The dolls originated in the US during the Victorian era, around 1860 and were called Frozen Charlottes, (or Charlie for males), dolls. The dolls were made in response to the enormous popularity of a song, “Fair Charlotte“, which was based on an 1843 poem penned by Maine journalist, Seba Smith, entitled, “A Corpse Going to a Ball.”

There is some debate as to wether Smith’s poem was simply a cautionary tale or based on an actual incident. Whatever the origins, the poem and ballad served as a cautionary tale to young ladies about the dangers of vanity and not heeding your parents.

The Frozen Charlotte dolls were very small and typically made of porcelain. As they only cost a penny, most children could afford them, only adding to their popularity in Victorian households.

At some point it became very fashionable to begin baking these tiny corpse dolls into birthday cakes or in the UK, in Christmas puddings, as a prize or party favor.

Young Charlotte

Young Charlotte lived by the mountainside in a cold and dreary spot
No other dwelling for miles around, except her father’s cot
And yet, on many a winter’s eve, young swains would gather there
For her father kept a social board and she was very fair

Her father loved to see her dressed prim as a city belle
She was the only child he had and he loved his daughter well
In a village some fifteen miles off there’s a merry ball tonight
Though the driving wind is cold as death their hearts were free and light
And yet how beams those sparkling eyes as the well-known sound she hears
And dashing up to her father’s door, young Charles and his sleigh appears
“Oh, daughter dear”, her mother says, “Those blankets round you fold
For it is a dreadful night to ride and you`ll catch your death of cold”

“Oh nay, oh nay”, young Charlotte said, and she laughed like a gypsy queen
“To ride with blankets muffled up one never would be seen”
Her gloves and bonnet being on, she stepped into the sleigh
And away they rode by the mountain side and it’s o’er the hills and away
There’s music in those merry bells as o’er the hills we go
What a creaking noise those runners make as they strike the frozen snow
And muffled faces silent are as the first five miles are passed
When Charles with few and shivering words the silence broke at last

“What a dreadful night it is to ride. My lines I scarce can hold”
When she replied in a feeble voice, “I am extremely cold”
Charles cracked his whip and urged his team far faster than before
Until at length five other miles in silence were passed o’er

“Charlotte, how fast the freezing ice is gathering on my brow”
When she replied in a feeble voice, “I’m getting warmer now”
And away they ride by the mountain side beneath the cold starlight
Until at length the village inn and the ballroom are in sight
When they drove up, Charles he got out and offered her his hand
“Why sit you there like a monument that hath no power to stand?”
He asked her once, he asked her twice but she answered not a word
He offered her his hand again, but still she never stirred

He took her hand into his own, twas cold as any stone
He tore the veil from off her face and the cold stars on her shone
And quick into the lighted hall her lifeless form he bore
Fair Charlotte was a frozen corpse and a word she ne’er spoke more
He took her back into the sleigh and quickly hurried home
And when he came to her father’s door oh how her parents moaned
They mourned the loss of their daughter dear while Charles wept o’er their gloom
Until at length, Charles died of grief and they both lay in one tomb

Via Nourishing Death.