Robert the Doll sits in front of you, a reportedly haunted doll exhibited at the East Martello Museum in Key West. He was once owned by painter, author, and Key West resident Robert Eugene Otto. Imagine the small figure in his sailor suit: the doll was reportedly manufactured by the Steiff Company of Germany and purchased by Otto’s grandfather on a trip to Germany in 1904, then given to young Otto as a birthday gift.
That sailor outfit was likely the same style Otto wore as a child. Robert stayed in the Otto family home at 534 Eaton Street while Otto studied art in New York and Paris. Otto married Annette Parker in Paris on May 3, 1930, and the couple returned to live in that Eaton Street house until Otto died in 1974; his wife died two years later.
After their deaths the Eaton Street home was sold to Myrtle Reuter, who owned it for 20 years, and later became a guest house under its current owners. In 1994 the doll was donated to the East Martello Museum, where he became a popular tourist attraction. Picture Robert sitting quietly among the museum's other displays in this gallery.