VTG 1950S CELLULOID CARNIVAL KEWPIE, SOUVENIR CIRCUS HOOCHIE COOCHIE

This listing is for a "hoochie coochie" doll, made as a Carnival and Circus midway prize, or souvenir.  She is dressed in the 1920s hoochie style and is a type of  Art Deco kewpie - with marcelled wavy hair, big eyelashes and bright red lips. She is made from a very thin celluloid that damages easily, but she has no damage - no cracks holes or damage.  Her arms are attached with string which has loosened with time. She dates to the 1920's to the late 1940s. She stands 7" tall, and has her little celluloid cane and foil over cardboard hat.  She has mercury glass earrings and necklace.  She has a little silky hula type skirt, and is wearing just feathers!  Lots of feathers!  Her feathers are slightly unusual in that they are pink and white, and match her shoes.  Most of the other ones that I have had are dressed in brightly colored reds and blues.  Her feathers are original - they are nicely attached in tiny holes, done by the maker, not re-done by a dealer.
In the 1920s and 1930s women who worked in the carnivals and the circus were part of the show - they were dressed skimpily, in bright colored costumes.  As the darker side, they also danced in their feathers in tents, where men (and sometimes women) paid 25 cents to watch them dance.  The dances were called the hoochie coochie.  They sometimes stripped, removing clothing a bit at a time.  To see more, the patrons had to pay an additional 25 cents, and the dancers would come back out and take off a a bit more.  For the most part, their costumes wound up being little skimpy skirts, and ... feathers.  These ladies weren't the ones who rode the horses, and trained the dogs.  They were the ones that held the ropes when the acrobats did their acts, and stood to the side while the performers were doing their acts.  The girls in the acts also wore skimpy outfits, but not quite as skimpy as the hoochie girls.
Anyway, that's why these little dolls are dressed in nothing but feathers and a little skirt.
This doll is in great condition - no breaks or damage, no cracks to the celluloid, and her arms are tightly attached. She is made from a very thin celluloid, that is the original type from the 1920's.
I have a few of these carnival Kewpie dolls that are "dress me" dolls - they are without clothing, ready to be dressed, if you are interested.  This same type of doll was also dressed as a bride, and all kind of other characters.  These feather dolls were pretty much only sold in the carnivals and circuses.
This doll is scarce, in this condition.  The original ones almost always had canes, jewelry and hats.

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