Dancing dolls
Sometimes, museum artifacts inspire authors to write stories. This set of small Polish wooden dolls has movable legs, colorful painted outfits, and fine animal hair “posts” for support. They were acquired by the museum in 1946.
When former museum director Grace Golden saw them, she was compelled to write a children’s story called Seven Dancing Dolls, which was published in 1961. The book tells the story of an 8-year-old princess who lives in 1830s Warsaw. In the story, a young pianist named Frederic Chopin plays the piano as the dolls dance for the girl.
An excerpt from the book reads: “Mama struck up a fast tune and the vibrations of the music caused the dolls to move on the polished wood. The music grew livelier and the dolls moved faster, swirling and twirling for all the world like tiny people. Wanda’s eyes gleamed and her feet told her to dance, too.”
