Write to a 250-year-old doll.
Children have written to Polly for over a hundred years, and she writes back. Read letters from across the country, see where Polly herself was, and add your own pin to the map.
I have been answering mail since before your great-great-grandparents were born.
Letters on the map
Been somewhere historic? Tell Polly, and drop a pin.
Every child who writes gets a red pin, every pin gets a place. And look for the gold star over Boston — that's where Polly herself was. Tap it to travel her sites and watch her at each one, from the harbor to the Old State House balcony.
Add your pin to the map.
Tell me where you are. I do read every one.
A grown-up reads each note before it goes up, so it may take a little while to appear. Do not share your address or last name.
Letters through the years
Real children. Real letters. For over a century.
“At first I thought Polly was a costume doll dressed up to show the style that ladies wore long ago. When Mr. Hurd told us how very old she was, and of the terrible war she lived through … she was no longer a doll to me, but someone very real from Colonial days.”
Gloria wrote to Polly for six years, care of the Old State House custodian, who answered on Polly's behalf.
Source: Boston Globe, October 29, 1939
“The letter was sent back to South America, and back to Boston again. This may not be the most interesting letter Polly has received, but I think the most traveled.”
Janet visited the Old State House, kept Polly's picture in her memory book, and wrote to her from Peru — then carried the returned letter home to make sure it reached Polly.
Source: Teacher's note accompanying Janet's letter
Polly is cared for by the non-profit Friends of Polly Sumner, who answer every letter. Join them for news and the occasional note from Polly herself.
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