A doll with a sketchy past

Yesterday I was clicking onto other people's blogs and I came across a blog written by a woman named Dixie. What caught my eye was that she was working on a paper mache doll's head, and it reminded me of my doll.

She's very old.
I remember when I first found this doll. Aunts and uncles were cleaning out an old property that was purchased by my uncle. It was being cleaned out so that my grandparents could live there, on Pike Avenue in Attleboro, Massachusetts. As far as I can remember, I believe the date was around 1952 or 1953.
The cousins were mostly playing, but making an attempt at cleaning out an old barn/garage addition to the old house. I found this doll and showed it to my uncle. He said "You can keep it." I'm sure to this day, he doesn't even remember this. In any case, I knew even then that it was an antique. Since I have never done any research on dolls, I just packed her carefully away and thought maybe someday I would know more about her.
Then, when my own kids were young, we went to Edaville Railroad. In one of the displays there, I saw a doll with a head like mine. Evidently certain porcelain heads were popular or were created mainly during certain years. The one on display was supposedly from the late 1800s. Right around the time that my grandmother was born.
Anyhow, my doll, who still remains nameless, probably had a name at one point. By the looks of the primitively stitched doll and the clothing, I would guess that a young girl did the hand stitching herself. I guess it was a great thing back then to get such a porcelain doll head and create a body out of cloth, complete with a cotton slip, long cotton dress with one button in the back and tiny leather hands. She has a tiny collar of lace around her neck. She was dressed conservatively, as would be the style of the ladies back then.
No doubt the owner of this doll never imagined that one day softer, pliable dolls would drink, burp, talk, sing and blink.
But some little girl evidently spent hours dressing and playing with this doll.
I contacted Dixie (of the blog which I had been reading) and have since sent her a picture of my doll. Maybe she will be able to tell me something about this doll and the era. In the meantime, does anyone else out there know about these antique dolls? Drop me a line if you do! (markiesnana@yahoo.com)