It is rare that a character can be instantly recognized by one singular feature despite any other aspects which have been changed, regardless of how beloved that character may be—though it might seem inevitable when said character’s name is Little Red Riding Hood. The young girl’s bright cardinal-colored cloak makes her likeness so immediately recognizable that her character has transcended time as an iconic symbol.

The tale of Little Red Riding Hood began as folklore in the European Middle Ages, likely in the 16th or 17th century. The exact origin is unknown, as it was passed down through oral tradition until it was first published in France as a story in Charles Perrault’s Tales of Mother Goose (1767). The second edition, even further popularizing the tale, was published by the Brothers Grimm in their collection of folktales Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1812-1815). There were several changes from the Perrault version to the Grimm, most notably the ending. Perrault ended the story with Red Riding Hood being consumed by the wolf as a moral warning to children to beware of strangers; but the Grimm version allows Red Riding Hood and her grandmother to both be saved by a woodsman when he cuts open the wolf’s stomach and releases the girl and the grandmother from the wolf’s body. Later versions softened the story even further by having the grandmother hide in the closet, and the wolf is killed by the woodsman before he is ever able to Red Riding Hood.

Fairytale characters are oft adapted to the prevailing attitudes of the current time period and trends, whether these are physical characteristics or aspects of their personality. Just like the portions of the story themselves, characters may be tweaked to reflect different cultural beliefs or trends. This manifests clearly in dolls and storybook illustrations which show different trends in American history, or several ways in which toy designers have attempted to appeal to children. The collections of the Wenham Museum allow one to explore a vast array of ways in which Red Riding Hood has been depicted.

One of the most iconic versions of Red Riding Hood in the collections is a Nancy Ann Story Book doll, dating to the 1940s. With pursed red lips and brunette curls, the doll just wears a simple short white dress and a red cape over it. She’s a straightforward and immediately striking representation of the fairytale!

Red Riding Hood Story Book Doll: Don’t let her fool you in the picture: this doll is only a few inches tall!

Another example of using the iconic red cloak on an otherwise straightforward design is a set of three paper dolls from the 1950s, with each being a different iconic fairytale character: Red Riding Hood, Little Bo Peep, and Little Miss Muffet. Each doll is made from cardboard, but has a real cape made from cloth, with Red Riding Hood’s iconic red hood over her head whereas the others wear fabric hats.

Story Land Paper Dolls: Red Riding Hood is in the center, with Little Miss Muffet and Little Bo Peep on either side.

A third doll in the collections stands out amongst the others. Known as a “topsy turvy doll,” this cloth doll can stand one way as Red Riding Hood, with a red dress and cloak over her bright ginger hair. However, you can flip the doll over and pull her skirt over herself to reveal Red’s grandmother, wearing a blue floral dress. This design of doll allows for more interactive play and alludes to the characters of Red Riding Hood and the grandmother serving as foils to one another in the original moral tale.

Topsy Turvy Doll: Flip it one way and she’s Red Riding Hood, flip it the other way and she’s her grandmother

A few other items show different examples of how Red Riding Hood has come up in play in the last hundred years. A card game named “The Game of Fairy Tales,” made in the early 1900s by the Parker Brothers, includes a card with an illustration of Red Riding Hood upon it. The girl is smiling, with blonde hair and wearing a blue dress underneath her red cloak. There are cards also for the wolf, the woodman, and her grandmother, and their names are listed upon the card itself. Marking their group as related to one another is an ax in the upper left corner of the card.

The Game of Fairy Tales: These four are the Red Riding Hood suite.

Red Riding Hood also appeared frequently as a character or story in puzzles or sets of blocks depicting different fairytale figures. A set of wooden picture blocks from the late 1800s in the collections can be pieced together to tell several stories, including Red Riding Hood, told over the course of 9 short vignettes! The blocks are read from top to bottom in three columns. As one looks at them, it’s interesting to wonder why these pieces of the story were picked out. Could the blocks be rearranged in other ways?

Wooden Block Puzzle: It can be read and rearranged in several different ways to reflect the story or match up the images!

This sample of five different dolls and games show different examples of how Red Riding Hood has been depicted and captures different sides of her character over time. Discovering objects such as these captures the magic of museum collections. A singular fairytale character can be discovered in almost 30 iterations with the space of just one small museum. It shows how a character, a thought, an image can transcend time and place and capture the hearts and minds of children and adults alike over the course of history.

Morgan Stevenson-Swadling, Collections Intern.