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What's the Deal with Albanian Teddy Bears?
When researching an upcoming trip to Eastern Europe, I ran across an interesting thread in Lonely Planet's travel forum, Thorn Tree, called "Albanian teddy bears." It reads:"Anyone know why Albanians hang teddy bears from the rooves [sic] of their houses? It seems to be all over the place!"
There were only two responses to the message, none of which had the answer. Both, however, shared conflicting personal experiences. "I was in Albania in May and didn't see any teddy bears," one response read. Another replied, "I was there also in May and June and teddies were all over the place and in every town or village i went to, although more in towns."
So what's the deal? I figured I'd throw the question out to Gadling readers since they're so freakishly good at pinpointing the location of even the remotest destinations in our Where on Earth? feature. Surely someone out there knows the answer to one of life's great mysteries: The Albanian Teddy Bear. And don't call me Surely.
Update: That was quick! In the comments, Gadling reader AT found this nugget of information: "These things are called "dordolec" (pronounced "dordolets") and are apparently to ward off the evil eye. There have been quite a number of anthropological studies of the evil eye, but none of those I have seen mention this custom, and I was curious to know whether it, like religion, had been suppressed by the Hoxha regime, and if there is anything similar in neighbouring countries." A subsequnt Google search for "dordolec + evil eye" confirms this theory. Thanks, AT!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tony Jun 28th 2008 4:45PM
Hi... I don't really know where in Albania have U seen these! I didn’t notice anything as described on the article above, to be more specific, no Chuckies or Tiffanies hangin on the telephone polls, trees or wherever that might satisfy your curiosity…As a matter of fact I had fun and enjoyed my stay there! The other thing that really struck me, is the comment above emphasizing ''the Stephen King novel'' Are there scarecrows around the world? What difference does it make, just a stuffed cloth that resembles to a Teddy Bear, Pink Panther, Donald Duck or a scarecrow! I mean, what is so mystique about a doll hanging on a door knob or on the wall?
Is fashionably customary for people that visit undiscovered countries to write imaginary things and raise a storm in the glass for a doll hanging on a tree, on the wall or wherever.
Now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see on a major TV Channel a Talk Show about Albania and the Pink Panther.(probably on the peak hours)
The funny thing is the Albanian-American student who was horrified from the Pink Panther or Teddy bear or god knows what….
Now this is where it gets funny and comes to the metes and bounds of an undiscovered mystique legend!!
At this very moment the discovery was made and the enigma was answered to everyone’s satisfaction. Wow! Wait! There is a connection between Teddy, Pinkie, Tommy, Jerry and the Evil Eye…The solution was found and the question of the blog author has been answered.
I hope I don’t waste my time reading an article from someone that visited USA and noticed a horseshow on the grille of a ‘’Peterbilt’’ truck.
That might raise a lot of questions and will be a nice topic to hang around for a while….
Common be realistic and specify what U have seen….All I see from everyone is destructive criticism. Do these countries have anything pleasant to write about?
AT Aug 23rd 2007 10:50AM
http://www.geocities.com/athens/7734/albrep2.htm
Just found this online. Hope it helps.
"There are teddy bears, stuffed rabbits, pandas, and I also saw a Mickey Mouse and a Pink Panther. A visiting Albanian-American student remarked that it struck him as horribly sinister, like something out of a Stephen King novel. These things are called "dordolec" (pronounced "dordolets") and are apparently to ward off the evil eye. There have been quite a number of anthropological studies of the evil eye, but none of those I have seen mention this custom, and I was curious to know whether it, like religion, had been suppressed by the Hoxha regime, and if there is anything similar in neighbouring countries."
Mikko Jarvenpaa Aug 23rd 2007 1:24PM
They aren't necessarily teddy bears. In fact, driving around the Southern Balkans this spring, we mostly saw disturbingly human-like figures hanging from the beams and roofs as well. Some of them were human-sized, too, which freaked us out the first time we saw one to say the least. They are indeed to ward off the evil eye, and are used when something is seen to be vulnerable or weak, and thus with buildings are mostly used when a building is still the construction phase.
We didn't see this practice in neighboring Macedonia or even Kosovo, which is ethnically 90% Albanian, so it must be a very local practice.