was also hardly more than composite, movable figure in the eyes of generals. Over fifty thousand American servicemen would die in combat in World War I, but the pointless carnage would claim more than twenty million lives in total. Such incomprehensible figures are not unlike this figure, which given its perfect condition, was apparently put away and forgotten.

Excellent antique condition. Some minor surface cracks in the composition, but the doll is in a fine state of preservation.

Measurements

12 inches tall

6 inches wide

3.25 inches deep

Shipping

Free in the continental United States. If an international buyer, please contact me for a shipping estimate by clicking here.