Japanese Doll with Six Wigs

When I was about five, my mother, father, and I went to San Francisco for the day. While in Chinatown, my mother and I were in a shop, and I saw this doll in a box. Her name was "Japanese doll with six wigs" and she had six wigs, each with its own compartment in a little box. I fell in love with her, and I begged my mother to buy her for me. My mother told me she was too expensive, but I begged and begged. Finally, my mother relented, and the doll was mine.

I brought her home and kept her in her box for a long time, taking her out to play with her and her six wigs, but trying to preserve her. After all, in my mind she was very expensive and fancy, and I didn't want to hurt her. At some point I placed her in a plastic display box, along with her wigs, so that I could admire her without touching her and damaging her. I didn't have many toys as a child, and I always treated them carefully, so as not to break them.

Years went by. When I was an adult, I found her original box. What was her price? The tag was still on it. She was $3.25. However, we were poor back then, so she must have been expensive to my mother, because she really agonized before buying her. Japanese doll with six wigs is not a fancy doll. When I look at her now, I see that she's just a little cardboard composite doll with rough porcelain hands and feet and a head. However, I think she's lovely and she and her six wigs are still in excellent condition. I took her portrait back in December. Her kimono is permanent, and she's wearing one of her six wigs. Her hair underneath is a little pageboy, like a real geiko.


Japanese Doll with Six Wigs (2007)
Camera: Polaroid SX-70
Film: Polaroid Time-Zero
Location: Modesto, California