If ever I find one on my doorstep, it's going in a cardboard box and getting shipped to you - complete with "Kewpie inside" prominently printed on the top.
Oh I love reading this again! Such a wonderful tale…and my mother would love having her photo again in your Substack. It still makes me sad that I gave away her little kewpie doll (I’ve always disliked any kind of doll, even when I was a little girl, and had no idea it belonged to my mother). If I had only known my mother was holding her in this photo, I would have treasured it for life! Now I have your poem to treasure instead😊.
That's a really cool story! I think I played with one of those Kewpie dolls when I was a kid, up in the attic of my grandparents. Perhaps you also thought it had creepy eyes? The one you had is jointed, which must have come out later. The one in the picture looks solid. It's really too bad you didn't put it on eBay, because I'm sure there are collectors out there that wouldn't care about the leg. If you ever get nostalgic and want to see a larger Kewpie, there are Kewpee hamburger joints around in Ohio.
I don’t know which image stays with me most. It’s such a beautiful narrative, so carefully crafted. Maybe “Sunshine Bricktop?” Makes me want to go looking for my own mother’s Kewpie doll, if I haven’t thrown it out. Which I think I have.
A total fav!!
You can’t replay this too many times. The journey through kewpie’s reminiscence and Sunshine Bricktop is so good! Funny and sad. A fav.
Love this, even though I find Kewpies a bit kreepy.
Two favorites:
This because it's so damn true:
Do you think
this couldn’t be you?
It wouldn’t take much
A bus crash
Tangle with jaguars
Antagonistic
rival on
Dancing with the Stars
Any snakebit day
could mangle
your familiar life
& your denial
wouldn’t have
a stump to stand on
And this because it's so damn funny (and somehow vaguely obscene):
performing
bareback on
a silver hamster
Oh yes, Kewpies are creepy. I love them.
If ever I find one on my doorstep, it's going in a cardboard box and getting shipped to you - complete with "Kewpie inside" prominently printed on the top.
Oh I love reading this again! Such a wonderful tale…and my mother would love having her photo again in your Substack. It still makes me sad that I gave away her little kewpie doll (I’ve always disliked any kind of doll, even when I was a little girl, and had no idea it belonged to my mother). If I had only known my mother was holding her in this photo, I would have treasured it for life! Now I have your poem to treasure instead😊.
I forgot to say my mother adored the Salvation Army and was so proud of buying designer dresses there.
Ha! Can’t wait.
Not quite on my doorstep ... posting to my substack since I can't get it to paste here
And yet, still smiling.
So good. *hits replay 🥰
LOL
That's a really cool story! I think I played with one of those Kewpie dolls when I was a kid, up in the attic of my grandparents. Perhaps you also thought it had creepy eyes? The one you had is jointed, which must have come out later. The one in the picture looks solid. It's really too bad you didn't put it on eBay, because I'm sure there are collectors out there that wouldn't care about the leg. If you ever get nostalgic and want to see a larger Kewpie, there are Kewpee hamburger joints around in Ohio.
Thanks, Carole. Note that this is not my Kewpie story. The doll belonged to Mary Holscher’s mother.
Oh, right! Great story, nevertheless.
Oh my, this is great!
Thank you, LeeAnn.
Sunshine Bricktop is just the perfect name for a long lost sweetheart… love this poem!!
Thanks, Jacklyn.
I don’t know which image stays with me most. It’s such a beautiful narrative, so carefully crafted. Maybe “Sunshine Bricktop?” Makes me want to go looking for my own mother’s Kewpie doll, if I haven’t thrown it out. Which I think I have.
Poor Kewpies.
Loved the unspooling of Kewpie’s adventures (and service) — so sad for inanimate creatures (or so we think) that they are discarded so carelessly😿
Love, love, love this one--so sharply observed, funny, sad and true!
Thank you!