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Overview and History[]
Robert is a 40-inch humanoid doll currently housed at the Martello Gallery-Key West Art and Historical Museum in Key West, Florida. Stuffed with wood wool and dressed in a white sailor suit, Robert is, according to many Key West residents, allegedly haunted or inhabited by some kind of negative force. The doll currently sits in a display case at the Martello Gallery and is a popular tourist attraction and local celebrity, both for its history and its alleged modern-day antics.
The doll was created in the early 1900s by the Steiff Company of Germany, the same company that helped to create the original teddy bear. Purchased by the grandfather of young Robert Eugene Otto while on a trip to Germany in 1904, the doll became Robert's closest and most frequent companion. Otto went so far as to permanently take on his middle name Eugene while the doll took his first name Robert. According to those who knew him, young Eugene would blame the doll for various mishaps and talk about it as though it were a living entity.[1]
When Eugene reached adulthood, he became a well known local artist and, despite its age, kept the doll with him into his adult life. This last until he moved to New York and later Paris to study art. Soon after moving back into his childhood home with his wife, Eugene began to receive strange reports from visitors to his house and from children passing the house on their way to school. They would tell stories of hearing footsteps up in the attic or seeing Robert watching them from an upstairs window as they passed. Eugene would pass away in 1974 and Robert would be donated to the museum, his current home, in 1994.[2]
Since its arrival in the mid-1990s, Robert has begun a popular tourist attraction, as noted earlier. This is largely because it reportedly still displays various supernatural properties. Visitors to the museum claim that he routinely changes his pose, causes cameras to malfunction if one attempts to take his picture, and even causes physical injuries to those who disrespect it.
Interpretations[]
One commonly cited origin story for the doll's strange behavior is that it was given to Robert by a woman or young girl who may have worked for the Ottos at one point. This maid, usually said to have been of Bahamian descent, allegedly cursed the doll with voodoo magic for various reasons, giving it its apparent sentience. This story has been debunked and was likely spread due to subconscious or conscious racism or xenophobia (especially since voodoo is a common origin story present in horror media).
Skeptics generally dismiss the supernatural claims surrounding Robert as urban legends. The fact that there is no reputable footage of Robert performing said acts would suggest that this is the case.
Popular Culture[]
Film[]
- In 2015, a low-budget horror film loosely based on the doll was released under the name Robert. The physical appearance of the film version of Robert is very different from the real object. The film has had four sequels.
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