Doll House or Haunted House?

Today's favorite doll or stuffed animal is the stuff of tomorrow's nightmares. (Except for Bratz dolls — those things are God-awful now and forever.) Don't believe it? Picture those creepy wooden-headed dolls that were all the rage during the Little House on the Prairie era: Something in their faces always seems disproportionate, the eyes too widely spaced or too close together. But those dolls, as malevolent as they seem to our sensibilities, were not just prized possessions in their day; they were beloved friends to children. Not That Cuddly: An Exhibition of Misfit Toys, the new exhibit at the Eugene Field House & St. Louis Toy Museum (634 South Broadway; 314-421-4689 or www.eugenefieldhouse.org), gathers together some prime examples of playthings that have gone from cute to gruesome, simply because of the passage of time. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday; admission is $1 to $5. The exhibit is up through Tuesday, December 30.
Wednesdays-Sundays. Starts: Aug. 20. Continues through Dec. 30, 2008