Don't worry, be happy!
Dated: January 21, 2008
Hello Hätpeople!
I recently found these two sets in a museum shop in my hometown. (Gothenburg, Sweden) I am almost 100% certain that they are the only contribution made in Guatemala, which have made it to the global scene of small scale people. They are sadly not made in plastic, no not at all, they are made by wire and textile all the way. But they definitely belong to the world of 1:72 scale figures. As everyone clearly can see they are "very handmade" probably produced somewhere in the countryside of Guatemala. The "boxes" are indeed very innovative and unusual in our trade. One is made out of wood with decorative paint at some random places, and the other a textile bag. All sets seem to contain 10 figures in almost identical poses.
However these figures have another purpose than our regular plastic troops does. These little ones are simply made to remove all your troubles if you have any. They are so called "worry dolls". According to the tradition in Guatemala, you put them under your pillow when you go to bed and they will certainly remove your problems during sleep, so you can wake up free of worrying, because the dolls will do the worrying for you! It is however most important to remember the rules; one doll per problem no more no less, otherwise it will not work. It seems Logic doesn't it? In each package you will find an enclosed instruction which would sound something like this translated into English:
Here are some tiny people for you to keep.
So you could have good nights sleep.
Put them under your pillow when the day is through.
And let them do all the worrying for you
I have no idea if it works, but if I had big troubles I would prefer a bag of mixed "plastic boys" from Hät (of course!). I strongly recommend my fellow collectors around the world to try this at home! If you have things to worry about of course. And if you are lucky to not have any worries, I just want to thank you for reading this contribution and I hope that it gave you a new perspective regarding our hobby.
Yours truly
Niklas Larsson
Sweden
Many thanks to Mr. Larsson.