3307 Curse Doll: Saddam Hussein
- Physical description:
- Stuffed doll representing Saddam Hussein, in cardboard and plastic packaging calling him "The Beast of Baghdad." Intended for 'cursing' him.
- Museum classification:
- Wartime Magic
- Size:
- 20cm x 33cm
- Information:
Description of the Doll: caricatured Saddam Huseein doll in military uniform. He has a bloody knife hanging from his belt and the words "Saddam Insane" on his uniform. Behind the doll is a cardboard display showing a desert and an Arabic style city with tanks outside it.
Description of the packaging: Beast of Baghdad TM "You do" Voo doo doll (title). Your chance to stick it Saddam like he's stuck it to us (Pins like batteries not included). A yellow ribbon is tied on the other side with this phrase next to it: "America's plea...Bring our troops Home Safely"
Attached to the doll is this label: Beast of Baghdad. If you have someone near and dear over there this will bring you a smile! Stick him with a pin everytime you think of our heroic troops in operation desert shield. Stick him again (like he's sticking it to us) when you fill up your car with gas. Let your guests stick him like he's sticking his so called "guests". Stick him once more just to even the score.
Copyright 1990 Laid Back. Made in the USA.
These dolls are popularly known as 'Voodoo' dolls, a word that seems intended to make them appear exotic, but in fact they are part of a tradition of British magic going back hundreds of years. Sticking pins into images was used for both love magic and cursing, with descriptions of how to perform the magic appearing in medieval books of magic and witch trial records. The images were often referred to as 'poppets', and were made of wax, clay or sometimes cloth (cloth images are mentioned in the records of the Salem trials in America).
Referring to them as 'Voodoo' dolls is comparatively recent. The word 'Voodoo' is derived from Vodou, the name of a spiritual belief system of the Caribbean and New Orleans. Vodou has its origins in Shamanic African spiritual traditions, but is also influenced by Roman Catholicism.
Although image magic is sometimes used in Vodou, referring to dolls like this one as 'Voodoo dolls' is connected to the demonisation of Vodou by Europeans and Americans - a way of associating Vodou with using magic to curse people. This hostility towards Vodou was due to its association with resistance to slavery. In particular, Vodou played an important part in inspiring the successful slave revolt that liberated Haiti from French colonialists in 1804.
- Resource:
- Object
- Materials:
- Material, cardboard and plastic
- Copyright ownership:
- Laid Back Inc
Description of the Doll: caricatured Saddam Huseein doll in military uniform. He has a bloody knife hanging from his belt and the words "Saddam Insane" on his uniform. Behind the doll is a cardboard display showing a desert and an Arabic style city with tanks outside it.
Description of the packaging: Beast of Baghdad TM "You do" Voo doo doll (title). Your chance to stick it Saddam like he's stuck it to us (Pins like batteries not included). A yellow ribbon is tied on the other side with this phrase next to it: "America's plea...Bring our troops Home Safely"
Attached to the doll is this label: Beast of Baghdad. If you have someone near and dear over there this will bring you a smile! Stick him with a pin everytime you think of our heroic troops in operation desert shield. Stick him again (like he's sticking it to us) when you fill up your car with gas. Let your guests stick him like he's sticking his so called "guests". Stick him once more just to even the score.
Copyright 1990 Laid Back. Made in the USA.
These dolls are popularly known as 'Voodoo' dolls, a word that seems intended to make them appear exotic, but in fact they are part of a tradition of British magic going back hundreds of years. Sticking pins into images was used for both love magic and cursing, with descriptions of how to perform the magic appearing in medieval books of magic and witch trial records. The images were often referred to as 'poppets', and were made of wax, clay or sometimes cloth (cloth images are mentioned in the records of the Salem trials in America).
Referring to them as 'Voodoo' dolls is comparatively recent. The word 'Voodoo' is derived from Vodou, the name of a spiritual belief system of the Caribbean and New Orleans. Vodou has its origins in Shamanic African spiritual traditions, but is also influenced by Roman Catholicism.
Although image magic is sometimes used in Vodou, referring to dolls like this one as 'Voodoo dolls' is connected to the demonisation of Vodou by Europeans and Americans - a way of associating Vodou with using magic to curse people. This hostility towards Vodou was due to its association with resistance to slavery. In particular, Vodou played an important part in inspiring the successful slave revolt that liberated Haiti from French colonialists in 1804.