Doll Land update

My husband and I attended a local doll show yesterday. Yes, believe it or not, he likes going to them as much as I do because doll shows are more than just about dolls. There were teddy bears, tin toys, and old pedal cars. Attending a doll show is like a step back into your childhood, and we had lots of fun.

While there, I picked up a hand sewn dress for my Rosebud doll, as well as some shoes. She was never dressed in her original costume, so I figured that she may as well be dressed in something pretty. So, here she is, all decked out in a new red gingham dress and red patent shoes. She wears her original rayon socks and underwear, but now looks as if she's ready for a Sunday morning go-to-meeting.

I've also added another Monica Studio doll to my collection. This doll is smaller than the others. She stands 18 inches tall, but like her sisters, she is also made of composition, putty, and has rooted human hair. Sadly for this doll, most of her hair has broken off, so I purchased a human hair doll wig that pretty much is the same style that she had originally. Her dress and hat appear to be original to her and are made of taffeta. She has lovely violet eyes that remind me of the late Elizabeth Taylor. If you look at all of my Monica Studio dolls, you'll see that their faces are all slightly different. Aren't they gorgeous, though?

Click on photos to enlarge.

Helen Kish doll: Spring

In my collection of dolls, my Helen Kish Spring doll is the youngster of the bunch. Helen Kish, her designer, has been creating beautiful dolls for the past thirty years. She started out making porcelain dolls and worked as a freelance designer for such companies as The Franklin Mint and the Danbury Mint until she decided to start her own company in 1991. In addition to dolls, Helen Kish designs jewelry and sculptures.



Helen Kish dolls are remarkable for their charming faces that include large painted eyes and pouty, well-defined lips. Dolls range in size from 5 inches to 28 inches tall and are balanced well enough to stand on their own. My Spring is jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips, but there are Kish dolls, such as Sheherazade, who are also jointed at the elbows, wrists, and knees. Spring's head and body are made of hard vinyl, and she is strung the same as vintage dolls.

Spring, from the 1997 Four Seasons collection, is 16 inches tall and has beautiful soft blonde rooted hair. You see her here, also wearing Autumn's dress, but Spring typically wears a fresh green dress made from ribbon-embroidered felt and fine netting. She wears pink flowers in her hair, and pink lace up ballet shoes. Spring and her sisters, were made in Valencia, Spain by White Balloon, who made exclusive dolls by world-renowned designers.

Helen Kish dolls are highly collectable, due to their finely sculpted features, beautiful costumes, and perfect balance.

Lenci dolls

I have three Lenci dolls in my collection. They all date from the 1980s.


The Lenci doll manufacturing company began as a workshop 1919 and was the brainchild of Madame Lenci (a shortened form of Elena Konig Scavini's nickname of Helenchen.)  Lenci is famous for the use of felt to create soft and almost animated faces. Oil paints were used to create the distinctive side glancing eyes and pouty lips. While the name Lenci is most often associated with Turin, Italy, dolls made in the 1930s were often made in Madame Lenci's German workshop.  Lenci dolls made before 1940 are the most valuable of the Lenci collection as their production was presided over by Madame Lenci herself and have the best craftsmanship.

From the 1950s until the 1970s, Lenci produced porcelain and celluloid dolls and sold old felt stock with new costumes. New felt dolls were produced in the 1970s. For more about the history of Lenci, I recommend the book Lenci: The History and the Dolls by Nancy Lazenby.

In my Lenci collection are the "twins" Aurelia and Bettina. Both dolls are about 13 inches tall and both wear felt dresses with pockets in which they have placed a soft toy "pet."  Aurelia's is a goose, and Bettina's is a rabbit. Bettina wears a blue dress, and Aurelia's is pink. They both have blonde, curly hair made of a soft man-made fibre and can stand independently.

My other Lenci doll is a bride doll named Bibija. She is a large example of a Lenci doll, being 24 inches tall. She is number 433 of 499 dolls made. She, too, is made of felt and has beautiful soft blonde hair made of an amazing manmade fibre. Bibija is a boudoir-style doll, that is, she can't stand on her own. Her legs are quite soft and she's more suited to being placed on a chair or on a bed.

Sadly, after World War 2, quality and production went into decline and the Lenci workshop closed in 2002. Still, a doll made in the 1970s or 1980s will make a fine addition to your doll collection, especially if you have a "soft spot" for cloth dolls.

Snow White and Rosebud

Do you remember the story of Snow White and Rose Red from Grimm's Fairy Tales? Well, I've got Snow White and Rosebud dolls.

Snow White dolls became popular in the late 1930s after the release of Snow White by Walt Disney. Not everyone manufacturing a Snow White doll was licensed like Madame Alexander and Ideal, so to get around this, one company made a Snow White doll with blonde hair.

This composition doll stands 13.5 inches tall and sports a blue bow in her hair.  She has side-glancing painted eyes. She is unmarked, but she is unmistakably designed to look like the Disney Snow White. Sadly, I have never seen this doll offered for sale with her original outfit, and indeed, my Snow White is wearing a satin underdress and robe that, while old, is obviously a replacement.  She is wearing her original oilcloth shoes and rayon socks, however.

Snow White can stand independently. Her joints are held tightly with springs instead of elastic, which was a wonderful improvement over other methods. I'm not sure why this didn't catch on with other manufacturers, although I suppose cost is always a consideration. Her neck is not jointed - it is molded with the body.

Snow White's companion is Rosebud. Rosebud is a composition baby doll made in England. She is marked ROSEBUD on the back of her neck. Rosebud has orange sleep eyes and brush lashes, a painted closed mouth, and has five  joints (neck, arms and legs.) Rosebud was manufactured in the 1940s and her composition is in fantastic shape. She also stands about 13.5 inches tall. Her hair is painted, but later Rosebud dolls made in the 1950s, were made from hard plastic and were wigged.

Rosebud looks very much like a composition Pedigree doll, but was made by a Pedigree competitor. Horsman also made a Rosebud doll, but that doll is a little girl and is marked E. I. H. CO. INC.  Rosebud's rayon dress is old but not original, and her shoes are long gone.

Both dolls make a sweet addition to my collection.

Crissy, Kerry and Cinnamon vinyl dolls

If you were a girl who grew up in the late 1960's and early 1970's, you probably owned a Crissy doll, or one of the other Ideal Crissy-family dolls that came out at that time.

Crissy is an all vinyl teen doll with sleep eyes and auburn hair that "grows." She is much larger than Barbie and was made specifically for girls who like to style their dolls' hair. I adored my Crissy! I let her hair out using the button on her belly and braided it, or wound it back up, using the knob on her back and gave her a sporty bob. Mod style clothes were designed and factory-made for Crissy and her friends, that are, today, worth a lot of money.

The idea for Crissy came from American Character's Tressy doll, who also had hair that grows. Ideal bought the patent for the growth mechanism in 1969, and developed Crissy, their 18 inch fashion doll.

Crissy became a world wide sensation amongst little girls and was manufactured and marketed in the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Brazil and Canada. Some countries sold knock-offs of Crissy. One such doll was called Bella Estrella and was sold in Mexico.

From attending doll shows, I learned that the vinyl that was used to make the UK and Australian versions of Crissy wasn't as good at holding pigment as the vinyl used in making the USA version. It's easy to tell those dolls, as their face pigments are usually faded.

Crissy exploded in popularity in the early 1970's and a younger version, Crissy's cousin Velvet, was developed. Crissy also gained friends - Kerry, a blonde teen from Ireland (shown left), and Brandy, a California girl.  Velvet also had a little sister, called Cinnamon (shown below). Black versions of most of these dolls were also manufactured. There are websites devoted to these dolls, so I won't repeat what's already out there in this small space, but I will tell you about my Crissy family dolls.

I don't know what happened to the Crissy doll I owned as a child. I suspect my mother gave her to Good Will or threw her away when it was clear that my sister and I had outgrown dolls (temporarily as it turns out.) The Crissy I have now is an American Crissy that I bought at a doll show here in Australia. Her hair was cut on one side, so I bought Katsilk doll hair and re-rooted her hair and gave her a custom look with highlights. She did come with her original orange mini-dress, but I have her dressed in custom clothes that were made by a professional dressmaker.

Kerry is all original, but wears custom clothing as well. While I can appreciate that people like to see these dolls as they were sold, for display purposes, I love these outfits. They truly represent the fashion trends of the early 1970's and are so well made!

Cinnamon is wearing a mommy-made jumpsuit and beaded hair ribbon.

As a child, I only ever owned Crissy and my sister had Velvet, so I'm loving having these additional Crissy-family dolls in my collection. All of the dolls are in pristine condition, even their hair, which can become quite woolly over time.

Every time I look at them, I remember that Christmas when I first opened that box that had my first Crissy doll, and I can't help but smile.

Ideal Toni

Toni was sold by Ideal and was designed by reknowned doll sculpturer Bernard Lipfert (who also designed Dy-Dee Baby, Patsy, Shirley Temple, the Dionne babies and later, Pebbles and Bam-Bam.) She was introduced in 1949 and stayed in production until 1953.

Toni was designed as a promotion for Toni home permanents. Girls who had outgrown the baby doll stage now wanted to emulate their mothers, and Toni was born. Toni dolls fit the same category as Miss Revlon, Dy-Dee Baby, Betsy McCall and Miss Curity. They almost guaranteed a new generation of loyal consumers of the products that they represented.

Toni most commonly comes in a 14" size, but ranges in size up to 22.5 inches tall. Her home permanent kit consisted of perm solution (made of sugar water), curlers, end papers, and a comb. Little girls could give their Tonis their own home permanents, even though the solution didn't work as well as Mom's. Extra curlers and accessories could be purchased.

Toni is made of high quality hard plastic and wears a nylon wig. Later Tonis have rooted hair. They have sleep eyes, "real" upper eyelashes, and single stroke eyebrows.

My Toni doll is a 19" doll, marked P-92 on the back of her neck, along with Ideal Doll Made in USA. She has a rare pair of oilskin roller skates and a matching coat and hat, which appear to be original. Her white cotton dress is a replacement, and alas, her rayon socks are lost somewhere in time.

Toni is a sweet doll and was meant to be played with. Her hair still curls and hasn't frizzed like many nylon-wigged dolls of her era. Her joints are held by large rubber doll bands, which makes her easy to repair.

Vinyl dolls - Furga Italy

In addition to my collection of composition and hard plastic dolls from the 1920's - 1950's, I have a few modern era, or "vinyl era" dolls as I like to refer to them. I wasn't going to collect any, but there are a few that have been irresistible for one reason or another.

The first on the list are my two Furga dolls. Furga was an Italian doll manufacturer that started up in the 1870's and is still in existence today. The earliest dolls were made of papier maché and had wax masque faces. Dolls are of a good quality, with many surviving decades. Most doll collectors are familiar with vinyl Furga dolls made in the 1960's and '70's, but Furga also made felt, hard plastic and composition dolls.

I have two Furga "Lady" dolls made circa 1968 - 1971. They have hard vinyl heads and arms, and hard plastic bodies. Both dolls are marked Furga Italy, stand about 14 inches tall and come dressed in period costumes. One doll has high button up boots molded to her feet. Both dolls have soft rooted hair. It almost feels like real hair, but is a fine synthetic. The brunette doll wears an original Furga tagged outfit, while the blonde wears a replacement. The remarkable thing about the dolls made during this period are their beautiful cupid's bow mouths, and eyes with long lashes.

One of Furga's biggest successes were their Alta Moda line of fashion dolls. These 17 inch dolls have long eyelashes, long rooted hair, come with "Mod" outfits and accessories, and usually fetch high prices in auctions. They have the typical beautiful Furga face with cupid bow mouths. [note: some of this information has been corrected.]

If you collect vinyl dolls, a Furga doll would be a great addition. Dolls still in tagged original costumes will fetch the biggest prices.

Horsman composition dolls

 

I have two Horsman dolls in my collection: a mama doll that was made in the late 1920's, and a Patsy family competitor, called Nan.

The Horsman Doll Company is one of the oldest doll manufacturers still extant. It was founded in 1865 by Edward Horsman and has changed hands several times over the past century. Today, it is run out of Hong Kong and is called Horsman Ltd.  I really like that despite the change of hands, the Horsman name still carries weight.

My Horsman mama doll is typical of dolls made in the late 1920's. She has a soft cloth stuffed body, a "cryer" (that still works), and four teeth. She is 22 inches long with composition head, arms, and legs. Her mohair wig is a replacement and although her clothes are old, they are not original to her. She has tin sleep eyes and is marked EIH Co. Inc. on the back of her neck.

The little boy in this photo is holding a Horsman Baby Bumps (circa 1911.)

Mama dolls were made for little girls (and boys) to cuddle - hence their soft cloth stuffed bodies. It amazes me that they have survived nearly one hundred years with nothing more than some staining or small seam splits. Even the stuffing hasn't settled to a great degree.

Nan* was manufactured in the 1930's in response to the Patsy craze. My Nan is 19 inches tall and all composition with molded hair, sable eyelashes, and tin sleep eyes.  She is unmarked and sometimes gets mistaken for Patsy Ann, although Nan has a noticeable dimple in her chin. She has a toddler body and a bent right arm. I think Nan is just as sweet as Patsy Ann.

Horsman dolls are rather iconic and are a great addition to any vintage doll collection.

*corrected from Jane