Lady Tabitha and Us – At Home Christmas Eve #ChristmasCountdown Door no. 6

Posted on 6 December, 2022 by nspeccoll

Illustration from ‘Lady Tabitha and Us’ (Rare Books, RB823.912 AIN)Lady Tabitha At Home Christmas Eve…Come and Play. So we all went –

‘Lady Tabitha and Us’ is an illustrated book that describes the adventures of Lady Tabitha and other wooden dolls at a Christmas Eve party. The illustration depicts peg dolls at home getting ready, putting on make-up, preparing hair and getting dressed for a Christmas Party. You join Tabitha as the others as they play games, including musical chairs, hunt the slipper and dumb crumbs.

Published by Castell Brothers Ltd: London and created by Kathleen Ainslie. Kathleen Ainslie was an illustrator, active in the years 1900-1911. She is best-known for her series of children’s books based on jointed Dutch peg dolls which were popular during the 19th and early-20th centuries (Florence Kate Upton’s The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg had been published in 1895).

Me and Catharine Susan earns an honest penny – #ChristmasCountdown Door no. 19

Posted on 19 December, 2018 by nspeccoll

#ChristmasCountdown
Door no. 19

The story starts with peg dolls sitting at a dinner table…

Page from ‘Me and Catharine Susan earns an honest penny‘ showing two peg dolls at the table with empty plates (Rare Books, RB 823.912 AIN)

“Empty plates!!
and not a penny left.

Something must be
done at once.”

You join two peg dolls on their journey trying to earn some money, through setting up (with varying successes) different businesses, such as a sewing and clothes alterations shop, a tea shop in their garden, becoming market gardeners and growing their own vegetables, selling buttonholes and teaching other peg dolls to dance.

Page from ‘Me and Catharine Susan earns an honest penny’ showing one of the peg dolls create buttonholes to sell (Rare Books, RB 823.912 AIN)

Page from ‘Me and Catharine Susan earns an honest penny’ showing one of the peg dolls showing the ‘Buttonholers’ to dance (Rare Books, RB 823.912 AIN)

Explore another Kathleen Ainslie book that we have in Special Collections; ‘Catherine Susan and Me’s Coming Out’, in our February 2017 Treasure of the Month Feature.

Lady Tabitha and Us – Peg Doll Games

Posted on 24 December, 2017 by nspeccoll

#ChristmasCountdown
Door No. 24

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE!

The Newcastle University Special Collections team
would like to wish you all a very
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

What does your Christmas Eve consist of? Do you play games just like Kathleen Ainslie’s peg dolls, to get you in the mood for Christmas?

Illustrations taken from ‘Lady Tabitha and Us’ by Kathleen Ainslie (Rare Books, RB 823.912 AIN). You join Tabitha, a peg doll and her friends on Christmas Eve. They play party games, such as tug of war and drop the handkerchief, along with musical chairs, hunt the slippers, hide and seek, orange and lemons, blind man’s buff, guessing games and the Sir Roger dance. They then finally eat supper and “we didn’t go home till morning, till daylight did appear”.

Visit Door number 1 to find out a little bit more about Kathleen Ainslie.

Explore another Kathleen Ainslie book that we have in Special Collections; ‘Catherine Susan and Me’s Coming Out’, in our February 2017 Treasure of the Month Feature.