# Some of the Ugliest Dolls in Creation **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2024, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596 "2024-10-09T11:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/1 "2024-10-09T11:56:41Z")
I was reading up on Kewpie dolls on Wikipedia, and I stumbled across this: > [@](#): > > Kewpies should not be confused with the baby-like Billiken figures that debuted in 1908. OK. I had never heard of Billiken dolls, so I _had_ to click the link. I was sorry I did. This is a seriously evil-looking figure. The creator took out a design patent on it, guaranteeing that they’d all look like her original design. > **[Billiken](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiken#/media/File:MOHAI_Billikens_01.jpg)** > > The Billiken is a charm doll created by an American art teacher and illustrator, Florence Pretz of Kansas City, Missouri, who is said to have seen the mysterious figure in a dream. It is believed that Pretz found the name Billiken in Bliss Carman's 1896 poem "Mr. Moon: A Song Of The Little People". In 1908, she obtained a design patent on the ornamental design of the Billiken, which she sold to the Billiken Company of Chicago. The Billiken was monkey-like with pointed ears, a mischievous To bu... With their slanted eyes, the figures seem to practically shout “racist”. They were, indeed, promoted as Oriental figures, even though designed by an American. Perversely, there are a lot of these things in Japan, and were there even before the second world war. The Wikipedia page devotes an entire section to these Japanese figures. you can read about the racist associations here: > **[The Billiken Doll’s Racist History - The Strong National Museum of Play](https://www.museumofplay.org/blog/the-billiken-dolls-racist-history/)** > > My current book project looks at Orientalism in American toy culture at the turn from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries. Its primary objects of analysis are Japanese dolls, imports from Japan that were often imagined as Japanese American... Has anybody here heard about these figures before? They’re completely new to me. Random other thoughts: Original Kewpie dolls have little blue wing stubs on their shoulders. Evidently they’re supposed to be angels or fairies, or something. The name “kewpie” is supposed to derive from “cupid”, so I guess they’re little winged cupids (cupoids?}. The Strong Museum article says that, shortly after Teddy Bears were introduced, they were seen as a threat to the mothering instinct: > [@](#): > > For instance, in 1907, a priest named the Rev. Michael G. Esper delivered an anti-teddy-bear sermon which asserted that putting “the toy beast in the hands of little girls was destroying all instincts of motherhood.” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/2 "2024-10-09T12:30:33Z")
Wow. My grandmother had one of these on a shelf with other assorted tchotchkes. It stuck out from the others because of its unsettling weirdness. I’d forgotten about it for decades, until the picture brought it back. And I had no idea what it was called, or that it was A Thing in the collectible-culture sense, until literally just now. Neat. I guess. (shifts uncomfortably) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/3 "2024-10-09T12:36:53Z")
Man, if anything can be said to be “cursed”, it’s those dolls. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/4 "2024-10-09T12:39:57Z")
But they come with a free frogurt. ---
**Author:** ![Happytree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happytree/32/3555_2.png) [@Happytree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happytree)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/5 "2024-10-09T13:38:42Z")
I had a pair of cheap plaster or clay knockoffs or maybe they were a parody. They looked and functioned as book ends. Each figure was sitting on a toilet. Billy-can had a relaxed expression on his face. Billy-can’t was grimacing. My mum got them from an antique store she worked at. She said the Billy-can and Billy-cant were pretty common. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/6 "2024-10-09T14:50:47Z")
Looked like these, I assume: > **[Billiken "Billy Can" and "Billy Can't" Bookends](https://www.ebth.com/items/7479460-billiken-billy-can-and-billy-can-t-bookends)** > > Bid on Billiken "Billy Can" and "Billy Can't" Bookends online at Everything But The House. Bidding on most items starts at $1. [https://www.etsy.com/listing/1600544279/vintage-tiel-naked-billy-can-billy-cant?ga\_order=most\_relevant&ga\_search\_type=all&ga\_view\_type=gallery&ga\_search\_query=antique+billy+can&ref=sr\_gallery-1-5&content\_source=5b285c2eb4421ff144e7c4dd325d2b6cd983f111%253A1600544279&organic\_search\_click=1](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1600544279/vintage-tiel-naked-billy-can-billy-cant?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=antique+billy+can&ref=sr_gallery-1-5&content_source=5b285c2eb4421ff144e7c4dd325d2b6cd983f111%253A1600544279&organic_search_click=1) They made salt and pepper shakers in the Bill Can/Can’t sets, too apparently. [https://www.etsy.com/listing/1363117681/billycan-and-billycant-salt-and-pepper?ga\_order=most\_relevant&ga\_search\_type=all&ga\_view\_type=gallery&ga\_search\_query=antique+billy+can&ref=sr\_gallery-1-26&frs=1&sts=1&content\_source=286acac65b10a32fbbedee4e32db315f150fda3a%253A1363117681&organic\_search\_click=1](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1363117681/billycan-and-billycant-salt-and-pepper?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=antique+billy+can&ref=sr_gallery-1-26&frs=1&sts=1&content_source=286acac65b10a32fbbedee4e32db315f150fda3a%253A1363117681&organic_search_click=1) I never saw or heard of these before. Now I can’t unsee them, dammit. The names “Billy Can” and “Billy Can’t” are evidently puns based on the name “Billiken”. High Wit. ---
**Author:** ![Happytree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happytree/32/3555_2.png) [@Happytree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happytree)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/7 "2024-10-09T15:42:35Z")
Those are very similar to the ones i had! They must have been a gift shop fad at one time. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/8 "2024-10-09T15:57:04Z")
I got the creeps now. Those “dolls” look like the deformed fetuses in jars, traveling with some side show. My response is the same for deformed fetuses: bury it and let it go back to God. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/9 "2024-10-09T16:33:47Z")
They look a bit like Rackhamesque goblins, not particularly creepy to me. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/10 "2024-10-09T16:48:47Z")
As covered in the Wiki article, the Billiken is the mascot of St. Louis University. **[You can order your Billiken merch from the Billiken shop](https://billikenshop.com)**. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/11 "2024-10-09T16:49:27Z")
My grandfather had a boat in the 70s named the Billiken, and it had one of those figures as an informal figurehead (it wasn’t mounted on the bow, but he carried it in the boat and sometimes put it at the bow when anchored). It was only years later that I learned a “Billiken doll” was a thing. I have no idea why he named the boat that or what the appeal was, but I’d guess it was the “good luck charm” aspect. I don’t remember ever being creeped out by the figure. It was brass or stone, so the features were softer and it wasn’t so obviously creepy or racist. In my memory it looked like this version. [![](https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjA0/z/IBsAAOSwR9VmG36u/$_57.JPG) ](https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjA0/z/IBsAAOSwR9VmG36u/$_57.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/12 "2024-10-09T17:08:29Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > Those “dolls” look like the deformed fetuses in jars, traveling with some side show. According to sf/fantasy/mystery author Fredric Brown (who traveled at one time with a carnival – and it shows in his stories) those were called “the pickled punks”. That was also the title of one of his mystery stories, which he later expanded into the novel **Madball**. (Carny slang for a fortune teller’s crystal ball). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/13 "2024-10-09T18:31:35Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > OK. I had never heard of Billiken dolls There’s a classic movie where one of the characters says someone was ‘Sitting there, smiling like a billiken.’ I can’t find that exact quote, but that’s how I (mis)remember it. My mind turns to _Mister Roberts_ or _South Pacific_ or _Father Goose_, but those could be completely off. I’ve always wanted someone to give me one as a gift (for good luck). Speaking of ugly dolls, a family friend gave an ‘ugly cat doll’ to my dad in the '70s or early-'80s. I have it now. It’s so ugly it’s cute, and one of my favourite things. Here’s a picture of Goo lounging next to it. [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/Tgd1Vqc.jpeg "Goo and friend") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/goo-friend-UX4wCgO) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/14 "2024-10-09T19:03:11Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > There’s a classic movie where one of the characters says someone was ‘Sitting there, smiling like a billiken.’ I can’t find that exact quote, but that’s how I (mis)remember it. My mind turns to _Mister Roberts_ or _South Pacific_ or _Father Goose_, but those could be completely off. A Billiken charm featured in “Waterloo Bridge” from 1940. I don’t know if “smiling like a billiken” was a line from it, but it’s a good possibility. You can see it at 4:05 in this clip. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jQlNzMiPa74/hqdefault.jpg "Herbert Stothart scores - WATERLOO BRIDGE (1940)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQlNzMiPa74&t=244) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/15 "2024-10-09T19:18:37Z")
AFAIK, I never saw that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/16 "2024-10-09T19:24:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Has anybody here heard about these figures before? They’re completely new to me. I saw them in Japan before I learned about their US origins. They’re pretty easy to find in Osaka, especially in touristy areas. Tsutenkaku tower has a display of a whole bunch of them in different styles ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Batman to Michael Jackson. > **[Tsūtenkaku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ts%C5%ABtenkaku)** > > Tsūtenkaku (通天閣, lit. "Tower Reaching Heaven"), owned by Tsūtenkaku Kanko Co., Ltd. (通天閣観光株式会社, Tsūtenkaku Kankō Kabushiki-gaisha), is a tower and well-known landmark of Osaka, Japan and advertises Hitachi. It is located in the Shinsekai district of Naniwa-ku, Osaka. Its total height is 103 metres (338 ft); the main observation deck is at a height of 91 metres (299 ft). > The current tower is the second to occupy the site. The original tower, patterned after the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomph... > On the fifth floor observation deck is enshrined [Billiken](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiken), the God of Happiness or “things as they ought to be”. Billiken, a popular American charm doll that came to Japan in about 1910, was enshrined within Luna Park when it opened. When the park closed in 1923, the wooden statue of Billiken went missing. As a part of an effort to revive the tower, a copy of Billiken was made from an old photograph and placed inside the tower in 1979. The statue of Billiken became closely associated with the tower and is a popular symbol of good luck. Each year thousands of visitors place a coin in his donation box and rub the soles of his feet to make their wishes come true. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/17 "2024-10-09T19:44:50Z")
We’ve had a little plush Billiken in the lobby of our business for about 10 years. I believe it was a gift. I was told it is for good fortune in business and named after Pres. William McKinley. It doesn’t look any more racist than, say, a typical Buddha figure for example. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-of-the-ugliest-dolls-in-creation/1008596/18 "2024-10-10T10:26:14Z")
One of the odd things about the Billiken statues you can find in Japan: The 1909 article about Pretz’s original creation featured an illustration of Billiken with the caption “GOD OF THINGS AS THEY OUGHT TO BE”. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Billiken_sketch_by_Florence_Pretz_and_Pretz_sketch_by_Marguerite_Martyn%2C_1909.jpg/1024px-Billiken_sketch_by_Florence_Pretz_and_Pretz_sketch_by_Marguerite_Martyn%2C_1909.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Billiken_sketch_by_Florence_Pretz_and_Pretz_sketch_by_Marguerite_Martyn%2C_1909.jpg/1024px-Billiken_sketch_by_Florence_Pretz_and_Pretz_sketch_by_Marguerite_Martyn%2C_1909.jpg) But the statues you see in Japan are just captioned “THINGS-AS-THEY”.