What is a girl to do when she has a summer dress and no shoes to go with it?

That is the dilemma of Newtown resident Diana Johnson’s “Dolly,” a circa early 1900s doll that her mother, Ethel Tanger, passed on to her one Christmas Day, years ago.

Dolly “has sat in a little sleigh in our front room, forever,” Johnson said, sometimes clad in a red velvet dress and booties made at one time by Johnson’s mother-in-law. As the warmer months come around, though, Dolly gets a new outfit, a pink cotton pinafore over a white shift. That dress was given to Johnson “about 55 years ago,” when her own daughter was born, she said. This year, as Johnson changed Dolly’s apparel, she noticed that the doll — with bendable appendages rare for that era — had never had shoes.

“So I thought, what are we [all] doing now?” Johnson said, referring to the fact that so many are adhering to the governor’s COVID-19 pandemic “Stay Safe-Stay Home” directive. Her hope is that among those taking some time to clean out basements and drawers, that someone will come across a pair of sandals or shoes that might fit Dolly, and be willing to help her get the tootsies shod.

Dolly is a 24-inch tall doll, and Johnson estimates the somewhat chubby feet, from heel to toe, are just under 4 inches.

While pondering the plight of her shoeless doll, Johnson also started thinking about the fact that Dolly had not, as long as she could remember, had an outfit authentic to her era.

“She doesn’t really have an appropriate outfit,” she said. So if shoes for Dolly do not turn up, she has an idea for getting the doll into authentic garb.

If anyone comes upon an outfit from the early 1900s that might fit Dolly, Johnson invites them to call her and arrange to mail or drop off the outfit. She will dress up Dolly in the donated clothing, take her picture, and send it to The Newtown Bee to be shared with all through the newspaper.

“And then I’ll send the outfit back,” she said.

Call Johnson at 203-426-5418 if you have shoes or a turn of the last century outfit for Dolly to model.

Shoeless or not, the doll holds a special place in Johnson’s heart. The doll’s China head boasts delicate, little girl features, with eyes that open and close.

“I’m not sure just when they started making dolls with eyes that do that,” said Johnson.

“She’s the only thing I have that was my mothers,” she added, “and I think of my mother when I look at her.”