mannequin

Mannequins in a clothing shop, in Canada

A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure or dress form) is an often articulated doll used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, and others especially to display or fit clothing. The term is also used for life-sized dolls with simulated airways used in the teaching of first aid, CPR, and advanced airway management skills such as tracheal intubation and for human figures used in computer simulation to model the behaviour of the human body. During the 1950s, mannequins were used in nuclear tests to help illustrate the effects of nuclear weapons on human beings.^[1][2]

Mannequin comes from the French word mannequin, which had acquired the meaning "an artist's jointed model", which in turn came from the Middle Dutch word mannekijn, meaning "little man, figurine".^[3]

History

Shop mannequins are derived from dress forms used by fashion houses for dress making. The use of mannequins originated in the 15th century, when miniature "milliners' mannequins" were used to demonstrate fashions for customers.^[4] Full-scale, wickerwork mannequins came into use in the mid-18th century.^[4] Wirework mannequins were manufactured in Paris from 1835.^[4]

Shop display

The first fashion mannequins, made of papier-mâché, were made in France in the mid-19th century.^[4] Mannequins were later made of wax to produce a more lifelike appearance. In the 1920s, wax was supplanted by a more durable composite made with plaster.^[5]

Some modern mannequins are made of molded plastic. Mannequins are used extensively for the display of clothing in stores and in shop windows, and as decoration.

Use by artists

Historically, artists have often used articulated mannequins as an aid in drawing draped figures. The advantage of this is that clothing or drapery arranged on a mannequin may be kept immobile for far longer than would be possible by using a living model.

Medical education

A baby medical simulation mannequin

Medical simulation mannequins, models or related artefacts such as SimMan^[6] or Harvey^[7] are widely used in medical education.^[8] These are sometimes also referred to as virtual patients.

In first aid courses mannequins may be used to demonstrate methods of giving first aid (e.g., resucitation).

Emergency services training

Fire and coastguard services use mannequins to practice life-saving procedures. The mannequins have similar weight distribution to a human. Special obese mannequins and horse mannequins have also been made for similar purposes.

In popular culture

A wooden mannequin

A pair of mannequins

Mannequins were a frequent motif in the works many early 20th-century artists, notably the Metaphysical painters Giorgio de Chirico, Alberto Savinio, and Carlo Carrà.^[9][10] Shop windows displaying mannequins were a frequent photographic subject for Eugene Atget.^[5]

Mannequins are a common theme in horror fiction. Many people find mannequins disturbing (due in part perhaps to the uncanny valley effect), especially when not fully assembled. Abandoned nuclear test sites consisting of entire towns populated by mannequins appear in such films as Kalifornia, Mulholland Falls, and the 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes.

The cast of the satirical Japanese television series "The Fuccons/Oh! Mikey" consists entirely of inanimate mannequins with voices dubbed in.

Military use

Military use of mannequins is recorded amongst the ancient Chinese, such as at the Battle of Yongqiu. The besieged Tang army lowered scarecrows down the walls of their castles to lure the fire of the enemy arrows. In this way, they renewed their supplies of arrows. Dummies were also used in the trenches in World War I to lure enemy snipers away from the soldiers. ^[11]

See also

• Agalmatophilia, sexual attraction to mannequins
• CPR
• Crash test dummy
• Ivan Ivanovich - dummy used in Vostok spacecraft test flights
• Model
• Pediophobia, irrational fear of mannequins
• Resusci Anne
• Sex doll

References

• Gross, Kenneth - The Dream of the Moving Statue (Penn State Press 1992, ISBN 0-271-02900-5)
• Verstappen, Stefan. The Thirty-six Strategies Of Ancient China. 1999.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mannequins

• US Patent for 'educational medical mannequin' U.S. Patent 5,314,339
• The Dollywood Times - A blog about mannequins
• CPR Manikin - a site listing all US brands of CPR Manikins
• Universal Display - Mannequin supplier