Old Trunks should have lead with how to make them! Maybe even, what are hollyhocks?
It is said seeds of this tall skinny flowering plant were found with ancient ruins.
It is known that before in door plumbing, hollyhocks were planted by the out house. That way when women needed to use the facilities, they didn't have to be told where it was, they would just look for the flowers!
There were a few growing along the east side of the house in Fargo in 1998. It reminded me of grandma and her flowers blooming around her garden. I suspect if we had harvested the seeds, we could have continued the crop. I am certain grandmother did, as she always gleaned seeds, putting them in her apron to sort later.
And so it was that while I visited them at the home, we would make dolls out of them. It wasn't anything elaborate. It was just a bloom for the body and a bud for the head, joined together with a part of a burned out match. Grandma had a way of peeling the outer layer off the bud to expose the color of the blossom. I always wanted white faces but sometimes that wasn't allowed. She picked what I could have although I could make suggestions.
The dolls wilted quickly, even if I thought floating them on the rain barrel would give them new life.
It was a grandma thing. A special memory of a grand lady.
Holly hock dolls, did you ever?
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