When we commenced creating the Kewpie Dolls again in 2014, there wasn't a week that would pass by when i wasn't constantly asked about the traditional hooked canes the Kewpie Dolls used to be presented on 'back in the day' and Do you have them? Can you get them again? As the traditional hooked canes were a thing of the past, we had been attaching the Kewpie Dolls to a straight bamboo cane for many years. But these requests for the hooked cane were plaguing me.
The famous stage play "Summer of the Seventeenth Doll" is a story that features the Kewpie Dolls and they are presented on the traditional style hooked bamboo cane.
So just like everyone else out there i internet searched! And i found no hooked canes anywhere online.
This nostalgic memory needed to be recreated for everyone out there who has contacted me with love in their heart for these moments they cherish of themselves or someone they loved buying them a Kewpie Doll on a Hooked cane.
Our mother and Nanna are pictured with some of the old canes below, in the year 2000 when they appeared on the Today Show to talk about the Kewpie Dolls in the Sydney Olympic Games. It was unfortunate that by the time we started recreating the Kewpie Dolls after Nan's passing we couldn't find any more supply of the hooked canes.
It became my mission to find some of these famous hooked canes. In 2019 I continued my search and discovered I could have the hooked canes shaped and made for me in China. I designed the bamboo cane to the dimensions i wanted, had samples made and then had a batch imported.
Ta Da! Mission accomplished! The above photo is one of our Original Kewpie Co Kewpie Dolls on our exclusive hooked bamboo cane, made for sale in January 2020.
At the time of writing this in 2022 the supply of Kewpie Dolls has dried up and so i haven't ordered another batch of hooked canes from China. The search is on for the supplier of the actual Kewpie Doll!. Any leads on who the supplier is in China would be greatly appreciated. Please email us at originalkewpies@gmail.com
You can still purchase the last of our hooked canes from our website here www.kewpielove.com