I was given a Skootles when I was so young I don’t even remember who gave him to me or how old I was. I just remember that when I was around five or six I named him Billy Boy.

My mother made him a pair of overalls. But when I was about 12 we moved. He had a crack in the top of his head and my mother made me throw him away in the trash bin where he was burned!

Years later my mother became a doll artisan and had a shop. She went from not being interested in dolls to becoming an avid student. I never let her forget that she had made me throw away my Skootles, and she was very sorry herself.

Then, about ten years ago I went to a doll show and there was a Skootles! He looked just like mine so I bought him. I had saved my old Skootles’ overalls so when I dressed my new Skootles I felt as though he had been resurrected from the fire!

He is very cute and special to me.