Labor Day is a good time to reflect on the history of workers in America. One of the most interesting periods came during the Great Depression with the Works Progress Administration, later called the Work Projects Administration, from 1935 to 1943. As part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelts New Deal, artists were employed to work on federally funded projects.
Some of these projects are pieces by great artists of the 20th century, like photographs by Dorothea Lange, sculptures by Augusta Savage, or murals by Grant Wood. Others, often collected as folk art today, were utilitarian items made by workers with little or no previous artistic training.
These include the cloth dolls known as “WPA dolls.” They were made for schools or museum displays. Many had educational purposes, like the dolls dressed in historical or international costumes, or representing characters from stories and nursery rhymes. Some were for childrens play.
This doll with long blond braids and a pink dress sold for $354 at Apple Tree Auction Center. Listed as a “WPA Cloth Girl,” not a specific character or historical figure, she was probably made as a toy for a school or nursery. After all, as psychologist Jean Piaget said, play is the work of childhood.
Q: I have two Dirigold napkin rings in the original box. Can you tell me how much they are worth?
