The Dollmaker of Florence

In 1881, Carlo Collodi published The Adventures of Pinocchio, about a wooden boy who wanted to be real. But few know that Collodi’s story was inspired by a real craftsman who lived in Florence during his youth — a man named Giuseppe Tredici, known locally as The Dollmaker.

Tredici made life-sized puppets, but his creations were too lifelike. Their glass eyes followed visitors; their mouths seemed to whisper when the wind blew. He claimed he spoke to them — that they were “learning.”

When Tredici disappeared one winter night, the townspeople entered his workshop. Every puppet was gone, the room perfectly clean, except for a single note carved into the workbench: “They walked at last.”

Collodi turned the horror into allegory — a wooden child seeking morality and meaning. But behind the whimsy, there’s a shadow: the fear that one day, our creations might wake — and find us unworthy.