Normally, I'm all up for tropical islands and doll collecting-even unusual doll collecting. Not sure I'm up for it but for those of you who are, check this out "La Isla de la Munecas," or the Island of the Dolls. This is quite a disturbing story. Half a century ago, Julián Santana Barrera left his wife and child and moved onto an island on Teshuilo Lake in the Xochimilco canals. He said that a girl had drown in the lake. Others say that no child ever drown here and it was something that Don Julian Santana completely imagined. Regardless, he used to say that he was haunted by the spirit of the little girl who drown. To honor the spirit of the child, or to keep it at bay, depending upon whom you ask, he collected dolls that he fished out of the water and he traded fruits and vegetables that he grew for old dolls to add to this bizarre shrine. The island is covered with them. You can see them attached to trees, in his cabin. They are displayed in exactly the same condition in which they were found, very dirty, missing limbs, heads or even eyeballs.
In viewing these photographs, I did come across a doll that I do not recognize and perhaps by posting this photograph below, somebody can identify the name of this doll and it's creator. I would really like one. I think the face of this doll is adorable. Any ideas?
Don Julian Santana was found dead in 2001. Ironically, he drown in the same area where he believed the little girl died.
This island has been turned into a famous tourist attraction. If you've been there, let us know about your experience and share your photographs. If you are a doll collector, please help us identify some of these dolls.
The doll in that second picture looks to me like a Berenguer La Newborn 14
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