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A Heady Tale From 1918 Starring Miss Dolly
There was lots of whispering and chattering in the turtle box where the Schoenhut children stayed. Miss Dolly had head lice! Hazel had thoroughly checked Dolly’s itchy head, and sure enough, she had quite the infestation. She must have caught it while trying on hats at the Children’s Exhibit at Chautauqua days down at Forest Park. The rest of the girls heeded their mother’s admonition to never share hats. They went to hear William Jennings Bryan speak about Populism instead. Miss Dolly couldn’t resist the lure of trying on all those fancy bonnets from years ago. Instead of increasing her knowledge, she increased the lice population.
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She knew what this meant. She would have to suffer the indignity of having ALL her hair cut off. She sat in the chair in the dining room with its newly varnished floor.
Hazel, with her replaced hand, was a whiz with scissors and had already apprenticed herself to a hair dresser. She knew the sanitary measures needed to make sure no one else caught lice.
Violet wielded the broom. No one was more careful while sweeping, so she was the logical choice to make sure every single hair was swept up, gathered and disposed of in the burn barrel.
Martha was there to lend her moral support.
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The dastardly deed accomplished, Miss Dolly felt her head and jumped right out of that chair. She was bald! How could she stand it? Her hair had always been short, fine, and kinda ratty, but it was her hair and she liked it. She was as bald as a billiard ball. Waaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
Along came Maggie to the rescue. As soon as she heard the terrible news, she went to the closet and dug through all the Schoenhut clothes to find one single special thing. Mama had neither sorted nor cleaned their stuff yet, and it was quite a mess. Finally she found Miss Dolly’s own artist’s hat all crumpled and dirty. She quickly washed and ironed it. Maggie walked into the explosive scene and tentatively handed it to Miss Dolly. Miss Dolly grabbed it, crammed it on her head, and flew out the door. She didn't even say thank you! Violet, and Martha were stunned - they had both been bald for years, and they managed to live through it. They had never seen a Schoenhut doll so upset. But then again, she had always been tightly strung.
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First Miss Dolly ran away to the forest. She would become a hermit and not come home till her hair grew back. That only lasted about 5 minutes because she was afraid of all the wild critters! She had heard the wild termites were terrible this year, and she didn’t want to become a pile of sawdust. Being bald was bad enough.
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She walked back to their house and took refuge in the parlor. She would put this traumatic time to good use. She would practice the piano, read every book in the Children’s Section of the new Carnegie Free Public Library, and practice her drawing. Uncle Earl often joined her. He was not only recovering from a nasty head would, but also from the Spanish Flu. When he regained his strength, he would have to return to the front. He appreciated this time of peace and quiet and beautiful music.
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One morning months later, she woke up and her hat was difficult to get on. She got dressed, put on her shoes and socks, and took a deep breath. She walked over to the mirror with her eyes shut tightly. She opened them just a wee bit, and saw she had hair! Long, thick, curly, loverly hair! She was beside herself with joy!
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She looked exactly like she had when she left the factory oh so long ago. She was so emotional, she started doing hand springs and she stood on her head.
”Be careful, Miss Dolly. You might show your unders or GASP! Your hair might fall off!”
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She carefully hung her hat on the bedpost. It would be a long time before she wore it again. It was fun to wear while painting or drawing, but wearing it every day for months on end was boring.
About wearing hats each day
Miss Dolly is aware
It is nicer to have hair.
Thus ends the Heady Tale.
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