Radium Girl | Handmade History [relaxing]

The saddest part of the story of the Radium Girls, for me, was the fact that management knew of the danger of the paint. The scientists who mixed the paint wore lead lined protective aprons and the paint was carried around the factory in lead canisters. It had even been reported that management would never interact with workers and refused to set foot in the building where painting was done. To this day you can still find Radium painted clocks and they still glow just as bright as when they were painted, although the radiation is minuscule and not harmful.

I love the idea of this is the series where you take historical events such as this and representing them as a doll!

This doll is absolutely stunning and the last words being “it starts in the jaw” with the jaw glowing was brilliant! The story is tragic and fascinating, I’ve never heard the story of the radiation girls but now that I have I feel angry. The people who created the paint and forced the girls to work knew the dangers and proceeded to allow this to happen, all for some extra money.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so shook by doll customization before. This was so beautifully made. What a tasteful tribute to the girls who died and a way to bring awareness to this gross moment in history… wow. Adding my voice to the chorus of requests that you please think about doing this again sometime… this was something that I think a lot of people should hope to aspire to with their journalism, never mind their dollmaking. WOW.

This really reminds me of two very similar cases, that of Paris Green as well as Mad Hatters Disease. Paris Green was an extraordinarily popular pigment in the Victorian era. It was in nearly everything, from dresses, books, and wallpapers to, sadly, childrens toys. Unfortunately, like this case, nobody realized that it was dangerous until children began falling sick and dying from arsenic poisoning. I believe that the main producer of the wallpapers denied that it contained any sort of danger (spoilers it was full of arsenic) and may have even encouraged children to lick the wallpapers, though that may have simply been something that the children were doing and nobody stopped them. The cases of Mad Hatters disease is very similar to that of the Radium Girls, where hatters were exposed to incredibly large amounts of mercury and subsequently went mad and became ill. This is I believe the origin of the phrase “mad as a hatter” as well as the inspiration for the Mad Hatters design, specifically makeup, in the live action Alice in Wonderland They’re both incredibly interesting and tragic topics, and if you liked learning about the Radium Girls I highly recommend doing your own research into either one of them

What an absolute gorgeous doll for such a heavy topic. I’m blown away 🥺💕❤️

she's so beautiful, her design almost makes me cry; she looks like such a sweet girl in so much pain, it really communicates the tragic nature of the Radium girl's demise. also i dunno if it's just me but i feel like her and the lavender plague doctor you made awhile back should be friends

My high school actually put on this play and a lot of my friends were in it. One of my best friends played Dr. Knef. Thank you for spreading the tragic story of these girls.

19:54 this line, and the scenes as she's turning the lights off is so powerful. Gave me chills.

i love the nose on the doll sculpt! i feel like a lot of dolls have tiny button noses, so its nice to see a little facial diversity :]

I actually almost cried It was cruel for these girls to be working with radium while the others were earning profit. I swear the things that people will do just to put money into their pocket is downright grotesque and wicked. It was however, amazing that you made a doll in tribute to these girls who died these horrible and painful deaths. Great job and keep up the good work, Etellan

Can we just appreciate the construction of this character as the narration continues, the radioactive bones and the glow of the skeleton, it’s like every other sentence is an awakening point. Beautiful. At the beginning of the video you see glowing, radioactive, a key word and recognizable attribute. At the end, you see the Radium Girls, the withering jaw, the darkness of willful ignorance.

this is one of the best videos i've seen on youtube in a really long time! i would love if you made "handmade history" a series! like maybe talk about different things in history while you make a doll related to it? it could even be more lighthearted history if you wanted to. your voice is really soothing to listen to, so i really enjoyed you talking about radium! thank you for making and sharing this with us <3

It was a very sad time in history and goes to show how cruel humanity can truly be. Im glad that you shared the story about it. I also love the doll to, it represents it perfectly and is just amazingly thought of and perfectly done. Love her, great job!!

I was lucky enough to have a few American Girl dolls as a child, and I was always so enamored with their historical backgrounds. This doll is like the adult, tragic version of that. I love this idea and I think you’ve handled it very respectfully. Another reason you’re one of my favorite dollmakers on this site.

I'm kinda late for this but as a Radiologist, I found this narrative absolutely mesmerizing.

"The truth will eventually bubble to the surface, and it will start with an ache in your jaw." That line sent shivers down my spine

I squealed when I saw this! I got to be in a production of the stage play Radium Girls by D.W. Gregory in the spring, playing one of the radium girls! It was an insanely fun and emotional process, especially when it came to my character's illness and death. I remember people telling me that they didn't know anything about the radium girls before seeing the play. Thank you for spreading the knowledge about them and for your amazing custom!!

This is a beautiful way to memorialise and honour the memory of these girls, as an art piece the doll is so beautiful, but it does not hide the horror of the truth of what they went through. She is so honest in her representation of the tragedy the girls she was made in ode to, who they were and what they dealt with. This is a very difficult line to walk in art, and you've done a beautiful and thoughtful job <3.

I would love to see you do a illnesses series. Like black plague and others. I know you have Lavender as one and now you have your Radium girl here!