Carol's Theory of Bizarre Mannequins


ManicMannequins, originally uploaded by carolsLittleWorld.

It dawned on me the other day that I never actually got around to posting the picture I took in Hawaii of the “manic mannequins” so here it is.

I have this theory about mannequins. Actually, it’s been developing slowly, over time, so you could really say it’s more like a hypothesis than an actually theory, but it’s still true. No matter where you travel in the world, there are some form of mannequins. Really, they are there, even if you just don’t see them. Somebody, somewhere, is trying to sell or hem or darn or just do something to some clothing, no matter how tiny the town or how God-forsaken the rat hole you happen to be in, and this something that they are doing is going to necessitate they get a mannequin, dress form, or some other odd plastic-like representation of the human form. Really. Trust me on this one. Mannequins are everywhere. The world is suffering from an epidemic of mannequins only we just don’t know it yet.

Couple this with the fact that mannequins are often hand-made and you get an interesting result. Mannequins look different in different parts of the world. Really, they do. Again, you might have to trust me on this one-especially if you don’t get to travel a lot, but it’s true-everywhere there are mannequins and they all sort of look a bit different-they have a sort of local “flavor” or “flair” if you will, probably because they are often hand-made or, in the very least, hand-decorated.

When I think of all the places I’ve been, I often think, not about the airports, the toothpaste (though I have done that before) or any of that-no I think about what sort of oddball crazy ass mannequins I’ve run across there. Sometimes, you see, you find the strangest of mannequins in the most “normal looking” of places. It’s almost as if they sneak up on you or something-there they are, hiding, waiting, just waiting for you, the unsuspecting tourist to come along so, BAM! they can jump out and get you.

Such was the case in Hawaii. There I was, enjoying a tropical stay, minding my own business, even pausing to do a bit of shopping. That’s when I saw them-that’s when these scary looking crazy wild hopped up mannequins popped their funky blue-haired armless forms out at me. Oh the humanity! (What did I do to deserve this? I must have been a serial killer in a past life or something, I swear.)

But, seriously, if you should happen to find yourself in some odd hovel-if you should one day happen upon your own mannequin strangeness, remember this one piece of advice: they can’t run and you can hide.

Well, that and don’t forget to pack your camera because, though quite crazy, they can make for interesting pictures.

Until next time…

4 Comments

  1. mythopolis
    Author
    August 24, 2009 / 11:49 am

    Those CPR dummies and crash test dummies are pretty strange too! Not too mention all those creepy famous people in wax museums….

  2. Carol
    Author
    August 24, 2009 / 4:49 pm

    It's an epidemic, I tell you, a real epidemic.

  3. Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers
    Author
    August 25, 2009 / 11:22 am

    I have to admit that mannequins have never really seeped into my consciousness the way they seem to have done for you, but these two do look like crazy Hawaiian fun-loving surfy types!

  4. Carol
    Author
    September 3, 2009 / 7:15 pm

    It's true-I have a long, odd relationship with the plastic ones. But, yes, these were "extra freaky" even given that.

    Maybe because I love photographing them so much, I've become like a magnet to the odd + wild ones now?

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