February 24, 2026 • 33 mins
When illustrator and novelist Rose O'Neill first debuted the Kewpie cartoons in 1909, these loveable little characters took the world by storm. Yet O'Neill didn't stop there. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max learn the surprisingly inspiring and feminist story of the Kewpie doll as a crucial aspect of women's rights in the United States.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to
(00:27):
the show, fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so
much for tuning in. Let's hear it for the Man,
the myth, the legendary super producer, Max the Cutest q P.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Williams. Guys, remember Muppet Babies? Did you ever watch Muppet Babies?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I am aware of the social phenomena of Muffet babies,
but not to sound like Egon Spangler here, Noel, you're
Noel Brown, I'm Ben Bollinster.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I have not.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I missed that part.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah, it was child That was the exact right age
for it, for whatever it may have been on originally,
or it may have been reruns on Nickelodeon. But it's
all of your favorite Muppets. But they're babies, and they
are overseen or watched over by a faceless character just
named Nanny, and you only ever see your legs.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Oh, old school cartoon style.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, it's pretty great. It's pretty great.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
The opening theme song lives rent free in my head
much of the time.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I'm not kidding you. Can you help it, I'll do
a little bit of it.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
It's like when your room looks kind of weird and
you wish that you weren't. Theyre just close your eyes
and make believe and you can be anyway. And there
were a lot of I think it was owned by
Steven Spielberg's company. Maybe because it was, there are a
lot of references to like, you know, they live in
this fantasy world and sometimes they're like Indiana Jones kind
(01:48):
of adventures, stuff like that. We're not talking about Muppet
babies today though.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
No, we're talking about CuPy babies with some help from
our research associate Red. You might not know these by name,
but these these little dolls, these little collectibles have been
around for over a century. Guys, I gotta tell you
(02:18):
I've been I think Noel, you might know a little
bit about this. Max, you and I definitely talked about it. Uh.
My girlfriend has this fascination with a thing called the
Boo Boo and it's very much now it's very much
a conspiratorial thing, like La Booboo. People recognize each other
and they know each other. And Max is not in here.
(02:41):
You saw it too, Huh.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I thought the the Booboo way if it kind of
crested a little bit, but maybe all the better for
true Lubuoboo enthusiasts, because there was a time when at
the height of its popularity where you couldn't get one,
and South Park made an episode where people were like
literally using them to do satanic rituals and it was,
you know, quite the Elmo phenomenon for a minute. But
(03:03):
they're really cute and they're part of that whole world
of little plastic or and or furry toys from a
place called PopMart. There's a ton of other types, often
to come in these blind boxes where you know it's
a series you don't know which one you're gonna get.
And one that's super popular now and I think even
a little hard to get in some places, are a
(03:25):
series called Sonny Angels. Oh yeah, little naked babies that
very much resemble the iconic early nineteen hundred's Qupie dolls.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
And shout out to the troll dolls as well. We're
not going to forget about those. Yeah, you're bringing up
the best comparison possible. The Qupie dolls originate in the
early nineteen hundreds as a cartoon feature in a magazine,
but then they become this mascot in a very interesting way.
(04:00):
Like today, you know we can we can see qpie
dolls in mayonnaise right in Japanese mayo.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Well, we did just do that episode, and it's a
sort of a coincidence that we ended up doing these
back to back. There was a little bit of parallel
thinking going on. But we will have a little ref
to the QP mayo and that, you know how they
were inspired by this toy phenomenon. Can I do a
really quick inscription, Ben? I don't typically quote Google AI results,
(04:30):
but this one was just so silly that I have
to do it. The physical features of the QP dolls
are described as nude, chubby, sexless baby bodies with small,
distinct wings on their back and a cow lick tuft
of hair.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
It's the toft of hair. Well, dud uh. No matter
how you have encountered these things, the qpies or qupie
dolls are inherently adorable. They're they're inherently endearing and lovable.
They are also, as we're going to learn today, a
symbol of counterculture and a top notch example of how
(05:07):
kindness can inspire social change. We've got to introduce the
one and only rose Cecil O'Neil.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Yeah, when you look at the design of these qupie dolls.
It does have a bit of a cartoonish illustrator ly,
if that's a word at all, quality, sort of an
uncanny valley like this idea of what maybe a little
cartoon stylized baby. The proportions are a little off in
a delightful way, much like the troll dolls, and I
(05:36):
would argue I think it's not that far of a
walk that the sexless bodies of the troll dolls are
also inspired by the qupie doll phenomenon. Created by Rose
Cecil O'Neil, who was an illustrator. She was born in
Pennsylvania in eighteen seventy four. Her family took a literal
covered wagon to Old Nebraski to make a life for
(05:58):
themselves on the homestead. They raised a family outside of Omaha.
O'Neil's father, who was a bookseller and an aspiring actor,
along with their mother, who was a musician, they nurtured
her early artistic leanings. Beautiful and folks, if you heard
me quietly giggling in the background there as Nola you
(06:21):
were doing that excellent introduction, it's because, dude, I could
one hundred percent tell that you were having fun saying
sexless bodies. It's a fun thing to say. I'm sorry,
I'll probably be beautiful again. Beautiful. I can't lean into
the covered wagon part of it, of it all, because
the next part is like something out of literally Jack
(06:43):
and the bean Stuff.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Oh that's so cool this folklore, right, So okay. So
Rose is thirteen years old and she wins a drawing
contest in the Omaha World Herald. By nineteen she becomes
an aspiring novelist.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
We've all been there. It's an interesting place to be,
very very results.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, but you're more than aspiring. Oh that's too kind, man,
thank you. But so Ros's parents, this is why we're
saying this kind of Jack and the Beanstalk esque. Ros's
parents are so supportive of their daughter that they sell
their cow to send her to New York City, and
this is where she gets a job as a cartoonist.
(07:28):
By the time she's twenty three years old, pretty young.
She is the first female artist on staff at a
magazine called Puck, which was a very big deal.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
At the time.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Haven't heard of that? One awesome name for a magazine
And I just can't get over They sold the family cow.
They sold the cow because they believed in her that much,
and they knew that what a cow in the hand,
you know, is not necessarily better than an artist in
the bush.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
And that's what she became. And she made the cow
for you guys. Oh thanks man to. But it really does.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I mean, it's such a show of support and utter
belief in their in their child. And she made good
on the arrangement in a big way.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Oh yeah, yeah, she became one of the highest paid
illustrators in all of New York. And if we fast
forward nineteen oh nine, our hero Rose is thirty five
years old. This is where she debuts the first QP
cartoon in the December issue of something called Ladies Home Journal.
(08:33):
That's QP spelled k e W pie.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, And they were an instant hit, at least, you know,
in the printed form. And when she was interviewed by
the press about what inspired her to create this character,
she claimed that she just dreamed them up in bed
fertile imagination that she has. Suddenly, she said, they were
bouncing about over the cover, chirping. The little new born
(09:00):
name Coopy. I guess it's she made the name up
from whole cloth. I don't know an etymological connection for
cupie dream logic. I think that's right. One perch, she
said in my hand like a bird. It wasn't warm
like a human baby like. It was oddly cool, so
I knew, Wait a minute, they were elves.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Yeah, you say your cupies short for cupids, and they
nodded their little heads. This is coming to us from,
by the way, folks, the International Rose O'Neill Club Foundation. However,
Rose makes a very important folkloric distinction. She says, unlike
(09:43):
fairies or elves, the qupies are not tricksters. Instead, they
are kind characters. They show up to help people who
need help, or they show up to cheer up children.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
That's what they do.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
A bit of a care bear's kind of thing, Yeah,
very much proto care bears for sure. A lot of
those positive cartoons in the eighties. And according to O'Neil,
this is another coming back to a quote. Qps are
always searching out ways to make the world better and funnier.
They in real sense of humor.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Yeah, the cupids, of course, they do have little wings.
That makes sense. There's that etymological connection. I was looking for.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yeah, we also know that this becomes a viral hit.
Ladies Hold Journal is not prepared for the popularity of
the QP cartoons. There are multiple instances of children and
parents alike sending fan mail to Rose O'Neil and they say,
(10:44):
we love your QP cartoons, please make more of these. Eventually,
O'Neil says, why don't we take it off the page,
Why don't we make an actual doll that kids can
have and play with?
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Mm hmm one hundred percent. So she commissions a German
manufacturer to make the first prototypes of the QP doll
out of a material called porcelain bisk.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I'm not familiar with, not a soup.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
I don't think it is some sort of, you know,
plaster cast kind of situation. I imagine porcelain dolls, which were,
you know, finer dolls. I guess at the time they
were just the material that was most commonly used. But
now maybe when we think of porcelain dolls, we think
of things that are highly collectible and sought after. But
that's probably just the vintageness of the whole deal. The
original dolls came in nine distinct sizes, with the largest
(11:35):
selling for five bucks.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Or let's do it.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Let's do a beat inflation calculator.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
If we could back and a boob and a dude boop.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So five dollars in nineteen twelve is the equivalent of
one hundred and seventy eight dollars in twenty twenty six.
These are pricey dolls.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
As for the Big Boy, and the smallest was only
ten sands or about free fitting.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
About three fill amount.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
The dolls were, as you can imagine, man Elf on
the shelf level popular, hugely sought after. It was the
hottest toy item around by the nineteen twenties. She created
another line of plushy versions called the Cuttle Cupies.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Also with a K. Right, and fast forward to the
nineteen forties, the Qpie dolls are mass produced using plastic materials.
The Qpie becomes this international phenomenon. I love your comparison
to Elf on the Shelf. I think also of like
cabbage patch dolls, right, or of course the trolls or
(12:52):
maybe Elmo every so often the Qpie or Tickle Me Elmo, or.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Even the touch of the beanie babies.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
There it is, yeah, feeling it, Yeah, this global appeal,
this brand grows beyond cartoons and physical dolls. Now you
see the QP image stamped on China for nurseries. You
see it turned into hood ornaments for vehicles and then
weirdly on ashtrays, weirdly.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
On ashtrays, And as Ren pointed out, I don't think
we mentioned this, they have kind of made a comeback.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
In the form of tattoos.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
There's like a kind of a style of tattoos that
folks are getting a shout out, she says, to hot
Stuff tattoo in Ashville, North Carolina. It's so interesting. QP
has almost become like xerox or you know, there's a
name for that thing, like our a coke, you know,
for a stand in for soda epymous there you go. Yeah,
(13:50):
QP now has just thought of as almost like just
the stand in for a little little cute bobble kind
of toy. Okay, I could get with that, Yeah, quiet,
but you know what I'm saying. Yeah, it's taken on
a life of its own in terms of what people
think of. It's not necessarily associated with O'Neil or a
specific brand. It's just so universal now.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yeah, and also O'Neil does well with this. To be clear,
she's not an inventor who got ripped off like the
person who figured out the landlord's game and then had
that stolen and transformed into monopoly. Rose becomes a millionaire
due to her QP innovation, her QP empire, and this
(14:32):
occurs at a time when most women could not achieve
economic independence. Check out our earlier episode on credit cards
by the way for some really disturbing history about gender
disparity in the US. Dude, she had a mansion in Connecticut,
a QP mansion.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, I wonder if it was stylized anyway. Have you
ever been to Babyland General. Yes, here in Georgia, at
the home of the abage Patch kids. It's it's a
it's an interesting place to go. They have this whole
area where you can like see your cabbage patch doll
be birthed from a hole in a giant sort of
paper mache or plaster kind of looking true. Yeah, it's
(15:14):
an odd place actually early birthday party location from my
from my kid back up.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Oh that's awesome, man.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
They also have a heck of a bluegrass festival, so
check that out if you get type. It is a
palatial estate the cabbage Patch thing, like the yard is
so big.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Well, I think it's worth that comparisoner. It's an apt
one because another thing that you'll see in that baby
Land general is a lot of these Andy Warhol images.
He was a huge fan of, just like Iconic Americana,
you know, pop cultural phenomenons, and the QUB doll would
have been a kind of proto version of that to
what the Cabbage Patch kids became, maybe even more so
(15:53):
because we also have to remember, and Wren points this out,
this is pre Mickey Mouse.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yes, yeah, so before the advent of the Big Mouse,
qps were probably the best known and most well loved
cartoon characters in US pop culture. Through her QP empire,
Rose purchases Carabes Castle, that's the mansion we're talking about
in Westport, Connecticut, and then she buys a via a
(16:21):
villa in Capri. This is where she holds salons, right
intellectual hangouts. She invites other artists to kick it, talk
about art, talk about history, talk about literature. She also
gets back to her earlier love, which is writing very
like bodice ripping Gothic romance novels Oo.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
La La Okay, And this is a little sad, but
it's got kind of a silver lining. The great depression
hits not such a great depression as they can out
off and then and photography really starts to take over
or the pictures that are featured in magazines, so illustrators
(17:04):
are having a harder time getting gigs. And I wouldn't
necessarily think that she would have relied on that kind
of employment since she had, you know, made such a
mint with the QP doll phenomenon. But apparently after spending
you know, a chunk of that change on her properties,
her mansion and her villa, she did in fact pass
away in nineteen forty four without a whole lot of
(17:26):
money left to her name. But that's because she spent
such a huge part of her fortune on family and friends, right.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, she was trying to help everybody, you know, and
sometimes that can be an unrewarding thing. But she definitely
changed the world. And you might be asking yourself here, folks,
why are we calling this the feminist history of the
QP doll.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Here's part of why.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
When Rose O'Neil was born, some US states still had
laws about something called hoo.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
For sure, I didn't know this term ben, but I
definitely know the concept, the idea that a woman's entire financial,
legal personhood was linked to either their father or more commonly,
their husband, because it was also like a big no
no to be an unwed woman in this time, and
(18:22):
this essentially deprived them of any kind of individual liberty
when it came to representing themselves, owning or inheriting property,
having control of financial affairs, and entering into legal contracts
or filing lawsuits.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah, this was never officially abolished at the federal level,
but women could own property in all US states by
nineteen hundred. Still, the journey toward equality continued. Women were
at this time prohibited from voting, from running for office,
getting a divorce, keeping their maid name, going on a jury,
(19:02):
even having their own passports. It was a very nasty time.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
I mean, it reminds me of the kind of hellish
situation we heard about with Britney Spears, the idea of
being in a conservatorship where all of your affairs and
you know, individual rights and liberties are at the behest
of someone kind of lording over you.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
It wasn't until nineteen twenty that the US Congress would
pass the Nineteenth Amendment. The nineteenth Amendment allowed white women
in the United States to vote in elections. However, this
right didn't come about all of a sudden. There wasn't
a huge burst of conscientiousness on the part of Uncle Sam.
(19:51):
It's because of people like Rose O'Neill, a.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Lot of arm twisting, a lot of uh putting on
the pressure required. And we certainly have talked about women
suffrage movement and various interesting and maybe a little off
the beaten path aspects of it, like the hat pin
will yea all that stuff. Do check out some of
those episodes in the Ridiculous Archive. So at the height
of let's call it the QP Craze, because that's what
(20:17):
a research associate Ran calls it. Capitalize it, love it,
O'Neill leveraged the trademark and copyright that she possessed to
make an estimated one point four million dollars or a
boop and a dude boom.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
The boom inflation calculator you have taught us one point
four million dollars back then is equal to more than
thirty five million dollars today, and that's thanks to Smithsonian Magazine.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
And the inflation calculator of course.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
So you know, despite a lot of these societal limitations
that were placed on women, you know, money talks, O'Neil
had that. She certainly was able to overcome a lot
of these things essentially as a product of how rich
she was.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Yeah, she got divorced twice at a time when a
lot of people did not have the legal wherewithal to
get divorced. Once she overcame so many barriers, and when
she reached these upper heights of the economic pyramid, she
didn't forget about the rest of the people on the planet.
(21:35):
She used her platform as this celebrity illustrator to advocate
for suffrage, for the female right to vote. O'Neil is
not just a cartoonist, She is not just a gothic novelist.
She is an activist. She is in the women's marches
in New York City. She carries a banner to represent
(21:56):
for female illustrators.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
For sure, and she essentially donated her iconic qupie doll
imagery to the cause. It was something that was so recognizable,
and you know, just that kind of familiarity can be
such a powerful tool to spread an important message. One
(22:20):
of the versions of which was give mother the vote
we need it on an image or a poster featuring
these qupie dolls marching in lockstep as though they were
there at the Women's March themselves, with the lead QP
holding a sign, a flag reading votes for our mothers,
our food, our health, our play, our homes, our schools,
(22:41):
our work are ruled by men's votes. Isn't it a
funny thing that father cannot see why mother ought to
have a vote on how these things should be.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Think, think, think it over. Yes, we cannot commend Rose enough.
She also purchased a billboard to feature suffragette qpies in
New York City. She made postcards. She made posters raising
money for the National American Women's Suffrage Association. She once proclaimed,
(23:13):
and this is coming to us a courtesy of the
National Women's Hall of Fame, the following. I have a
thrilling hope that women are going to do something glorious
in the arts. It is my passionate conviction. I am
always indignant when women are denied creative power and art.
That it has not been widely shown it self proofs nothing.
It is stupid to expect free things from a race
(23:36):
of slaves. Okay, she's not saving anything for the swim
back on that mountain.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
You know she's leaving it all on the dance floor.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Then we know that she also would arrange for dolls
in you could call it propaganda, really arranged for QP
dolls in suffragette sashes to like fall down on a
bunch of suffragette. So imagine you are protesting for a
righteous cause and you happen to love La boo boo
(24:07):
at all. Of a sudden, part way through your march,
lea boo boo rains down.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
That sounds terrifying, man, it's a rain of la boo boos. No,
thank you.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
It sounds like a weird curse, right, a rain of
lea boo boo upon your house.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
It is a bit of a plague, but a delightful plague,
depending on you know how into la boo boos you are.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
So here we have it, man. The QP doll history
is oddly forgotten nowadays, especially given the huge role it
played in women's suffrage and the push for gender equality.
We also have to shout out, of course QP mayo
once again, as we know our boy Nakashima figured it out.
(24:56):
Please check out our mayonnaise episode for that story, and
I love the way, by the way, I love the
way you described QP mayonnaise. I was re listening to that.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Uh, well, geez, what do I say?
Speaker 1 (25:08):
You said? Okay, you spent some time talking about the container, right,
it's two containers. It's a plastic bag, and then it's
a thing that looks like a baby action figure basically,
And then you talked about the taste, and we started
talking about like Duke spyannaise and other versions of mayonnaise.
I just thought it was really well done, and I
(25:30):
have to confess to you, my friend, it changed my mind.
I think I'm gonna I think I'm gonna hold off
on the QP mayo.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Okay, fair enough, but I thought it'd be worth before
we wrap up. Just I'm doubling back on something really quickly.
We've we've often talked about how powerful satirical cartoons can
be and how some of the earliest examples of political cartoons, Uh,
they just communicate so much with so little, and it's
(25:59):
such as a way of just kind of laying in
stark contrasts like how things really are versus maybe how
politicians or people in power may tell you things are.
And while the original versions of the QP dolls and
the cartoons were not necessarily that, they did start to
take on a little bit more of like a mocking
(26:22):
satirical quality, kind of making fun of elitist middle class reformers.
This is from Smithsonian Magazine as well, and further beyond
just the women's rights aspect of it, supporting racial equality
and also advocating for the poor. So O'Neil really kind
of put her money where her mouth was, because this
(26:44):
could certainly have been seen as a way of maybe
torpedoing the brand. We know that, like big brands do
not like to get in the mix with politics, and
she did something that I would say is historically pretty
unique in being willing to do that.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Very brave as well. I would say there's a brilliant
propagandistic value in having a friendly baby appear to tell
the truth, right just saying, oh, I'm a cute baby,
I'm a muppet, for instance, That's basically what a QP is, Right,
I'm a muppet, and even I know that there are
(27:23):
things that we can do to improve society. I thought
that was a really smart way to get the message across.
We also have to give a shout out to QB
in tattoo culture. In the nineteen fifties, the legendary tattoo
artist Mike Rollo Malone started putting QP images in his
flash design, and excuse me, that's the nineteen seventies when
(27:46):
Mike starts doing this. Now it's become solidified as part
of tattoo culture. So if you have a friend who
is a tattoo artist, they can probably hook you up
with a QP.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
I may have misstated early on in the episode when
I'm mentioned the whole tattoo angle of it all, that
it was sort of a newer phenomenon. It is maybe
a little more compared to how there are like vintage
styles of tattoos that sort of come and go in popularity,
like sailor tattoos or certain kind of like old school
art styles that seem to have a little bursts of popularity.
(28:19):
And it would seem per Wren in that Incredible Tattoo
Shop in Ashville that she mentioned that it's kind of
having a bit of a comeback. I did want to
maybe wrap with just one quote from a person that
we haven't named, that Smithsonian magazine leans on really heavily
and their wonderful piece. The prolific illustrator behind qpi's used
her cartoon for women's rights. Susan Scott, who is the
(28:42):
president of the board at the bonnie Brook Historical Society,
which is a nonprofit that's mission is to educate the
public about O'Neill's life, had this to say about that
kind of very brave, like you said, Ben move taking
an iconic and lucrative piece of intellectual property into the
(29:02):
political sphere. And she said this of kind of the
perspective of the time. What was neat was that she
was able to use this popular character for suffrage and
it got people's attention.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Some people would go, how.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Could she use the QB for suffrage? Why is she
getting them involved in politics? And then other people just
really didn't even notice. They thought, Oh, isn't that cute?
Votes for women? Oh?
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Okay, that's the brilliant propaganda we're talking about. You know
this is is it propaganda? If it's for a good cause.
I'm not questioning you.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
I just think it's something like it's an interesting line
because we think of propaganda as maybe the government trying
to pull.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
The wool over people's eyes.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
But at its best, advertising can be seen as propaganda
one hundred percent. Edward brene Is check out one of
the early episodes. I think maybe the first of Stuff
they Don't Want Should Know as an audio podcast. But yeah,
it's interesting. It depends on what side of the issue
you fall, whether something is just spread a good message
or whether it's propaganda.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
A PSA can be propaganda. You know, dare to keep
a kid off drugs? That was propaganda. And by the way,
thanks for the shirt everybody. We've got a good one
to ben it finally fits. We've also got a We've
also got a deep dive on propaganda. And before we
before we wrap here, I am going to say it
(30:22):
on air, history of tattoos.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
We should do it.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
Oh my gosh, yeah, the earliest. You know. It's funny, Ben,
I'm forty two years old and I only have just
started getting tattoos in the last couple of years as
a way of helping my kid learn how to tattoo.
I was just like, yeah, whatever, give me a stick
and poke, let's do it. But the early days of
tattoos and the tribal aspects of it are fascinating and
(30:46):
some of the methods that are used and how closely
tied to various indigenous cultures tattooing is.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
So do highly.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Recommend to us, me and Max that we do this
episode in the very near future.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
We absolutely will. We can't thank you enough for joining
us for that episode on tattoos as well as this
episode the feminist history of QP Dolls.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Oh last thing, I just want to say sexless bodies
one more time? Do you forging to do that? Had? Well,
only because one of the last bits of trivia that
ran included was that QP Dolls are referenced in a
song by the incredible Minnesota rock band The Replacements in
nineteen eighty four called Androgynists, and that is because of
the QP dolls lack of genitalia. The song's lyrics are
(31:35):
often cited as being ahead of their time as they
address more non traditional gender norms with tolerance and acceptance.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Okay, do you want to say sexless body?
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Well more?
Speaker 3 (31:45):
I think I've had my film. You're good?
Speaker 1 (31:48):
All right, folks? Well, that is actually our show now,
thank you again for joining us. We can't wait to
hear your thoughts as we explore the history of tattoos.
Big big thanks to our recent search associate Wren, Big
thanks to our super producer, the Cutest Man and the
Biz Max Williams, also downright cherubic very much so a
(32:10):
kind angel as well. Big thanks to Alex Williams who
composed this track and NOL. I gotta ask you, do
you think Jonathan Strickland aka the Quizzer collects QP dolls?
Speaker 3 (32:23):
I don't know what he kind of looks like one.
I mean we'll bring a little dippity do on the top,
though it's as smooth as eggs up.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
We'll have to bring it up when we have him
back on the show, perhaps sooner than we think.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
We never really know, you don't.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
He just sometimes materializes. And spoiler alert, I think he
may be materializing in the very near future, although I
know we've teased that in the past and it has.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Not come to be.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
But knock on wood or cross yourself, you know, dealer's choice.
I think we might be seeing him pretty soon. And
I just wanted to last thing. My kid actually has
had fun little collection of QP dolls, certainly old school
vintage ones like the certainly the Basque or the porcelain
bisk porcelain ones would be worth a pretty penny, but
(33:08):
there are lots of more modernized versions of them. I
mean again, the Sonny Angels and a lot of these
you know, kawhii little blind box toys. Oh something, man.
They owe a debta gratitude to O'Neill and her nude, chubby,
sexless baby bodies.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
I knew you were gonna do it big.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Thanks to Big, Thanks too, of course, A J. Bahamas Jacobs,
Doctor Rachel Big Spinach, Lance the Brew Dude's a ridiculous crime.
If you dig us, you'll love them. Christopher Hasio deceives,
Jeff go here in spirit, and Noel thank you.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
And also with you, my friend. We'll see you next time, folks.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to
(00:27):
the show, fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so
much for tuning in. Let's hear it for the Man,
the myth, the legendary super producer, Max the Cutest q P.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Williams. Guys, remember Muppet Babies? Did you ever watch Muppet Babies?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I am aware of the social phenomena of Muffet babies,
but not to sound like Egon Spangler here, Noel, you're
Noel Brown, I'm Ben Bollinster.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I have not.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I missed that part.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah, it was child That was the exact right age
for it, for whatever it may have been on originally,
or it may have been reruns on Nickelodeon. But it's
all of your favorite Muppets. But they're babies, and they
are overseen or watched over by a faceless character just
named Nanny, and you only ever see your legs.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Oh, old school cartoon style.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, it's pretty great. It's pretty great.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
The opening theme song lives rent free in my head
much of the time.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I'm not kidding you. Can you help it, I'll do
a little bit of it.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
It's like when your room looks kind of weird and
you wish that you weren't. Theyre just close your eyes
and make believe and you can be anyway. And there
were a lot of I think it was owned by
Steven Spielberg's company. Maybe because it was, there are a
lot of references to like, you know, they live in
this fantasy world and sometimes they're like Indiana Jones kind
(01:48):
of adventures, stuff like that. We're not talking about Muppet
babies today though.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
No, we're talking about CuPy babies with some help from
our research associate Red. You might not know these by name,
but these these little dolls, these little collectibles have been
around for over a century. Guys, I gotta tell you
(02:18):
I've been I think Noel, you might know a little
bit about this. Max, you and I definitely talked about it. Uh.
My girlfriend has this fascination with a thing called the
Boo Boo and it's very much now it's very much
a conspiratorial thing, like La Booboo. People recognize each other
and they know each other. And Max is not in here.
(02:41):
You saw it too, Huh.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I thought the the Booboo way if it kind of
crested a little bit, but maybe all the better for
true Lubuoboo enthusiasts, because there was a time when at
the height of its popularity where you couldn't get one,
and South Park made an episode where people were like
literally using them to do satanic rituals and it was,
you know, quite the Elmo phenomenon for a minute. But
(03:03):
they're really cute and they're part of that whole world
of little plastic or and or furry toys from a
place called PopMart. There's a ton of other types, often
to come in these blind boxes where you know it's
a series you don't know which one you're gonna get.
And one that's super popular now and I think even
a little hard to get in some places, are a
(03:25):
series called Sonny Angels. Oh yeah, little naked babies that
very much resemble the iconic early nineteen hundred's Qupie dolls.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
And shout out to the troll dolls as well. We're
not going to forget about those. Yeah, you're bringing up
the best comparison possible. The Qupie dolls originate in the
early nineteen hundreds as a cartoon feature in a magazine,
but then they become this mascot in a very interesting way.
(04:00):
Like today, you know we can we can see qpie
dolls in mayonnaise right in Japanese mayo.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Well, we did just do that episode, and it's a
sort of a coincidence that we ended up doing these
back to back. There was a little bit of parallel
thinking going on. But we will have a little ref
to the QP mayo and that, you know how they
were inspired by this toy phenomenon. Can I do a
really quick inscription, Ben? I don't typically quote Google AI results,
(04:30):
but this one was just so silly that I have
to do it. The physical features of the QP dolls
are described as nude, chubby, sexless baby bodies with small,
distinct wings on their back and a cow lick tuft
of hair.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
It's the toft of hair. Well, dud uh. No matter
how you have encountered these things, the qpies or qupie
dolls are inherently adorable. They're they're inherently endearing and lovable.
They are also, as we're going to learn today, a
symbol of counterculture and a top notch example of how
(05:07):
kindness can inspire social change. We've got to introduce the
one and only rose Cecil O'Neil.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Yeah, when you look at the design of these qupie dolls.
It does have a bit of a cartoonish illustrator ly,
if that's a word at all, quality, sort of an
uncanny valley like this idea of what maybe a little
cartoon stylized baby. The proportions are a little off in
a delightful way, much like the troll dolls, and I
(05:36):
would argue I think it's not that far of a
walk that the sexless bodies of the troll dolls are
also inspired by the qupie doll phenomenon. Created by Rose
Cecil O'Neil, who was an illustrator. She was born in
Pennsylvania in eighteen seventy four. Her family took a literal
covered wagon to Old Nebraski to make a life for
(05:58):
themselves on the homestead. They raised a family outside of Omaha.
O'Neil's father, who was a bookseller and an aspiring actor,
along with their mother, who was a musician, they nurtured
her early artistic leanings. Beautiful and folks, if you heard
me quietly giggling in the background there as Nola you
(06:21):
were doing that excellent introduction, it's because, dude, I could
one hundred percent tell that you were having fun saying
sexless bodies. It's a fun thing to say. I'm sorry,
I'll probably be beautiful again. Beautiful. I can't lean into
the covered wagon part of it, of it all, because
the next part is like something out of literally Jack
(06:43):
and the bean Stuff.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Oh that's so cool this folklore, right, So okay. So
Rose is thirteen years old and she wins a drawing
contest in the Omaha World Herald. By nineteen she becomes
an aspiring novelist.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
We've all been there. It's an interesting place to be,
very very results.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, but you're more than aspiring. Oh that's too kind, man,
thank you. But so Ros's parents, this is why we're
saying this kind of Jack and the Beanstalk esque. Ros's
parents are so supportive of their daughter that they sell
their cow to send her to New York City, and
this is where she gets a job as a cartoonist.
(07:28):
By the time she's twenty three years old, pretty young.
She is the first female artist on staff at a
magazine called Puck, which was a very big deal.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
At the time.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Haven't heard of that? One awesome name for a magazine
And I just can't get over They sold the family cow.
They sold the cow because they believed in her that much,
and they knew that what a cow in the hand,
you know, is not necessarily better than an artist in
the bush.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
And that's what she became. And she made the cow
for you guys. Oh thanks man to. But it really does.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I mean, it's such a show of support and utter
belief in their in their child. And she made good
on the arrangement in a big way.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Oh yeah, yeah, she became one of the highest paid
illustrators in all of New York. And if we fast
forward nineteen oh nine, our hero Rose is thirty five
years old. This is where she debuts the first QP
cartoon in the December issue of something called Ladies Home Journal.
(08:33):
That's QP spelled k e W pie.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, And they were an instant hit, at least, you know,
in the printed form. And when she was interviewed by
the press about what inspired her to create this character,
she claimed that she just dreamed them up in bed
fertile imagination that she has. Suddenly, she said, they were
bouncing about over the cover, chirping. The little new born
(09:00):
name Coopy. I guess it's she made the name up
from whole cloth. I don't know an etymological connection for
cupie dream logic. I think that's right. One perch, she
said in my hand like a bird. It wasn't warm
like a human baby like. It was oddly cool, so
I knew, Wait a minute, they were elves.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Yeah, you say your cupies short for cupids, and they
nodded their little heads. This is coming to us from,
by the way, folks, the International Rose O'Neill Club Foundation. However,
Rose makes a very important folkloric distinction. She says, unlike
(09:43):
fairies or elves, the qupies are not tricksters. Instead, they
are kind characters. They show up to help people who
need help, or they show up to cheer up children.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
That's what they do.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
A bit of a care bear's kind of thing, Yeah,
very much proto care bears for sure. A lot of
those positive cartoons in the eighties. And according to O'Neil,
this is another coming back to a quote. Qps are
always searching out ways to make the world better and funnier.
They in real sense of humor.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Yeah, the cupids, of course, they do have little wings.
That makes sense. There's that etymological connection. I was looking for.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yeah, we also know that this becomes a viral hit.
Ladies Hold Journal is not prepared for the popularity of
the QP cartoons. There are multiple instances of children and
parents alike sending fan mail to Rose O'Neil and they say,
(10:44):
we love your QP cartoons, please make more of these. Eventually,
O'Neil says, why don't we take it off the page,
Why don't we make an actual doll that kids can
have and play with?
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Mm hmm one hundred percent. So she commissions a German
manufacturer to make the first prototypes of the QP doll
out of a material called porcelain bisk.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I'm not familiar with, not a soup.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
I don't think it is some sort of, you know,
plaster cast kind of situation. I imagine porcelain dolls, which were,
you know, finer dolls. I guess at the time they
were just the material that was most commonly used. But
now maybe when we think of porcelain dolls, we think
of things that are highly collectible and sought after. But
that's probably just the vintageness of the whole deal. The
original dolls came in nine distinct sizes, with the largest
(11:35):
selling for five bucks.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Or let's do it.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Let's do a beat inflation calculator.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
If we could back and a boob and a dude boop.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So five dollars in nineteen twelve is the equivalent of
one hundred and seventy eight dollars in twenty twenty six.
These are pricey dolls.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
As for the Big Boy, and the smallest was only
ten sands or about free fitting.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
About three fill amount.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
The dolls were, as you can imagine, man Elf on
the shelf level popular, hugely sought after. It was the
hottest toy item around by the nineteen twenties. She created
another line of plushy versions called the Cuttle Cupies.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Also with a K. Right, and fast forward to the
nineteen forties, the Qpie dolls are mass produced using plastic materials.
The Qpie becomes this international phenomenon. I love your comparison
to Elf on the Shelf. I think also of like
cabbage patch dolls, right, or of course the trolls or
(12:52):
maybe Elmo every so often the Qpie or Tickle Me Elmo, or.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Even the touch of the beanie babies.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
There it is, yeah, feeling it, Yeah, this global appeal,
this brand grows beyond cartoons and physical dolls. Now you
see the QP image stamped on China for nurseries. You
see it turned into hood ornaments for vehicles and then
weirdly on ashtrays, weirdly.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
On ashtrays, And as Ren pointed out, I don't think
we mentioned this, they have kind of made a comeback.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
In the form of tattoos.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
There's like a kind of a style of tattoos that
folks are getting a shout out, she says, to hot
Stuff tattoo in Ashville, North Carolina. It's so interesting. QP
has almost become like xerox or you know, there's a
name for that thing, like our a coke, you know,
for a stand in for soda epymous there you go. Yeah,
(13:50):
QP now has just thought of as almost like just
the stand in for a little little cute bobble kind
of toy. Okay, I could get with that, Yeah, quiet,
but you know what I'm saying. Yeah, it's taken on
a life of its own in terms of what people
think of. It's not necessarily associated with O'Neil or a
specific brand. It's just so universal now.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yeah, and also O'Neil does well with this. To be clear,
she's not an inventor who got ripped off like the
person who figured out the landlord's game and then had
that stolen and transformed into monopoly. Rose becomes a millionaire
due to her QP innovation, her QP empire, and this
(14:32):
occurs at a time when most women could not achieve
economic independence. Check out our earlier episode on credit cards
by the way for some really disturbing history about gender
disparity in the US. Dude, she had a mansion in Connecticut,
a QP mansion.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, I wonder if it was stylized anyway. Have you
ever been to Babyland General. Yes, here in Georgia, at
the home of the abage Patch kids. It's it's a
it's an interesting place to go. They have this whole
area where you can like see your cabbage patch doll
be birthed from a hole in a giant sort of
paper mache or plaster kind of looking true. Yeah, it's
(15:14):
an odd place actually early birthday party location from my
from my kid back up.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Oh that's awesome, man.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
They also have a heck of a bluegrass festival, so
check that out if you get type. It is a
palatial estate the cabbage Patch thing, like the yard is
so big.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Well, I think it's worth that comparisoner. It's an apt
one because another thing that you'll see in that baby
Land general is a lot of these Andy Warhol images.
He was a huge fan of, just like Iconic Americana,
you know, pop cultural phenomenons, and the QUB doll would
have been a kind of proto version of that to
what the Cabbage Patch kids became, maybe even more so
(15:53):
because we also have to remember, and Wren points this out,
this is pre Mickey Mouse.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yes, yeah, so before the advent of the Big Mouse,
qps were probably the best known and most well loved
cartoon characters in US pop culture. Through her QP empire,
Rose purchases Carabes Castle, that's the mansion we're talking about
in Westport, Connecticut, and then she buys a via a
(16:21):
villa in Capri. This is where she holds salons, right
intellectual hangouts. She invites other artists to kick it, talk
about art, talk about history, talk about literature. She also
gets back to her earlier love, which is writing very
like bodice ripping Gothic romance novels Oo.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
La La Okay, And this is a little sad, but
it's got kind of a silver lining. The great depression
hits not such a great depression as they can out
off and then and photography really starts to take over
or the pictures that are featured in magazines, so illustrators
(17:04):
are having a harder time getting gigs. And I wouldn't
necessarily think that she would have relied on that kind
of employment since she had, you know, made such a
mint with the QP doll phenomenon. But apparently after spending
you know, a chunk of that change on her properties,
her mansion and her villa, she did in fact pass
away in nineteen forty four without a whole lot of
(17:26):
money left to her name. But that's because she spent
such a huge part of her fortune on family and friends, right.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, she was trying to help everybody, you know, and
sometimes that can be an unrewarding thing. But she definitely
changed the world. And you might be asking yourself here, folks,
why are we calling this the feminist history of the
QP doll.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Here's part of why.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
When Rose O'Neil was born, some US states still had
laws about something called hoo.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
For sure, I didn't know this term ben, but I
definitely know the concept, the idea that a woman's entire financial,
legal personhood was linked to either their father or more commonly,
their husband, because it was also like a big no
no to be an unwed woman in this time, and
(18:22):
this essentially deprived them of any kind of individual liberty
when it came to representing themselves, owning or inheriting property,
having control of financial affairs, and entering into legal contracts
or filing lawsuits.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah, this was never officially abolished at the federal level,
but women could own property in all US states by
nineteen hundred. Still, the journey toward equality continued. Women were
at this time prohibited from voting, from running for office,
getting a divorce, keeping their maid name, going on a jury,
(19:02):
even having their own passports. It was a very nasty time.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
I mean, it reminds me of the kind of hellish
situation we heard about with Britney Spears, the idea of
being in a conservatorship where all of your affairs and
you know, individual rights and liberties are at the behest
of someone kind of lording over you.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
It wasn't until nineteen twenty that the US Congress would
pass the Nineteenth Amendment. The nineteenth Amendment allowed white women
in the United States to vote in elections. However, this
right didn't come about all of a sudden. There wasn't
a huge burst of conscientiousness on the part of Uncle Sam.
(19:51):
It's because of people like Rose O'Neill, a.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Lot of arm twisting, a lot of uh putting on
the pressure required. And we certainly have talked about women
suffrage movement and various interesting and maybe a little off
the beaten path aspects of it, like the hat pin
will yea all that stuff. Do check out some of
those episodes in the Ridiculous Archive. So at the height
of let's call it the QP Craze, because that's what
(20:17):
a research associate Ran calls it. Capitalize it, love it,
O'Neill leveraged the trademark and copyright that she possessed to
make an estimated one point four million dollars or a
boop and a dude boom.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
The boom inflation calculator you have taught us one point
four million dollars back then is equal to more than
thirty five million dollars today, and that's thanks to Smithsonian Magazine.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
And the inflation calculator of course.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
So you know, despite a lot of these societal limitations
that were placed on women, you know, money talks, O'Neil
had that. She certainly was able to overcome a lot
of these things essentially as a product of how rich
she was.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Yeah, she got divorced twice at a time when a
lot of people did not have the legal wherewithal to
get divorced. Once she overcame so many barriers, and when
she reached these upper heights of the economic pyramid, she
didn't forget about the rest of the people on the planet.
(21:35):
She used her platform as this celebrity illustrator to advocate
for suffrage, for the female right to vote. O'Neil is
not just a cartoonist, She is not just a gothic novelist.
She is an activist. She is in the women's marches
in New York City. She carries a banner to represent
(21:56):
for female illustrators.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
For sure, and she essentially donated her iconic qupie doll
imagery to the cause. It was something that was so recognizable,
and you know, just that kind of familiarity can be
such a powerful tool to spread an important message. One
(22:20):
of the versions of which was give mother the vote
we need it on an image or a poster featuring
these qupie dolls marching in lockstep as though they were
there at the Women's March themselves, with the lead QP
holding a sign, a flag reading votes for our mothers,
our food, our health, our play, our homes, our schools,
(22:41):
our work are ruled by men's votes. Isn't it a
funny thing that father cannot see why mother ought to
have a vote on how these things should be.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Think, think, think it over. Yes, we cannot commend Rose enough.
She also purchased a billboard to feature suffragette qpies in
New York City. She made postcards. She made posters raising
money for the National American Women's Suffrage Association. She once proclaimed,
(23:13):
and this is coming to us a courtesy of the
National Women's Hall of Fame, the following. I have a
thrilling hope that women are going to do something glorious
in the arts. It is my passionate conviction. I am
always indignant when women are denied creative power and art.
That it has not been widely shown it self proofs nothing.
It is stupid to expect free things from a race
(23:36):
of slaves. Okay, she's not saving anything for the swim
back on that mountain.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
You know she's leaving it all on the dance floor.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Then we know that she also would arrange for dolls
in you could call it propaganda, really arranged for QP
dolls in suffragette sashes to like fall down on a
bunch of suffragette. So imagine you are protesting for a
righteous cause and you happen to love La boo boo
(24:07):
at all. Of a sudden, part way through your march,
lea boo boo rains down.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
That sounds terrifying, man, it's a rain of la boo boos. No,
thank you.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
It sounds like a weird curse, right, a rain of
lea boo boo upon your house.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
It is a bit of a plague, but a delightful plague,
depending on you know how into la boo boos you are.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
So here we have it, man. The QP doll history
is oddly forgotten nowadays, especially given the huge role it
played in women's suffrage and the push for gender equality.
We also have to shout out, of course QP mayo
once again, as we know our boy Nakashima figured it out.
(24:56):
Please check out our mayonnaise episode for that story, and
I love the way, by the way, I love the
way you described QP mayonnaise. I was re listening to that.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Uh, well, geez, what do I say?
Speaker 1 (25:08):
You said? Okay, you spent some time talking about the container, right,
it's two containers. It's a plastic bag, and then it's
a thing that looks like a baby action figure basically,
And then you talked about the taste, and we started
talking about like Duke spyannaise and other versions of mayonnaise.
I just thought it was really well done, and I
(25:30):
have to confess to you, my friend, it changed my mind.
I think I'm gonna I think I'm gonna hold off
on the QP mayo.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Okay, fair enough, but I thought it'd be worth before
we wrap up. Just I'm doubling back on something really quickly.
We've we've often talked about how powerful satirical cartoons can
be and how some of the earliest examples of political cartoons, Uh,
they just communicate so much with so little, and it's
(25:59):
such as a way of just kind of laying in
stark contrasts like how things really are versus maybe how
politicians or people in power may tell you things are.
And while the original versions of the QP dolls and
the cartoons were not necessarily that, they did start to
take on a little bit more of like a mocking
(26:22):
satirical quality, kind of making fun of elitist middle class reformers.
This is from Smithsonian Magazine as well, and further beyond
just the women's rights aspect of it, supporting racial equality
and also advocating for the poor. So O'Neil really kind
of put her money where her mouth was, because this
(26:44):
could certainly have been seen as a way of maybe
torpedoing the brand. We know that, like big brands do
not like to get in the mix with politics, and
she did something that I would say is historically pretty
unique in being willing to do that.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Very brave as well. I would say there's a brilliant
propagandistic value in having a friendly baby appear to tell
the truth, right just saying, oh, I'm a cute baby,
I'm a muppet, for instance, That's basically what a QP is, Right,
I'm a muppet, and even I know that there are
(27:23):
things that we can do to improve society. I thought
that was a really smart way to get the message across.
We also have to give a shout out to QB
in tattoo culture. In the nineteen fifties, the legendary tattoo
artist Mike Rollo Malone started putting QP images in his
flash design, and excuse me, that's the nineteen seventies when
(27:46):
Mike starts doing this. Now it's become solidified as part
of tattoo culture. So if you have a friend who
is a tattoo artist, they can probably hook you up
with a QP.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
I may have misstated early on in the episode when
I'm mentioned the whole tattoo angle of it all, that
it was sort of a newer phenomenon. It is maybe
a little more compared to how there are like vintage
styles of tattoos that sort of come and go in popularity,
like sailor tattoos or certain kind of like old school
art styles that seem to have a little bursts of popularity.
(28:19):
And it would seem per Wren in that Incredible Tattoo
Shop in Ashville that she mentioned that it's kind of
having a bit of a comeback. I did want to
maybe wrap with just one quote from a person that
we haven't named, that Smithsonian magazine leans on really heavily
and their wonderful piece. The prolific illustrator behind qpi's used
her cartoon for women's rights. Susan Scott, who is the
(28:42):
president of the board at the bonnie Brook Historical Society,
which is a nonprofit that's mission is to educate the
public about O'Neill's life, had this to say about that
kind of very brave, like you said, Ben move taking
an iconic and lucrative piece of intellectual property into the
(29:02):
political sphere. And she said this of kind of the
perspective of the time. What was neat was that she
was able to use this popular character for suffrage and
it got people's attention.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Some people would go, how.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Could she use the QB for suffrage? Why is she
getting them involved in politics? And then other people just
really didn't even notice. They thought, Oh, isn't that cute?
Votes for women? Oh?
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Okay, that's the brilliant propaganda we're talking about. You know
this is is it propaganda? If it's for a good cause.
I'm not questioning you.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
I just think it's something like it's an interesting line
because we think of propaganda as maybe the government trying
to pull.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
The wool over people's eyes.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
But at its best, advertising can be seen as propaganda
one hundred percent. Edward brene Is check out one of
the early episodes. I think maybe the first of Stuff
they Don't Want Should Know as an audio podcast. But yeah,
it's interesting. It depends on what side of the issue
you fall, whether something is just spread a good message
or whether it's propaganda.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
A PSA can be propaganda. You know, dare to keep
a kid off drugs? That was propaganda. And by the way,
thanks for the shirt everybody. We've got a good one
to ben it finally fits. We've also got a We've
also got a deep dive on propaganda. And before we
before we wrap here, I am going to say it
(30:22):
on air, history of tattoos.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
We should do it.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
Oh my gosh, yeah, the earliest. You know. It's funny, Ben,
I'm forty two years old and I only have just
started getting tattoos in the last couple of years as
a way of helping my kid learn how to tattoo.
I was just like, yeah, whatever, give me a stick
and poke, let's do it. But the early days of
tattoos and the tribal aspects of it are fascinating and
(30:46):
some of the methods that are used and how closely
tied to various indigenous cultures tattooing is.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
So do highly.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Recommend to us, me and Max that we do this
episode in the very near future.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
We absolutely will. We can't thank you enough for joining
us for that episode on tattoos as well as this
episode the feminist history of QP Dolls.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Oh last thing, I just want to say sexless bodies
one more time? Do you forging to do that? Had? Well,
only because one of the last bits of trivia that
ran included was that QP Dolls are referenced in a
song by the incredible Minnesota rock band The Replacements in
nineteen eighty four called Androgynists, and that is because of
the QP dolls lack of genitalia. The song's lyrics are
(31:35):
often cited as being ahead of their time as they
address more non traditional gender norms with tolerance and acceptance.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Okay, do you want to say sexless body?
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Well more?
Speaker 3 (31:45):
I think I've had my film. You're good?
Speaker 1 (31:48):
All right, folks? Well, that is actually our show now,
thank you again for joining us. We can't wait to
hear your thoughts as we explore the history of tattoos.
Big big thanks to our recent search associate Wren, Big
thanks to our super producer, the Cutest Man and the
Biz Max Williams, also downright cherubic very much so a
(32:10):
kind angel as well. Big thanks to Alex Williams who
composed this track and NOL. I gotta ask you, do
you think Jonathan Strickland aka the Quizzer collects QP dolls?
Speaker 3 (32:23):
I don't know what he kind of looks like one.
I mean we'll bring a little dippity do on the top,
though it's as smooth as eggs up.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
We'll have to bring it up when we have him
back on the show, perhaps sooner than we think.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
We never really know, you don't.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
He just sometimes materializes. And spoiler alert, I think he
may be materializing in the very near future, although I
know we've teased that in the past and it has.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Not come to be.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
But knock on wood or cross yourself, you know, dealer's choice.
I think we might be seeing him pretty soon. And
I just wanted to last thing. My kid actually has
had fun little collection of QP dolls, certainly old school
vintage ones like the certainly the Basque or the porcelain
bisk porcelain ones would be worth a pretty penny, but
(33:08):
there are lots of more modernized versions of them. I
mean again, the Sonny Angels and a lot of these
you know, kawhii little blind box toys. Oh something, man.
They owe a debta gratitude to O'Neill and her nude, chubby,
sexless baby bodies.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
I knew you were gonna do it big.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Thanks to Big, Thanks too, of course, A J. Bahamas Jacobs,
Doctor Rachel Big Spinach, Lance the Brew Dude's a ridiculous crime.
If you dig us, you'll love them. Christopher Hasio deceives,
Jeff go here in spirit, and Noel thank you.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
And also with you, my friend. We'll see you next time, folks.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
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Ridiculous History News
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Ben Bowlin
Noel Brown
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