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I’ve always had a real fondness for nesting dolls, or matryoshkas as they’re properly called in Russian. My grandparents and parents all owned them and made sure they were always out, gathering dust, waiting for someone to come by and play with them. (Does anyone really ever play with nesting dolls?)
Later, as I got older, I started to inherit my family’s dolls and collect my own, usually given out at Phillies, Eagles or Sixers games. (Yes, Dr. J was once the big-man who held all the other Sixers stars that season in his belly.)
The history of the matryoshka is a bit hazy, with different sources claiming different inventors. It seems nested boxes were first invented in China about 1000 A.D. Then, in the early 1800’s the Chinese created wooden nesting dolls which were later perfected by the Russians at the turn of the century. One name that comes up a lot if you research nesting dolls is Sergei Maliutin, a painter from a folk crafts workshop in Russia who is said to have built the first real matryoshka in 1890. The name, matryoshka (pronounced ma-TROYSH-ka), comes from the proper name, Matryona or Matriosha, a name associated with a rustic (usually rotund) Russian woman.
Own a matryoshka that’s particular interesting or special to you? Tell us all about it.
I have a set of dolls painted to resemble a series of Soviet/Russian leaders.
From smallest:
Lenin
Stalin
Kruschev
Brezhnev
Gorbachev
Yeltsin
posted by Bill T. on 8-22-2007 at 3:19 am
I have a two sets of Santas. Starting from a big ol’ laughing one, down to a tiny skinny one. I got them from my husbands oldest aunt and we set them out every Christmas.
posted by B.G. on 8-22-2007 at 7:05 am
I have a set decorated to look like the Beatles. Biggest is John, then Paul, then George, then Ringo, and the last piece just says “The Beatles” on it. (That part is kinda lame.) They look like they did in their Abbey Road days.
posted by Sara on 8-22-2007 at 7:20 am
I have 2, soon to get a third:
Set One
3 Bob Uecker dolls, featuring his different “teams” — Braves, Cardinals, Brewers.
Set Two
3 Milwaukee Brewer youthful infielders — the young crowd: Hall, Fielder, Hardy, Weeks. (What is unique about these is that there were different versions of the set, e.g., Fielder wasn’t always the “biggest” doll.)
Set Three (coming next week!)
3 Retro Milwaukee Braves - Aaron, Matthews, Spahn
Milwaukeeans love free ANYTHING. And the baseball team has capitalized on that.
posted by WizardBoy on 8-22-2007 at 7:45 am
My favorites are the ones from Sesame Street:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNQV45Wichw
posted by Anita on 8-22-2007 at 8:45 am
I love mine that my brother brought me back from Russia. It sits on my desk at work next to my German beer stein. I like a good theme.
posted by cousin on 8-22-2007 at 9:53 am
Ooh! I have the Russian leaders too!
I also have a beautiful set with characters from the Nutcracker ballet.
posted by natlynn on 8-22-2007 at 9:59 am
We have the Russian leaders too, but with Yeltsin as the second largest and Gorbachev as the largest. My sister purchased it in Moscow in the month before the coup in 1991. We knew that weeks later they switched so that Yeltsin was the big one.
posted by Jenny on 8-22-2007 at 10:30 am
I have the leaders too, ending with Gorby. He was still in office at the time. I don’t know what the others are like, but mine all have distinctive features to poke fun at each leader. Stalin has a bleeding heart, Brezhnev makes a hand gesture that means he’s a heavy drinker, Kruschev has a shoe and an ear of corn, and Gorbachev has his hat held out to collect coins.
Regarding playing with the dolls: when my nephew (no eighteen) was a toddler he couldn’t wait to get his hands on them when he visited me. I tease him about his “playing with Auntie’s dolls”
posted by Allison on 8-22-2007 at 12:20 pm
I personally own one set, the largest being Tsar Nicholas II, going down in size with his wife and the children, however the smallest is Rasputin.
I have bought sets for my children, my daughter has a kitten set (and each has pointy kitten ears) and my son has a Star Wars set. I have also bought other sets for gifts for other children, but usually the parents put them away and make them “to look at” toys, not to play with. Doesn’t make it such a cool gift then!
posted by TracyB on 8-22-2007 at 4:16 pm
I don’t have any, but at my bridal shower my aunt gave her granddaughter (age 3 1/2 and my flower girl) a set and she would not be parted from them all afternoon. Open them all up, stack them all back. Repeat.
posted by Sara on 8-22-2007 at 5:51 pm
I bought a set of four dolls and painted them myself to look like the four seasons.
posted by Rachel on 8-22-2007 at 6:32 pm
I have this … I have that …
I have the whole store full of matryoshkas! Sorry, could not help, just joking :)))
posted by matryoshka on 8-24-2007 at 6:38 pm