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Frozen Charlotte The Ultimate Victorian Inaction Figure |
| Before Barbie, Cabbage Patch and Furby, there was Frozen Charlotte. Thirty-four fragmentary Frozen Charlotte dolls were found during the Muni Metro excavation. These small ceramic dolls, the most diminutive of which were called "penny babies," took their name from a popular romantic ballad of the middle nineteenth century. The song (shown below) laments Charlotte's death after riding to a New Year's Eve ball in a sleigh with her sweetheart and refusing to dress warmly or use a blanket. |
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Fair Charlotte |
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Fair Charlotte lived on a mountain side, In a wild and lonely spot, No dwelling was for three miles round Except her fathers cot. |
On many a cold and wintry night, |
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| Her father loved to see her dress Fine as a city belle - She was the only child he had, And he loved his daughter well. |
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On New Year's Eve when the sun was set. |
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| She restless was, and longing looked Till a well-known voice she heard, Came dashing up to her father's door, Young Charlie's sleigh appeared. |
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Her mother said, -"My daughter dear, |
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| "Oh nay, oh nay," young Charlotte cried, And she laughed like a gypsy queen, "To ride in a blanket muffled up, I never will be seen." |
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"My woolen cloak is quite enough, |
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| She gloves and bonnet being on, She jumped into the sleigh, And off they went down the mountain side And over the hills away. |
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With muffled faces, silently, |
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| "Oh! Such a night I never saw, My lines I scarce can hold," - Fair Charlotte said, in a feeble voice, "I am exceeding cold." |
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He cracked his whip and they onward sped, |
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| "How fast," said Charles, "the frozen ice, Is gathering on my brow." Said Charlotte in a weaker voice, "I'm growing warmer now." |
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Thus on they went through the frosty air, |
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| Charles drove to the door, and jumping out, He held his hand to her, - "Why sit you like a monument, That has no power to stir?" |
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He asked her once, he asked her twice, |
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| He took her hand into his own, Oh God! It was cold as stone! He tore her mantle from her brow, On her face the cold stars shown. |
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Then quickly to the lighted hall, |
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| He threw himself down by her side, And bitter tears did flow, And he said, "My own, my youthful bride, I never more shall know!" |
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He bore her body to the sleigh, |
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| They mourned the loss of a daughter dear, And Charles mourned o'er her doom, Until at last his heart did break, And they both lie in one tomb. |
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