Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 21, 1991 TAG: 9102210082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As U.S. forces fight in the Middle East, there's not much to do on the home front. We can pray, hope or, for the more frustrated, stick the "Beast of Baghdad" with pins, voodoo style.
BBT Gifts Etc. at 302 First St. in Roanoke and Lakeside Plaza in Salem is selling the dolls for $9.99. Like batteries, the pins are not included.
"Pity it doesn't work," said Shellie Poff, who stopped by the store in Roanoke. "He deserves it."
The doll's supposed to help people vent their frustrations. "If you have someone near and dear over there, this will bring you a smile," the tag says.
Few of the dolls had been sold until the war broke out. Since then the Roanoke store has sold all its stock, said manager Kelley Shell. The Salem location has a few left and is getting more, she said.
"We thought it'd be tacky to put them all over the window, so we just put one by the register," she said.
"It's not meant in a tacky way; it's meant in a good way," Shell said.
Many customers think the dolls are a good idea, she added, especially parents of military personnel stationed in the Middle East. The last two dolls were sold to a couple who were giving them as gifts to parents of soldiers in the gulf, Shell said.
But some don't like them.
"I think it's stupid," said customer Danielle Bennett of Roanoke, who is fed up with seeing Saddam's face on television, never mind having to see him when she shops.
"We should come up with a morale booster for the troops instead of this," she said. "How about a doll of a serviceman that says, `Hug me'?"
by CNB