Pioneer Button Doll ~ A Sweet Button-Saver from the Old Oregon Trail - For My Pattern Shop - Moss Hill Primitives - Both Digital or Printed 5 inches tall before her button legs are attached.

 

Moss Hill Primitives

About the Pioneer Button Doll

 

Ingenuity was important for a successful journey when a pioneer family traveled west in the 1800s on the Oregon Trail. And this little doll combined two practical purposes necessary in the cramped quarters of a covered wagon. 

 

For one, the doll was a sweet plaything for children confined in the wagon for months at a time. And secondly, making the doll’s legs from stacks of buttons was a clever way to keep track of buttons needed to create or mend the family’s clothing on the long trip.

 

This Pioneer Button Doll is around 8 inches tall, depending on how many buttons you use in creating her legs. She’s a very simple doll with a stuffed body, primitive face and hair, and clothed in plain pantaloons and dress. She is based on an actual button doll displayed in an Oregon museum along the path of the historic Oregon Trail.