| While cotton candy dumplings were used initially with Carol Channing, the amount of sugar became a bit much. They soon switched to tissue paper formed around a light bulb which gave it a shape and turned it slightly brown (okay, dark tan). This allows Dolly to stuff them into her mouth continuously, pretend to chew and then, when she wipes her mouth, spit them into the napkin. Most Dolly's will continue to chew long after the tissue has been removed. I would assume that this is the method used in the current production, but they may be doing it differently. I worked the late 1970's Carol Channing tour when it was in DC and watched their prop man doing this. |