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Valuable Doll Gets Thrown Away in Outhouse

By Capper's Staff
Published on March 27, 2013

I was four-years-old when the Armistice was signed. I remember being frightened when the whistles and horns blew. Before that all our visitors and the family talked about how awful the Germans were. My mother scrubbed the kitchen for a neighbor woman who was unable to do it herself, she had no money so gave my mother gifts she’d brought from Germany. She gave my mother a doll, it had real hair and a kidskin body, and it was to be for me. I didn’t want anything that came from Germany, so I threw it in the outside privy – just think what it would be worth today!

Aleatha Kinney
Waterloo, Wisconsin


Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.