Friday, October 23, 2009

Kewty and Sue

In the late 1920's, toddler dolls started to take the nation by storm. Two such dolls were Amberg's Sue doll (a doll with molded curls and a swivel twist waist) and Arranbee's Kewty. (There was also another version of Kewty made by Domec which more closely resembles a carnival doll.)

Kewty and Sue rode the wave of success that Effanbee's Patsy had created. Toddler dolls with molded hair, about the right size for little hands to hold, became popular. There were also plenty of other imitators that cropped up along the way during the 1920's and 30's (I'll showcase a couple more in another entry.)

My Kewty and Sue dolls appear to be dressed in their original costumes with their original shoes and socks. Sue is about 14 inches tall, and Kewty is about 15 inches tall. Sue is marked on her back:Amberg/Pat. Pend./L.A.& S. © 1928 and Kewty is marked on her back: KEWTY. They both have painted eyes, and to be honest, I think they are just as adorable as Patsy. Both dolls have a little age-related wear, but considering that that are 80 years old, they've held up well over the years.

In these photos, Kewty is on the left, and Sue is on the right.


2 comments:

  1. CUTE DOLLS...I HAVE THE KEWTY DOLL BUT SHE HAS DIFF CLOTHES THEN YOUR DOLL SHOWS
    MINE HAS PJ FLORAL TYPE CLOTHES ON AND I HAVE THE WOODEN DOLL BOX WITH THE DRAWERS IN IT THE OLD H SHAPED HANGERS WITH A BLUE AND RED COAT AND SHE HAS THE ORIGINAL SHOES AND A FEW OTHER OUTFITS WITH A MATCHING SCARF HAT AND PURSE AND A FEW ONEZIE TYPE ITEMS. BOTH DOLL AND BOX IN GREAT SHAPE
    WAS GIVEN TO ME BY THE SISTER TO MY HUBBYS MOM WHO HAD IT WHEN SHE WAS A YOUNG CHILD.
    It's pretty cool looking -- i love old dolls
    i also have an old doll that its face gets oil on it and comes through the face of the doll but has no name on it
    was wondering if you ever heard of that type of doll?
    pss not looking to sell either doll
    sunzup4u@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi - wow, that is wonderful that you have Kewty's original trunk with clothes and hangers. You rarely see that now with the new dolls. She sounds like a treasure!

    With the oily doll, is she hard plastic or composition? With hard plastic dolls, sometimes the plastic starts to deteriorate and they will exude an oily substance as the plastic breaks down. It usually has a bad odor associated with it, however. If it's a composition doll, it's most likely that the composition was formulated with oil and over time, as the compo dries out, the oil will seep through to the surface. I'm not sure what you can do about that except to perhaps take her to a doll hospital and have her professionally sealed. With the hard plastic dolls, its harder to stop deterioration, but again that involves cleaning and sealing the doll.

    Best of luck! And thanks for visiting.

    ReplyDelete