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Masonic Shrine Bobble Head Doll
2003
Accoutrements
Plastic, metal, nylon
6 1/4"h x 2 1/2"w x 2 1/2"d
Gift of Jill Aszling
2008.043

Masonic bobble head doll in the shape of a Shrine member. He stands on a round black base. Figure wears black shoes, pants, jacket, and bow tie with white shirt. Arms and hands are placed straight down on his sides. Face has red lips, white teeth, and black eyes. Brown hair on back of head. Wears a red fez with gold Shrine symbol (machete over tiger claw and five-point star). Fez has a black tassel. The head is attached to a spring and moves separately from the body.


It seems fitting that a group known as "the playground of Freemasonry" would have its own bobble head doll. This doll depicts a member of the Masonic group, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, or Shriners. Bobbleheads, also known as “nodders” or “bobbers,” seem to date back to at least 1842. In his short story, The Overcoat, published that year, Nikolai Gogol described a character as having a neck “like the neck of plaster cats which wag their heads.” In the 1920s, a New York Knicks basketball player bobblehead was produced and enjoyed some popularity, but it quickly waned. In the 1960s, sports figure bobbleheads came into vogue once again and since that time, innumerable popular figures have been immortalized with their head on a spring. For further informaton, see blog post, April 22, 2010 http://nationalheritagemuseum.typepad.com/library_and_archives/2010/04/a-nod-to-freemasonry.html



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