Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Wednesday 2 August 1967, page 7


"DEVIL" DOLLS

DOLL in devil's dress.

These are "devil" dolls. The heads are made from "mountain devils," which are the seed pods of the hand-some red blooms of the wild honey flower (Lambertia formosa). The pod shapes give each doll a wry, devil face.

*DEVIL BRIDE-DOLL, with strange, cold face.*

ABOUT 500 "devil"

dolls, including those pictured here, will be on a stall at the Newtown, N.S.W., High School fete on July 29, helping to raise $4000 for new school equipment.

The idea of making the

dolls a star attraction at the fete came from the head-master's wife, Mrs. Kenneth Moulton, of Mosman, N.S.W., who "rediscovered" the mountain devil while she and her husband were

clearing their property in the

Blue Mountains.

"I brushed against a prickly bush, and when I

looked down I recognised

** HIGHLANDER "devil"

doll with aloof air and limbs bent into a danc- ing shape for effect.**

the face of a mountain devil.

"I had a 'devil' doll when I was a child, and I've always thought them fas-cinating. The seed pods really look like devils, with their two horns and spiky

faces.

"And they have such a variety of expressions."

(Honey flower is common on the coast and tablelands of N.S.W., growing to about five or six feet tall.)

When Mrs. Moulton re-turned to Sydney she brought a bag of seed pods with her. But she had one problem: she had forgotten

how to make the doll.

~Pipe-cleaners~

"Fortunately, my nextdoor neighbor, Mrs. Fer-guson, found one that had belonged to her daughter.

As soon as I saw the doll's pipe-cleaner arms and legs I remembered what to do."

Dressing a "devil" doll, said Mrs. Moulton, can be a wonderful test for the imagi-nation. If you are in a silly

mood you can make funny dolls, and if you're feeling blue you make glum ones.

"At first Mrs. Ferguson and I — she has helped me to make many — experi-mented with paper coasters as skirts. Then we tried using scraps of lace and silk.

"From there, other types of dress developed."

She indicated a table that

seemed to be alive with tiny

~By Valerie Carr~

dolls. There were daintyballerinas and brides. There were Scotsmen in kilts and clowns with two or three heads.

"We didn't know what to do with the two- and three-

headed pods," she said.

"Then the mother of one of the students — Mrs. B. Davidson, of Erskineville, N.S.W. — who obviously has a sense of humor, picked them up and turned them

into clowns."

While Mr. Moulton is de-lighted with the results of his wife's doll-making, he is even more delighted with the effect the fete and an art exhibition, which will be held on the night of July 28 and all day on July 29, have had on the staff and parents.

"A very good understand-ing has grown up all round," he said. "Teachers and parents are working side by

side to make the fete a suc-cess."

And both Mr. and Mrs. Moulton will consider it a "success" if they raise even a third of the $4000 target.

For then Mr. Moulton, who has been the headmaster of Newtown High for more than a year, can buy some of the teaching aids his 44-year-old school so badly

needs.

"We have no modern

amenities, like projectors and a reading laboratory, for slow learners. And there's no library at all."

But the first thing he plans to buy will be an electronic

scanner to cut stencils for

duplicating — "this will be a great aid in the work of teaching."

Mrs. Moulton has plans, too. She has no intention of

letting her creative ways with seed pods go to waste.

~Mammy dolls~

"I've promised to make

some 'devil' dolls for the N.S.W. Spastic Centre. And then I'm going to experi-ment with banksia pods.

"Painted black, they'll make good Mammy dolls."

Would you like to make

a "devil" doll?

¶ Take three pipe-cleaners, hold them level top and bottom, then pull the middle one down about 2½in. Its

lower part will make the

tail.

¶ Bend the two remaining ones, at the top, into arms. Their lower ends make the feet.

¶ Pláce the mountain devil head between the arms, and bind with wool or sticky tape, crossing over and under the arms, and then winding the wool/tape about 2¶in. down the body, covering the

three cleaners.

¶ Take a floral or patterned coaster, punch a hole through the centre, and then pull over the legs and tail up to the wool/tape binding. Seal the under part with sticky

tape.

¶ Pull out and curl tail — this is the balancer — and bend legs to make feet.

**DOLL-MAKERS: Mrs. Moulton, at right in the picture at left, with her next-door neighbor Mrs. R. Ferguson, who has helped her to make many of the "devil" dolls. Above are two more dolls.*