Day #13 of 31 Days Of Halloween
*warning Images depict scenes of possible sensitive nature*
She’s a Doll.
In the early 1700’s miniature houses were made as recreations of the owners house to prominently display their wealth out in the open.
It wasn't normal to give tours of a home so this was a display piece to show servant quarters, and even hidden stairwells.
Many years evolved the small cabinet houses, into the Nuremberg Display Kitchens, to finally take on a modern day Dollhouse that actually was made with children in mind.
Have you ever used the term “In a Nutshell”. Well the saying is rumored to have begun with a common police saying of “Convict the guilty, clear the innocent, and find truth in a nutshell.” and led to the studies and creations of 1930s era Frances Glessner Lee, Notoriously dubbed the Mother of Forensic Science
She was the creator of:
Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death.
As a woman in the 1930’s going into Science, Medicine or police work was not an option open to her in conventional ways, so she set her mind to change that.
With an inheritance,she set out to establish a much-needed department of legal medicine at Harvard University to create these grim “doll houses”.
At a time when forensic science was virtually non-existent, these doll houses were created to visually educate and train detectives on how to investigate a death scene without compromising evidence and disregarding potential clues.
The attention to details was absolutely fine, she would attend the crime post, and would recreate the savage scenes in eerie details of miniature fashion. On display at the Renwick Gallery (Washington) these are still used to train modern investigators in forensics.
Can you solve the crimes?
Case Study #1 Living room (Circa 1943-1948)
Crime Date May 22, 1941
“Mrs. Ruby Davis”, a housewife, found dead on the stairs by her husband, “Reginald Davis” Mr. Davis gave the following statement: He and his wife spent the previous evening, Thursday, May 21, quietly at home. His wife had gone upstairs to bed shortly before he had. This morning he awoke a little before 5:00 a.m. to find that his wife was not beside him in bed. After waiting a while, he got up to see where she was and found her dead body on the stairs. He at once called the family physician who, upon his arrival, immediately notified the police. The model shows the premises just before the arrival of the family physician.
I love a good twisted dollhouse.
Case study #2
Parsonage Parlor: and depicts “Dorothy Dennison,” a high school student. Dorothy left her home to go to the store to buy hamburger steak. She never returned home. She was later found in a church rectory with her blouse ripped open and a knife protruding from her stomach. On a chair beside her body lies an expired hamburger steak and there is a pile of mail that has accumulated. There is no sign of forced entry or struggle. (unsolved)
Case study # 3 Dark Bathroom:
“Maggie Wilson.” The scene shows her clothed in her bathtub. Water from the faucet is pouring into her open mouth. Washing hangs on the line and her legs are protruding from the bathtub. Beside the bathtub lies fallen bottles and a glass (unsolved)
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