Think the world’s gone topsy-turvy? These clever toys from prior QBO sales know just how you feel! And if you aren’t familiar with the old-fashioned term, the definition of topsy-turvy is “to be in utter confusion or disorder” or, “with top or head downward”. Whew, I’m getting dizzy!
So, if you initially picked up this rag doll in the pretty light blue dress, what you’d first see is her smile – she’s happy! And, aww… the poor doll in the flowery dress is crying – she’s sad. But this is not two different dolls, they are one and the same. Topsy-Turvy dolls are made with 2 heads, 4 arms and no legs, the way the skirt is flipped determines which face the doll shows you, a sort of Yin-Yang experience in doll form. They always embody some sort of duality.
Topsy-Turvy rag dolls originated in the slave-holding South of the 1800s, maybe earlier. They wore out easily so there are only a few examples in museums. There is a tradition of two-headed religious entities in West Africa, where many people were abducted from to be sold as slaves, but no doubled-up dolls, so while Topsy-Turvies may have been influenced by the origin culture of the enslaved people who first made them here, they are uniquely American. Their earliest duality is an uncomfortable one, a white character and black character joined as one. In some cases they are a white little girl paired with an adult black woman – a plantation owner’s daughter and her enslaved nanny. In others it is two little girls, both the nanny’s own daughter and the slaveholder’s daughter she cared for. The perplexing toys may have been played with by children of both races, and eventually were definitely made by women of both races.
In the topsy-turvy cultural upheaval of Post-Civil War America, there also arose a fashion for all sorts of mass-produced optical illusions. In print there was distorted artwork to be ‘decoded’ by mirrors, or artist Peter Newell’s clever 1893 book “Topsys & Turvys” in which each page offers a picture interpreted one way upright, another way upside-down. This book was so popular it is STILL in print 130 years later, so we have never tired of getting our brains bent (Multiverse, anyone?) By the 1970s books on making Topsy-Turvy dolls were being published for the crafty.
Expanding beyond their unhappy origins, Topsy-Turvy dolls can now represent all sorts of dualities: rich/poor, young/old, happy/sad and have become all sorts of characters – Angel on one side, Devil on the other, Goldilocks vs Bear, Cinderella in rags/Cinderella in sumptuous ball gown. There is even a Little Red Riding Hood doll that manages to embody all 3 main characters – the brave little girl in her sporty red cloak, the kindly, infirm old granny in her nighty and bed-cap, and the big, bad wolf all dressed up in his granny drag. The trick is that the granny’s nightgown has no clear front or back and her head has 2 faces – the floppy night cap is adjusted forward or backwards to reveal either the kindly granny’s face or the ravenous wolf. Clever!
And for a modern take, the TeeTurtle company has had great success with their Reversible Octopus Plushies. Billed as ‘Cute Sensory Fidget Stuffed Animal That Shows Your Mood’ this TikTok sensation is advertised to ‘Relieve stress by letting the Reversible Plushie tell friends, family, or coworkers how you are feeling” and comes in a huge plethora of emotional combinations. This one sold at our Beehive is the simplest, “Happy/Sad”. And if octopuses don’t do it for you, they also make reversible unicorns, narwhals, cats, dogs, pandas, turtles and more, in “tons of different colors”! Whew! I’m getting topsy-turvy just thinking about it!
Tuesday Treasures was started by our staff member, Jeanne Lusignan. Each week she will be featuring items that have been found at our estate sales. If you would like to submit a treasure for Jeanne to feature in a future installment of “Tuesday’s Treasures”, please follow the button below and send us an email! Please attach a few photos of your treasure in a beautiful setting as well as any details you have about your item such as manufacturer, use, age, region of origin. If you don’t know about the piece, that’s okay! We still might be able to research it for you! Don’t forget to tell us what makes this item such a treasure to you!