For many thousands of years, dolls have been made to look like small people, and children have been attracted to them.
When children play with dolls, the dolls become very real to them.
Sometimes they represent the child, and sometimes they become storybook characters.
Dolls as playthings give children an opportunity to be in charge, to make decisions, to give and receive love, and to practice what they have learned from observing adults.
But dolls have not always been playthings.
Before the 15th century, dolls were lifelike objects used in religious ceremonies or created as magical good-luck charms.
It is possible they might have been passed down to children after they became worn or were no longer considered powerful, but no proof of this exists.
The earliest known dolls were discovered in Egyptian graves dating between 3000 and 2000 B.
C.
The dolls were made of wood with long hair fashioned from strings of clay or wooden beads.
They were painted in geometric patterns.
These dolls probably were cult objects--ushabti or tomb figures--buried in graves to take the place of servants.
In this way, servants didn't have to be buried alive to take care of their masters and mistresses.
Not too long ago, a tomb was discovered in the northwestern province of Shanxi in China, which contained 6,000 life-size soldiers and their horses all sculpted from terra-cotta.
Each face was different.
This was the tomb of Ch'in emperor Shih Huang Ti, and the terra-cotta soldiers were supposed to guard the crypt and protect the emperor on his afterlife journey.
The Ch'in dynasty was in power from 221 B.
C.
to 206 B.
C.
The afterlife was very important to ancient people.
It was also important to create lifelike images, and some dolls dating back to 600 B.
C.
even had movable arms and legs and colorful frocks.
It was during the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century) that dolls representing Christianity's Holy Family became part of Christmas observations.
Mexican artisans created ceremonial dolls in the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, based on a story that goes back to the 16th century.
On December 9, 1531, it is said that the Virgin appeared before Juan Diego, a Roman Catholic convert, on a hill near Mexico City.
The presence of the Virgin is believed to have saved many lives over the years, and she has been named patron saint of Mexico.
High-fashion "lady" dolls, made in Paris, were the earliest method of showing the latest styles from Paris to a variety of European countries.
It is said that in the 14th century an English queen sent for the latest French styles, and the doll was used as a model because there were as yet no magazines, and word of mouth was unreliable.
Wooden dolls were made in 15th century Nuremberg, Germany, by skilled craftsmen called Dockenbacher (toy makers).
Nuremberg was close to the main medieval trade routes, and the making of toys became an active industry.
The dolls crafted on a lathe by turners were especially popular.
Rattle dolls--hollow dolls filled with dried peas or pebbles--made a satisfying noise when shaken.
Erzebirge, on the German border, was also noted for its turned wooden dolls, some with movable arms.
By the 17th century, a profusion of dolls began to be produced as playthings for children instead of merely as sacred objects.
One doll maker introduced a wax "baby" doll with movable eyes and a crying voice, although most dolls were still being designed as adults.
Germany was the leading producer of dolls and toys until the 18th century.
In the 19th century Great Britain the Montanaris were popular English doll makers.
Augusta Montanari and her son Richard attracted public attention when their work was displayed at the Great Exhibition of 1851, held at the Crystal Palace in London.
The collection consisted of a series of dolls representing all ages from infancy to womanhood, arranged in several family groups.
The charm of the Montanari wax baby dolls led to the worldwide popularization of baby dolls, which previous to this time had been very rare.