The girl is Dorothy Lewis of New York who believes in bedtime stories for her dollies. Images like this remind us of the original function of dolls: as a surrogate for young girls to practice their maternal skills.

(Photographer Unknown) – Girl Telling Dollies a Bedtime Story (1925)

It occurs to me that with the advent of civilization (and nuclear families) and the decline of tribal societies, many little girls did not necessarily have access to younger siblings, nieces, nephews and cousins with which to “practice”.