The Butter Rum Cartoon: MYSTERY MANNEQUIN

I'm not familiar with varieties of mannequins or their makers. I'm just a retired mailman who happens to have a mannequin, and I'd like to know who made her and about when and how much she sold for and how much she's worth now. Nothing to it. But I've had her for about 18 years and don't have a clue. There's not one marking on her to indicate anything, and no one has yet to "identify" her. She has real hair eyelashes, eyes that seem to look right at you, and stands on tip-toes to six feet tall, on a heavy metal circular base.

I was a city mail carrier in downtown Branson, Missouri, for years, and would pass by this mannequin in the front window of a consignment shop each day. She usually modeled wedding gowns, and I would admire her features and quality. Eventually the consignment shop moved to the other side of the block, then later was going out of business and selling off items in the shop as quickly as possible. I brought their mail in to them and saw the retired wedding dress model, standing by the wall behind the counter, naked. "Sorry to see you folks go," I said. "I've always admired that mannequin in the window."

"You want to buy her?" asked the lady shopkeeper.

"How much?" I asked.

" A hundred and fifty dollars?" she said.

The next thing I knew, I was carrying the mannequin out the door.

"Do you want to know her name?" the lady called out.

"Sure."

"Sophia."

I wonder what people in downtown Branson thought when they watched the mailman load a naked, full-size, artificial woman into the back of the mail truck.

At home the pretty mannequin that used to model wedding dresses stood beside our bed in the bedroom, modeling my mail shirt. My wife was jealous of her. Our young daughter was afraid of her. I thought it was pretty neat. But for years now Sophia has been our librarian, watching over our 3,690 books in the room at the end of the hall. And I still don't know anything about this mystery mannequin's ancestry. Hopefully a Butter Rum Cartoon reader can help me.

When my wife Micki and I took a road trip visiting the eight states bordering our home state of Missouri, we enjoyed a day at the wonderful Har-Ber Village Museum in Grove, Oklahoma. And in one of its countless exhibits we came across a vintage-dressed mannequin that is apparently Sophia's twin sister! Finally a clue! But we came away from the Museum without knowing the answers to either mystery mannequin.

So, please, if anyone can tell me anything about Sophia or her sister, please do, in a comment below.

Here is Sophia and her twin sister.