My favorite heirloom

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Alice Henry recently posted about family heirlooms and I guess my favorite is my china head doll that belonged to my great-grandmother when she was a child in Illinois in 1873. My grandmother saved it in a little train case for years, then gave it to me since I was the oldest grandchild. It had the china head and body, but the china legs were not attached. I figured out a way to make thighs to attach the legs to the body, then sewed a dress and apron that was in style in Illinois around that time. She also had a black beaded necklace on her. I've had offers to buy her (I named her Belle Randolph after my great-grandmother), but of course I could never sell her. She won a blue ribbon at our local doll exhibition years ago. Belle is proudly displayed in my china cabinet, along with other dolls that are very special to me. I hope she will be treasured by my daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter one day! After posting this, I realized I had the date wrong. My great-grandmother was four years old in 1873 when she got her doll.