Hi Ro, During the late 1700s and into the 1800s, nativist groups would make these giant effigies of St. Patrick or an Irishman, which were called 'paddies'. On St. Patrick's Day, these dummies were usually either marched through an Irish neighborhood, propped up outside a local bar or taken down to the parade where the nativists would use them to taunt the marchers. The dummies could range from just plain insulting in appearance to downright obscene. Usually they showed St. Patrick or the Irishman dressed in rags, with potatoes around his neck and a bottle of whiskey in his pocket. Take care, Tracy IRISH-NEW-YORK-CITY list admin http://www.irishinnyc.freeservers.com http://www.inyc.freeservers.com