What do people know about early dolls?

Nobody can ever know who made the first doll. Perhaps a prehistoric man picked up a piece of wood or stone that looked like a human. What we do know is that early dolls were for magic and not for children. They were meant to bring good luck. The Greeks and Romans made wooden and clay dolls. Greek and Roman girls stayed with them until just before they were married when they took them to temple to show that they were grown up. About six hundred years ago, the French started making fashion dolls dressed in the latest French fashions. They were sent all over France and abroad to show every- one how good French fashions were. The dolls wore nothing special. It was the place that counted. Dolls really became children’s toys around eighteen hundred. Factories made plenty of them and rag dolls were made at home. Until about nineteen hundred dolls usually looked like grown-ups, not children. And later, dolls whose eyes could open and shut became popular.