Aieeee! A startling image, but harmless. A photograph taken at a Manhattan Mannequin factory in 1948. Could the Garment district or your local mall survive without them? I guess the only rule is that they be life-sized, or you have to call them dolls.
De Chirico painted them, but he certainly hadn't seen their close relatives the Crash Test Dummy, the CPR Dummy and the sexy blow-up-doll. Remember those fake humans created to allow selfish drivers to use the double occupancy lane? Mannequins.
There is even a psychological condition given to an irrational fear of them! Pediophobia! I'm suffering a bit of it now as I consider Christmas shopping! And of course, there is a term which defines those with an even more creepy ATTRACTION to them, Agalmatophilia. Both are words not recognized by my spell-checking software, but I typed carefully. I'll be sure to use the phrases if I ever put this photograph on Ebay!
The most extensive wiki entry on these dummies is so complete, I suspect it was written by someone who had one of the medical conditions or the other. If you are ever interested in looking up the things, remember there are countless ways to spell it and all are acceptable! Mannequin, mannekin, mannikin and manikin are all approved.
"Manhattan Mannequin Factory" Anonymous Press Photograph 1949 collection Jim Linderman
