This sweet little image came from a compilation of Rhymes and Jingles by Mary Mapes Dodge. A little girl stretches on her toes to reach the hollyhock blossoms while her dolly sits at a table patiently waiting. It came with a little poem:
Hollyhock, hollyhock, bend for me;
I want a cheese for my dolly’s tea.
I’ll put it soon on an acorn plate,
And dolly and I shall feast in state.
Now I don’t know about you, but I had never heard of hollyhock flowers as a source of cheese. I figured it must be some sort of fairy tale. Sure enough. The seed pods of hollyhock are sometimes called “fairy cheese.” The thought is the pods are shaped like a wheel of cheese. Bet you never knew Reusable Art was an educational site. 🙂
The little girl with hollyhocks was drawn back in 1875. No illustrator or engraver was identified. It is done in black on white and could easily colorized.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
