Woollen fundraising soldier doll

Small woollen doll made from short bunched lengths of khaki wool, tied at the top of the head, the neck, hands, waist with khaki cotton thread. Around the legs, brown thread has been wound to resemble puttees. A small length of bent of wire has been shaped to resemble a rifle with bayonet and brown thread has been wound around parts of it to resemble the butt and barrel of a rifle. A crude face has been realised with eyes and mouth in cream cotton thread. A pin is threaded through the back of the head to make the doll into a badge.

This fundraising soldier doll is representative of the material sold by schoolgirl Miss Gwendoline Lucy Allpress of Elizabeth Bay, NSW during the First World War. Born 12 December 1899 to Percy and Lilly Alpress, and granddaughter of George Walker, Mayor of the Borough of Paddington in 1902-3 and 1908-9, Miss Allpress attended Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School and was a top ranking student; she was college dux in 1916. Among the items that she donated to the Memorial in the 1960s are ribbons and badges bearing the words ‘Authorised Assistant’, ‘Lady Assistant’ and ‘Collector’ for such fundraising days as Australia Day 1915 (‘for our wounded heroes’); France’s Day 1917; Red Cross Days in 1918 and the YMCA. See REL/01626.008 or an example of one of these badges.

It appears Miss Allpress was a dedicated and involved supporter of the many wartime fundraising events which characterised Australian society. Although the black woollen Belgian Babies Fund dolls are most frequently encountered, it is clear from the variety evident in this collection that, with some adaption in the design and a little imagination, these small woollen dolls could be tailored for any occasion. In this case, a crude but appealing representation of a soldier has been made with the addition of puttees and a gun.