Cora and Caleb

Sister and brother? Or neighbors? Schoolmates? Sasha doll's Cora and Caleb are beautiful and unique characters with which to create many a narrative and enjoy a few hours of unadulterated play. For this Saturday evening entry, Dolldom imagines Cora and Caleb enjoying a day out in a forest. Cora, in her playful dress by A Passion for Sasha is quick to point out that there's a slew of mushrooms on the forest ground. Better not touch them, Caleb! Caleb, in his original fashion, listens to Cora's wise advise. Soon it will be dinner time and a mother or a father's voice will be calling them to come in, for the cold of the night approaches...

 Cora and Caleb! Cora, circa 1985, and Caleb, circa 1974, enjoy a walk in the forest after the rain.

 Cora dons a sweet-as-maple-syrup tutti-futti dot dress and bloomer dress by A Passion for Sasha and her original shoes and socks.

 Darling girl Cora. Her perfect hair is the delight of Dolldom's stylists.

Caleb, in his 1970s form, is made of an exquisite dark ebony tone vinyl.

Sasha Love

The artist Sasha Morgenthaler created a realm of childhood that, like good literature, offers a stimulating serving of ambiguity to those who engage with it. Begin with the sculpt: a universal depiction of the human child transforms via vinyl coloration and hair. The one becomes the everyone. Proceed to the expression: a smile? Not really. A pout? Certainly not. It all depends on the tilt of the head and the way that the light illuminates the face to evoke a milliard possible expressions. End with the simplicity of it all: the integrity and strength of the artist's vision creates a doll that requires the most minimal of adornments to be. The Sasha doll is a presence, a sentiment, a conduit to the eternal moment to which many of us aim. That is the power of art and the power of a very good doll.

Dolldom shares this exclusive portfolio with an invitation to dream and to project your thoughts into these soulful vignettes. Our hope is that you will reconnect with the essential moment of childhood that makes us the unique creatures we are today.

Friend for Life

Dolldom remembers the late 1960s when the Sasha dolls by Sasha Morgenthaler, made their appearance at the posh González Padín department store in Plaza Las Américas in Puerto Rico. The display was breathtaking - a veritable It's A Small World that required no catchy song to communicate its message clearly - children and childhood, regardless of despair and disparity, will always convey hope.

Our anecdote of the famed department store's Sasha display comes with one more event: the saleswoman explained to many a mother who inquired about the "dark" color of the dolls' skins that these new dolls were educational. Dolldom is sure that to the children of those mothers, the dolls were simply magical and invited them to be friends. But perhaps, their educational label and groundbreaking look deterred those friendships from realizing. For a while, at least, as this entry proves.

Much has changed since the days of 1969, yet Sasha dolls remain magnificent examples of doll art. For this story, Dolldom focuses on Caleb, produced by Trendon in England. With his short Afro and fisherman's sweater in soft yellow, Caleb exemplifies classic doll - untouched by the vagaries of fashion, this little guy will look authentically good even in 2069. Thank you, Sasha Morgenthaler!