For Love of Betsy, not Wetsy

Public Domain

Most collectors realize that dolls and high fashion go hand in hand. Remember, before there was “Godey’s” or “Vogue” or “W” there were dolls sent around to illustrate current fashions.  These Pandoras often were the equivalent of front page news to women keenly interested in viewing the latest fashion.

 

I could wax poetic on the history of antique fashion dolls, French and otherwise, but we don’t have enough space in this post to cover all of them.

 

When, however, a designer melds her ideas with doll making, I have to comment.  Especially when that designer is one of my all time favorites, Betsy Johnson.

 

Betsey Johnson is a native of Connecticut who grew up to become a famous and unique New York Designer.  Initially, Johnson trained to be a dancer, but soon turned to fashion and design.  In this, she is alike another dancer turned artist, or doll artist, my friend, the late Suzanne Gibson who was a ballerina. 

 

Johnson has been a successful and influential designer for over 40 years.  In 1964, she won a guest editor prize for “Mademoiselle”, which helped to launch her career. She attended Syracuse University and The Pratt Institute.

 

Her love of the whimsical and of costumes influence her work.  Many of her designs incorporate charms, dolls, and miniatures.  I have jointed skeleton and flapper-type dolls made into necklaces that she has designed including some black cats and teddy bears that are jointed.  Her themed necklaces are works of art for those who love miniatures.  My Day of the Dead set includes earrings, a ring, bracelet, and necklace of the famed sugar skulls and Calavera Catrina figures that are icons of the holiday.

 

One set of my earrings is made up of tiny, very detailed mermaids embellished with rhinestones.  A ballerina necklace features a tiny, jointed doll with gold tone metal with a blue silk tutu.

 

Several other dolls appear in Betsey Johnson jewelry lines, and the word “doll” is used in some her clothing and shoe designs, like the 5.25 inch embellished heels called “Doll” Pumps.

 

Kahri by Karhianne Kerr has even created a portrait of Betsey herself, with her long, bright blonde hair, red lips, and hot pinked striped dress. (http://www.kahri.com/products/betsey-johnson-doll).

 

Betsey’s Adventure Book Shoulder Bag includes a cloth Betsey doll for around $60.00. (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/507851295459893394/)

 

Dolls continued to play a role in Johnson’s designs when, in 2014, the “New York Daily News” reported that she was among several other designers who designed OOAK doll costumes based on “The Wizard of Oz.”

 

According to her site, Betsey Johnson “celebrates the exuberant.”  I have to agree.  She has been quoted as saying, “Like red lipstick on the mouth, my products wake up and brighten and bring the wearer to life...drawing attention to her beauty and specialness...her moods and movements her...dreams and fantasies"

 

This past holiday season, I noticed 7 inch dols made of metal selling at Dillard’s for about $25.00.  These included many designs, as well as the princess, robot, and frog shown on BetseyJohnson.com. The doll ornaments are described below:

 

From the official Betsey Johnson Site: http://www.betseyjohnson.com/product/PRINCESS-ORNAMENT/236408.uts?locale=en-US&selectedColor=MULTI&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla&gclid=CPulrPeK4ssCFYk9gQodWxsGvw

 

You'll love to trim the tree with this princess ornament from Betsey Johnson.  It also comes with crystal stud earrings that would be a perfect stocking gift.

• Includes Princess ornament and crystal stud earring set
• Gold plating
• Material: metal/resin/fabric
• Ornament: 7"L x 2.75"W
• Stud: 0.25"L x 0.25"W

 

There are also a frog and a robot, and all are currently discounted from $25.00 to $9.99.  Before the holidays, these were available at Dillard’s Department Stores.

Recently, Johnson announced she would be moving permanently to her home in Malibu so she could be near her daughter and granddaughters.



Building a General Doll Collection

Building a General Doll Collection

 

In the early days of doll collecting, the goal was to collect as many types of dolls as possible.  Many early collectors were educators, like Laura Starr, “The Doll Book”, (1908), and museum curators like Max Von Boehn and Carl fox. The idea was to show how dolls helped people to express themselves and to replicate their cultures and traditions.

 

Helen Young, who wrote “The Complete Book of Doll Making and Collecting” and “Here is your Hobby . . . Doll Collecting” was an artist who provided dolls to Kimport who also collected dolls.  She advocated variety in all things doll, and I supposed I took my philosophy from her.  So, below, is my guide for building a general collection of all types of dolls, heavily influenced by Young.

 

A General Collection should include types of the following: modern dolls, national costume or tourist dolls [from all 7 continents], folk dolls, baby dolls, celebrity and advertising dolls, storybook dolls, historical figure dolls, play dolls, antique dolls, representations of ancient dolls, medieval dolls, Renaissance, Baroque, and 18^th century dolls, paper dolls, teddy bears and stuffed animals, dolls of various materials, edible dolls,  toy soldiers, action figures, artist dolls, mechanical/talking dolls, and a few figurines or small statues for comparison, and a doll house.

 

I’ll take them category by category for you.

 

Modern Dolls:  Check out our various categories of dolls made from the 1980s till now.  These include all types of Barbies, dimestore or dollar store dolls, some hard plastic dolls, vinyl dolls, reproductions of vintage dolls like the Mrs. Beasley and Chatty Cathy made some years ago by the various “mints”, modern paper dolls, including Internet paper dolls, PVC figures, Disney dolls, Mattel, American Girl, My Friend, Fisher Price, Eden, Cittitoy, Madame Alexander, and all current doll manufacturers.

 

If you want to include Vintage dolls, don’t forget Ginny, Madame Alexander, Poor Pitiful Pearl, Effanbee, Knickerbocker, Cameo, other Vogue dolls, Horseman, Uneeda, Topper Toys, Hasbro, Ideal, and other companies.  You would include later Nancy Ann Storybook dolls, Gas Station Dolls, Dolls of the Month Club examples, Hollywood dolls, Muffie, Ginger, sewing dolls, and others made after about 1947 till now.  These dolls are often classified as vintage.

 

National Costume or Tourist Dolls.  Try to include a doll wearing an outfit from a costume of each continent, for Antarctica, substitute a toy penguin, or a historical figure of one of the ill-fated explorers of The South Pole.  Review articles on this site, including “The King of Dolls” and explore sites that feature these dolls, including The Strong National Museum of Play,  Shankar’s International Doll Museum, and Antique Japanese Dolls.

 

Try to include a book or some literature about The Japanese Doll Festival; dolls are huge cultural artifacts in Japan, with even temples devoted to them, some artists designated as living treasures, and more than one holiday involving them. 

 

Pam and Polly Judd’s books on dolls include several on international dolls.  Pat Smith has written about them, as has my friend, the late John Axe.  Mary Hillier’s books and R. Lane Herron’s books include them as well.  A good source is Loretta Holz’s “The How to Book of International Dolls.”

 

Folk Dolls:

 

These dolls are generally made from every material imaginable material but artists that are not formally trained.  They included dried apple dolls, cornhusk and corncob dolls, nut head dolls,  lobster claw dolls, prune dolls, handmade dolls of cloth, rubber, wood, and wax, certain primitive art dolls, cloth dolls, paper dolls, clay dolls, tramp art,  and more.  Russian nesting dolls fit this category, as do wooden Pinocchio dolls made in Italy.  Some tourist dolls made of wooden spoons, old utensils, or found items also fit.  Young included Peddler Dolls and Frozen Charlottes in her chapters on folk dolls because they had stories behind their creation.  Folk dolls are often one of a kind, and appear in craft fairs and antique stores.  Thrift shops sometimes have a good selection, too. Wendy Lavitt’s “American Folk Dolls” will get you started.  See our post, “Dolls, Flowers, and Gardens” for more examples.

 

Baby Dolls:

 

Many doll books claim baby dolls did not exist before 1850.  Don’t be confused by the early word for dolls, “baby” as in “Bartholomew Babies.”  Certainly girls treated their dolls as babies, even if they represented grown women or men, but representations of babies were rare before 1850 unless they were Crèche figures of Baby Jesus.  Around the mid-19^th century, papier mache and wax dolls, soon to be followed by bisque examples,  began to emerge as actual babies.  By the early 20^th century, there were all types of character babies, including JDK’s Hilda, The Bye-lo Baby, The Dream Baby, Kewpies, Mamma dolls, and later, composition, hard plastic, and vinyl babies.  Cittitoy currently makes many of them.  Madame Alexander has Puddin, Pussycat, and Victoria, while Vogue has Baby Dear, my personal favorite doll of all time, designed by Eloise Wilkin.  Baby Dear was allegedly the doll Nikita Khrushchev bought to take home to his grandchildren after he banged his shoe on the table at the UN.   You can find many baby dolls today, from Real Life Baby, to Drowsy and Baby Secret from the 60s, to dime store plastic baby dolls.  There are handmade dolls and Reborn Babies, and many super-real varieties like the early 80s hospital baby.  Artists include Linda Webb, Mikki Brantley, Lee Middleton, Reva Schick, Branka Scharli and more.  Shackman, Inc. reproduced many antique bisque babies, including the Bye-Lo and so-called Kaiser Baby. Tiny dolls made as dimestore dolls in the 60s and still made as party favors and King Cake dolls also fit this category.  You could fill a Mason jar with baby dolls and also represent miniature and/or plastic dolls with them.

 

Celebrity Dolls:

 

Everyone should have a Shirley Temple doll; the older compo dolls have fallen in price for dolls in good to fair condition, but there are porcelain reproductions available, whole series of Danbury Mint dolls, vinyl dolls from the 50s, 80s, 90s, paper dolls, figurines and much more.  It would be easy to collect DVDs, photos, or videos of her films, as well as books about her, if you don’t want a doll.  She, too, had a doll collection, formerly displayed a Stanford Children’s Hospital, and there is a film about her and the collectibles she inspired called “Shirleymania.”  I even found a bottle of pop called “Shirley Temple”, inspired by the kiddie cocktail that bears her name.

 

Billie Nelson Tyrell, who was herself an actress, had the best collection of celebrity dolls I have ever seen, including the super-rare bisque Mary Pickford portrait doll.  Many were reproduced as 9 inch and 11 inch figures by various companies in the 90s and early 2000s.

 

Movie tie-ins abound today, but many represent actors and actresses in popular films. Hallmark Itty Bitty’s often represent characters from films as well.

 

Vintage celebrity dolls include The Dionne Quints, Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, Sonny and Cher, Jackie Coogan, Charlie Chaplin, Baby Peggy, Farrah Fawcett Majors, Charlies’ Angels, Brooke Shields, Susan Dey, Twiggy, Elizabeth Taylor, and more.  Some of these are also artists’ representations.  “Gone with The Wind Dolls” are very popular with collectors, and new examples are made by Tonner and others to celebrate the movie’s 75^th anniversary.  The same is true of “Wizard of Oz” and memorabilia.  Mattel has created many personality Barbie dolls including Truly Scrumptious, Rosie O’Donnell, Deirdre Hall, Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Cindy Lauper and more.

 

Advertising Dolls:

 

The easiest of these to obtain are Happy Meal toys and premiums on various products.  The Gas Station dolls in international costume also fit this category, as do the Little Debbie dolls and Hostess Cupcake Characters.  You can find a lot of them in Goodwill and The Salvation Army for pennies or a dollar or two.  You only need one example.  Antique versions cost more, but are still out there, with the Aunt Jemima characters and Buster Brown dolls appearing frequently at doll auctions. 

 

Storybook Dolls:

 

Besides Nancy Ann Dolls, there are dolls by Hollywood, Horsman, Effanbee, Kehagias, Madame Alexander, and Royal Dolls.  The late Suzanne Gibson created a line for Reeves International in the 70s and 80s and even collaborated with Steiff on Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  R. Dakin has had a line, and Barbies often appear with storybook character outfits. Eden toys replicated Beatrix Potter characters in the 70s, and Target often features a famous Peter Rabbit line in its dollar section around Easter.  Ever After High dolls fit this category, as do some of the Monster High dolls.  Dozens of companies and artists have created Alice in Wonderland dolls; they are a collection in themselves. Disney dolls often represent fairy tale and storybook heroines like Sleeping Beauty, Snow While, Cinderella and Thumbelina.

 

Tiny plastic dolls were made in the 50s and 60s representing storybook folk, including tiny celluloid charms.

 

Ashton-Drake has produced many storybook dolls as has Madame Alexander. 

 

McFarlane Toys recreated characters from Grimm’s Fairy Tales a few years ago, but these are not for the fainthearted.

 

Little Red Riding Hood dolls are also popular, and many are made in the 7.5 inch plastic doll style.

 

Again, paper dolls of storybook characters have always been extremely popular. 

 

Historical Figures:  

 

Uneek Doll Designs makes many dolls in this category, and they are all only 5 or 6 inches high.  Bernard Ravca made them, and so did Peggy Nisbet.  Madame Alexander still creates them, and her vintage examples of Antony and Cleopatra, Mary, Queen of Scots, Anne Boleyn, Napoleon and Josephine, and The First Ladies are magnificent.

 

There is a wonderful blog devoted to them, and several doll artists specialize in historical dolls as well.  Antique doll portraits of Queen Victoria, Jenny Lind, Prince Albert, and others fit this category, too.

 

Check out my posts on Dolls for Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln Dolls.

 

Also, some historical dolls may be so because they have provenance, like the Danbury mint Titanic Doll, or the large china head in my collection that is tied to The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.  I include here a couple small dolls I own that once belonged to Anne Rice.

 

Sites dedicated to Laura Ingalls Wilder and her books will also have historical dolls of her and her own dolls, and Effanbee’s historical series included FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Washington, and Lincoln.

 

Many toy soldiers that represent famous military figures fit this category, as do Heartland western and baseball figures.

 

Play Dolls:

 

This is your catchall category.  Really, any doll or even object, can be a “play doll.”  Most antiques were meant to be toys, with a few exceptions, but I had dolls that were meant to be art objects or figurines that ended up in my toy box.  Technically, see our category Dolls for Children and Play, and consider most Barbies, Bratz, Ideal Dolls, Horsman dolls, rag dolls, including Raggedy Ann, toy soldiers, paper dolls, baby dolls, and fashion dolls.

 

For ideas, review G. Stanley Hall’s “A Study of Dolls” (1897) and Manfred Bachman’s “Dolls The Wide World Over.”

 

A doll is definitely a play doll in my book if she has removable clothing.  If she comes with accessories, then she is meant to be played with.

 

American Girls fit this category, as do the Heidi Ott dolls and other 18 inch dolls made for little girls.  50s and 60s companion dolls like Patty Playpal make an interesting collection of play dolls, too.

 

Antique Dolls, which dovetail with Dolls of Various Materials:

 

For ideas, go to Theriault’s and surf their archived catalogs, or go through your own print catalogs.  If we define an antique doll as a doll 75 years or older, the possibilities, and price ranges are endless.  If all you can get is a good reproduction, do it, to have a representation.  Many of the early reproduction dolls are no themselves vintage or antique, as are the dolls by Emma Clear.

 

Metal heads and metal dolls are still not that expensive; I still find Minervas with molded hair and painted features for under $30.00, often complete.  One inch metal Frozen Charlottes are often under ten dollars, and are also sometimes Old Cracker Jack prizes which adds to their allure.

 

All bisque and all china dolls, including penny dolls and Charlottes abound, and are not expensive.  Fragments, dug up in old European doll factories, are popular with doll artists and miniaturists, too.

 

They are usually over 100 years old, so you can always afford at least one antique doll for your collection.

 

Wooden dolls can be expensive, rare Queen Annes, or more affordable Penny Woodens, many still under $100. Wooden carved dolls from Poland, Sweden, Russia, Japan [Kokeshi], China, India, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Norway fit the bell well for wooden dolls, as do Native American dolls, especially Kachinas.

 

Sherman Smith dolls and Peter Horn artist dolls are gaining in price and popularity, but they are still out there.  Artist’s lay figures can cost as little as $7.00 at Hobby Lobby or Michaels’.  Keep your eyes open, and you can find small, every old wooden dolls for your collection.

 

Wax dolls are also rare and ephemeral, but figural candles are also doll objects.  Modern artists work in wax, too, like Sheila Wallace, Peter Coe and Paul Crees, Lewis Sorensen, and Gladys MacDowell. Some wax dolls are really composition, papier mache, or metal dolls coated in wax.   Beeswax dolls come from Mexico and Germany.  Man re antique or very old, and not very expensive.  Again, think outside the dollhouse.  Many vintage Christmas angels are made of wax and cost under $100, or even less.  Helen Young recommended holiday figural candles like Gurley candles to round out a doll collection that needed a wax doll.  It isn’t a bad idea at all, and the variety is astounding.

 

 

Representations of Ancient Dolls:

 

So far, the Goddess or Venus figures from Willendorf and other places in Europe are, according to Max Von Boehn, the oldest dolls.  For years, everyone thought they were all idols, but some anthropologists are now making educated guesses that these tiny limestone figures may have been toys, too.  There is a figurine found in Idaho called the Nampa figurine that could be much, much old.  It was found buried 300’ down, and archeologists claim items buried at that level are usually around 2 million years old.  There are 10,000 year old figures from Turkey extant, and many dolls and idols from Ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece, and Britain. 

 

While we can usually own these dolls, there are good museum replicas of the Goddess figures, as well as artist creations.  I have them in resin, stone, glycerin, and silver. Design Toscano replicates Ancient Egyptian and Greek figures and dolls.  Sadigh Gallery in New York purports to sell genuine Ushabti and other ancient art.  They advertise in Smithsonian, and work within the law governing the sale of antiquities, to the best of my knowledge.  You have to be careful buying allegedly ancient items because of these laws, but they have been auctioned from time to time by reputable auction houses.

 

Still, go to any museum, and you can find affordable representation of ancient dolls, sometimes as paper dolls, sometimes as clay, stone, or resin replicas.

 

Rock shows and Relic shows are also good places to look for them.  If you are crafty, it is easy to fashion ancient Greek dolls from terracotta clay, or even simple modeling clay.

 

Representations of the Medieval Period or Middle Ages:

 

Once again, dolls from this era do exist in Museums.  You can see examples in Mary Hillier’s “Dolls and Doll Makers”, Manfred Bachman’s “Dolls the Wide World Over”, and Max Von Boehn’s “Dolls.”  There are also blogs devoted to them. 

 

Look at the sources for ancient dolls to find representatives for your collection, and don’t discount Uneek Doll Designs and Peggy Nisbet Dolls, or even Madame Alexander.   For that matter, Medieval Lady Barbie is not a bad representative for this genre, and neither is a vintage Barbie dressed in the Guinevere Little Theater outfit of the early 60s.  Ken as King Arthur is another good option.  You can also look for prints of paintings from this era that feature children with dolls and toys.  Peter von Breughel is one such artist.

 

Toy soldiers and diorama figures are also good representatives.  Schleich makes many good examples, and you can find their figures at Farm and Fleet Stores, museum shops, and target.

 

Marin of Spain made lovely dolls from this time in the 80s.  One 14^th c example is called Jimena.

 

Renaissance, Baroque, 18^th century, very early 19^th century:

 

If you are very wealthy, you may be able to find an original doll from these eras.  Many collectors still find Queen Anne dolls and Georgian wooden dolls, and an occasional 200 year old wax doll, perhaps a Nativity figure, may surface.

 

There is a doll that dates from 1530 in a museum, and a wooden doll that allegedly belonged to Edward VI used to be in the former Helen Moe’s Doll Museum, Paso Robles, CA.

 

Bartholomew Babies date from the 17^th century.

 

For representatives for your collection, look for the sources given for Historical Dolls above, and for Ancient and Medieval dolls.

 

Archie McPhee stores also feature action figures of Leonard da Vinci, Marie Antoinette, and Jane Austen.

 

Petit Colin makes gorgeous celluloid dolls representing French historical figures, as does Alexander and Nisbet. 

 

Several artists who advertise in “Antique Doll Collector Magazine” recreate 18^th century wooden dolls.   If you travel to Colonial Williamsburg, you will be able to buy an authentic replica of a Queen Anne doll or a poupard that you can dress.

 

Many folk dolls, especially corn dollies and cornhusk dolls date from this time.

 

Paper dolls:

 

Paper figures have their origins in Ancient China and Japan.  Paper dolls have been known to us since the controversial jointed Pantins of 18^th c. France were first made.  Chromolithography made production of paper dolls easy, and sets like The History of Little Fanny and The History of Little Henry became popular.  These are reproduced today.

 

Theriault’s has featured paper dolls in their auctions, as has Noel Barrett.  The Paper Collector blog is one of the best sources for information on them, as is Marilee’s Paper Doll Page.

 

Dover paper dolls are wonderful additions, and also fulfill the need for dolls from the celebrity, advertising, historical, ancient, medieval and renaissance categories.  Many collectors specialize in the paper dolls of the late Tom Tierney.

 

Other modern artists included Stephanie Hammonds, Peggy Jo Rosamond, John Noble, John Axe, and Diana Vining.  Doll Castle News always features a paper doll, as does the Mary Englebreit magazine.  Vintage National Doll World and Doll Readers magazines also featured paper dolls, as did the old “McCall’s” [Betsey McCall].

 

Really, the first expert to write on them was R. Lane Herron, and his books are wonderful sources of information.

 

Art paper dolls are popular, and “Somerset Studios” devotes entire magazine issues to them.  Vintage paper dolls from magazines and comics are still plentiful, as are Whitman paper doll books of the 60s and 70s.

 

Colorform sets fit this category, as do any paper toys.  McDonald’s is currently offering a paper dinosaur for free at some of its stores.

 

Antique dolls, especially those by Raphael Tuck, are reproduced today, and Florence and George has a wide selection of movie star paper dolls reproductions from the 40s and 50s, as well as other types.

 

Pinterest.com has boards devoted to paper dolls, and these may printed for your own personal enjoyment.

 

In this category, you can make your own, and join the ranks of Sylvia Plath and Laura Ingalls Wilder who love to make them.

 

These are the easiest dolls to collect; one file cabinet can hold thousands!

 

Teddy Bears and Stuffed Animals:

 

I have literally found examples for my doll museum, but you can spend thousands of dollars, or a quarter at a yard sale for a bear or stuffed animal.  Beanies are always plentiful, and Steiff makes bears and animals in every price range.  Volkmann’s puppets are great, as are stuffed toys by Eden, Knickerbocker, Mary Meyer, Russ, R. Dakin, Hallmark and more.

 

Church rummage sales and thrift stores are treat places too look.  Amusement parks are gold mines for them.  Craft sales and art fairs also feature them, especially those made by wool roving or patchwork.

 

Peter Bull’s writings on teddy bears are wonderful, as are the various stories about them that abound.  There is a lot of related merchandise available, too.

 

Dolls of Various Materials:

 

This list is endless.  Read about antique dolls and folk dolls above to get ideas.  Some suggestions in addition to those above, coal, metals, precious stones, clays, animal bones, dried fish, beads, rag strips, mops, bedposts, twigs, all kinds of found objects, Pooh Pets of ten years ago, paper dolls made of elephant dung [does not smell at all], rubber, resins, dough, edible materials, pasta, cork, dried grass, raffia, seaweed, buttons, etc. Visit craft and art fairs and use your imagination.

 

Edible Dolls:

 

This category includes dolls mentioned under folk dolls and dolls of various materials.  It includes gingerbread and cookie dolls, doll cakes, doll shaped candy, butter figures, carved radish figures, jack o’lanterns, gourds, ice sculpture, snow figures, wheat dolls, chocolate bunnies and figures, clear toys, maple sugar figures, sugar Easter eggs, Day of the Dead sugar skulls,  and other ornaments.

 

Don’t store these in closed places with other dolls, and don’t put them in basements or attics.  They will deteriorate, or you will have a replay of “A Tale of Two Bad Mice.” If possible, have edible dolls varnished or otherwise preserved.

 

If they are in a display box, keep them there.

 

You can have artificial representations of them, or books and literature about them.  Photos or molds of butter figures work well as edible doll representatives.  So do chocolate molds, candy molds, and cake pans.  Books on cake decorating by Wilton feature doll cakes, too.

 

Pez containers and candy box dolls fit this category well. I have an extra refrigerator, set at the right temperature, that I am lucky to keep my edible dolls in.  A cool, dry place you can check on will preserve them for a long time.

 

 

 

Toy Soldiers:

 

See my posts on these or my book “With Love from Tin Lizzie: A History of Metal Dolls . . .”   They date to ancient times and are very popular today.  Facebook has a wonderful group for those who love plastic soldiers.  Action figures, G.I. Joe, Major Matt Mason, Soldiers of the World, and other dolls fit this category.  The Nutcracker Prince is traditionally a soldier, and Wolverine mechanical soldiers fit nicely.  The Bronte children had a set of wooden soldiers that inspired the miniature books of juvenilia they created to amuse themselves.   Effanbee, Freundlich, Madame Alexander, and Mattel also make military figures.  My favorite is Freundlich’s General MacArthur.

 

Remember, you only need one.

 

Action Figures:

 

Besides dolls already mentioned, there are Star Wars figures, space and alien figures, Lord of the Rings and movie tie-ins, Mego figures from the 70s, Spawn toys, Kiss figures, World Wide Wrestling examples, Bible characters, Harry Potter Stretch Armstrong, The Golden Girls, Masters of the Universe, Transformers, She-Ra, Sky Dancers, and many more.

 

A great car commercial featured them over the holidays this year.

 

Whites Guide to Figures, published in the late 90s, was a wonderful resource for these.  Large bookstore chains like Barnes and Noble, Sports Stores, Disc Replay and comic book stores are great sources for them.  For inspiration, watch “Big Bang Theory”, “That 70s Show”, “Tie Me Up, tie Me Down”, and ‘The 40 Year old Virgin.” Comicon, or any local version, is also a great place to find them.  Aurora plastics kits of The Universal Monsters are also wonderful.  I still covet “The Bride of Frankenstein.”

 

Artist Dolls:

 

Santa Fe’s “Doll Art” event is wonderful for these.  There is a terrific film about this festival.  There are magazines devoted to artist dolls or OOAK dolls, and N.I.A.D.A has a wonderful site.

 

Individual artists also feature their dolls. 

 

Faith Wick and Suzanne Gibson had their dolls mass produced in vinyl, and these are found on eBay, Ruby Lane and Doll Shops United.  Etsy is also a good source. Art fairs, craft fairs, galleries, and studios also feature them.

 

Noted doll artists include R. Lane Herron, Dorothy Heizer, Kathe Kruse,  Clara Wade, Patti Jene, Berdine Wyffels, Peter Wolfe, Magge Head, Fawn Zeller, Lewis Sorensen, elinor peace bailey, Nancy Wiley, Lisa Lichtenfels, Margaret Ann Bothwell, Floyd Bell, Judith Turner, Rose O’Neill, Grace Storey Putnam, Madonna Hardy, Bobbi Langkau, Joseph Kallus, Glenda Rolle, Teri Long, Jan McClean, and Debbie Ritter.

 

Dolls in this category also cross over into the other categories above.

 

Remember, you only need one from each classification, and don’t have to go hog-wild, unless you want to!

 

 

 

Mechanical/Talking Dolls: 

 

Automatons date to ancient times, by their heyday was probably the 18^th c.  See my posts on Uncanny Dolls, Mr. Haddock’s Androids, and Automata.  Also, I have a lot of material on them in “With Love from Tin Lizzie . . .” and on my other blog “Dr. E’s Doll Museum.”

 

Charles Lindbergh collected them, as did Sam Pryor.

 

“Wired” magazine and “Make” feature stories about them, robots and mechanical toys of all types and materials fit this category.

 

It also includes wind-up, light up, fast food toys, mechanical banks, holiday moving figures, mamma dolls, talking dolls, battery operated dolls, Robosapien, Karakuri, Transformers, Shogun Warriors, animatronic figures, and marionettes and rod puppets.

 

Watch the film ‘Hugo” for inspiration.  Also, check out my book “A Bibliography of Doll and Toy Sources”, now on Kindle for more places to look for automatons and mechanical dolls.

 

Inexpensive versions are found in dollar stores and thrift shops.

 

 

Figurines/Small Statutes/Doll Related Objects:

 

To think outside the doll house in this category, read “Dolls” by Max Von Boehn and “Dolls and Doll Makers” by Mary Hillier.  Doll collectors also collect miniatures, figurines like Hummels, Lladro, or Precious moments, art related to dolls or doll artists, licensed merchandise, books about dolls, Hallmark ornaments, holiday memorabilia, Christmas ornaments, vintage cards,  children’s dishes or items, vintage clothing and hats, fans, toys, charms, old books, ephemera, doll-shaped utensils, and small sculpture.  Many like to add plates with dolls or characters on them. The sky’s the limit.  “Dolls” discusses beehives shaped like dolls and doll-shaped utensils.  Target has a line of kitchen items that feature the Russian Matruysha or nesting doll.  Miniature shoes fit this category, too.

 

Doll Houses:

 

Paper doll houses look like albums, and fold out paper houses don’t take up much space.  Crate doll houses or shadowboxes are fun and easy to make.  There are Liddle Kiddle houses, Fisher Prices houses and buildings, houses for larger dolls, American Girl doll furniture, and more.  Miniature light-up villages like those by Dept. 56 are nice, and some elaborate bird houses fit the bill.  You can build your own, or collect kits to have an example.  Some collectors like to use a glass case or china cabinet, and to set up the shelves as rooms.  Tasha Tudor’s “The Dolls’ Christmas” showcases a doll house for large dolls that takes up a whole wall. 

 

Many collectors like vintage tin doll houses and plastic furniture.  Others like antiques.  Hobby shops and miniature stores are good sources of doll house materials.  Modern railroads and their buildings and accessories fit in well, too.  There are lots of books about doll houses, fiction and non fiction.  Flora Gill Jacobs wrote many, as did John Noble and Jean Greenhowe.  Some collectors like to create their own plastic canvass furniture.  Margaret Grace writes a series of mysteries about doll houses you might enjoy.

Miniatures of all types have existed since prehistoric times, and we know there were doll houses or baby houses in the 17^th and 18^th century that are astounding in their detail.  Precipios and crèches from the 16-5^th-18^th century fit this classification well, too.  Doll rooms and doll houses are an important part of doll history, and should be represented somehow in every serious collection of dolls.

 

 

 

 

Dolls as Lessons in Material Culture; Beyond Friday the 13th

Addressing Dolls as Objects of Study in Material Culture

Ellen M. Tsagaris

ellentsagaris@gmail.com

 

According to Australianmuseum.net, a “cultural object is an object made by humans for a practical and/or spiritual purpose.”  Certainly dolls qualify as cultural objects by this definition; when created for play or retail merchandise, they serve a practical purpose.  As Max Von Boehn, Carl Fox, Janet Pagter Johl, Emily Jackson, Laura Starr and others have documented, the doll began as a religious figure or idol, meant to serve spiritual purposes.

 

The Study of Material culture studies cultural objects and culture in general. Antiques in particular are important, and my alma mater, Augustana College, has created a new major in this area, closely related to art history.

 

Material culture studies analyze how we interact with objects, and how they are used or traded, curated or thrown away.  We, as humans, have treasured and collected certain objects since The Stone Age, and even animals like chimps and orangutans have exhibited human like behaviors involving collecting objects and tool use.  In fact, other animals also tend to collect or save certain types of things.

 

My observations indicate that this is a course of study related to archaeology, anthropology, sociology, historiography, and art history.  A study of dolls is right at home in such an academic canon. One student at a local college has focused on the study of antiques, and uses her grandmother’s antiques business as a research source.

 

By its very definition, doll collecting involves  scholarship of a serious nature.  More and more serious research is being done on dolls and their history.  The question might become, why have dolls been ignored by Academe for so long?  According to Elizabeth V. Sweet whose book “Dolls” is a partial bibliography of doll study, “. . . the marginalized status of children and the taken for granted nature of material culture have contributed to the underrepresentation of toys in academic scholarship.” Kenneth Gross’s books On Dolls and On Puppets are excellent sources for how dolls are important as cultural objects.

 

 

 

Sweet also agrees that the diverse work on dolls emerges from a variety of fields of study including history, psychology, sociology, communications, media studies, human development,, cultural studies, folklore studies and more. 

 

As Sweet writes, many different types of researchers are interested in dolls because doll play helps children with socialization and because dolls allow kids to “interpret cultural messages, create social meaning, and actively carve out spaces of resistance to adult culture.  Books included in her bibliography are Manfred Bachmann’s “Dolls the wide World Over” and G. Stanley Hall’s, “A Study of Dolls.”  I would like to humbly submit two of my books, “With Love from Tin Lizzie:  a History of Metal Dolls” and “A Bibliography of Doll and Toy Sources”, simply because they reflect my own interest in dolls as historical and cultural objects.

 

Susan Pearce address dolls and collecting objects in general in her well written and documented four part series, The Collector’s Voice.  The series of four books examines collecting behavior from ancient to contemporary times.

Doll collectors also collect, and even create dolls, to preserve cultural heritage, another focus of Material Culture studies.  Cornhusk dolls, handkerchief dolls, apple head dolls, and other folk dolls are collected and made to preserve the cultural heritage of early American colonists and pioneers.  Poets are not immune to dolls, either; American Poet Dave Etter wrote a poem called “Cornhusk Dolls”, while William Butler Yeats and Sylvia Plath have included poems about dolls and mannikins in their work.  Tom Whalen wrote a book of poems called “Dolls”, and your humble guide is about to publish her book of poems about dolls called “Creepy A** Humans:  the Dolls Reply.”  My late cousin Panos Panoyoutounis who was a renowned poet in Europe declared in his poem, “What is Poesy?” that his little girl’s doll, and her dress, were both “poetry.”  Native American dolls are collected and made for similar reasons, especially Kachinas and the Pueblo storytellers.  The Smithsonian Institution has an excellent booklet on Native American dolls that is fee to download for anyone interested.  Ethnic doll collections also are collect to preserve other cultures as collections in Shankar’s International Doll Museum, The Indianapolis Children’s Museum, The British Museum, and The Yokohama Doll Museum show.

 

Didn’t we all know dolls were important?  I have a male friend who is a retired detective who collects dolls because he is a history buff, and he considers dolls to be historical objects.   Doll artist and author R. Lane Herron stresses in his many books that dolls are indeed historical and art objects, too.

 

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Doll Bytes; September Used to Be Doll Collecting M...

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Doll Bytes; September Used to Be Doll Collecting M...: This weekend, on the old Johnny Carson show, it was 1976 and Johnny was talking about the Angie Dickinson Police Woman doll.  He said he wan...

Random Fun- Doll Melange

Some Redressed Ladies

Remembering Spring

Good Breakfasts with Oatmeal Help fuel Doll Collecting Hunts

Vintage Cloth, Yugoslavia

Shindana Toys, 1970s, in a new Yellow Batiste Dress

Hard Plastic, Native American

90s Pilgrim, wood and cloth, Thanksgiving is Coming

Doll Eye Candy, or Doll Porn—

Doll Eye Candy, or Doll Porn—

 

We collectors love picture books, big lovely coffee table books of dolls like Carl Fox’s The Doll, or Manfred Bachmann’s Dolls the Wide World Over.  Then, there are the books my Marco Tosca, Lydia Richter, Gwen White, John Noble, and others, names from doll collecting past, to be sure.

 

What’s missing from these lavish photo studies are prices. They are not price guides.  Thy are histories, similar to the books on dolls and puppets by Max von Boehn and Professor Kenneth Gross.  Others scholarly works on collecting include The Collector’s Voice series by Susan Pearce.

 

It’s wonderful when books on dolls and related objects contain wonderful pictures and great text, but as a scholar and life-collector, I prefer the text.  Our obsession with photos has turned into doll porn.

 

By doll porn, I don’t mean dolls created for erotic purposes.  They are a whole other study, and this is a family friendly blog.  I mean that over the years, I’ve found editors of all types only want pictures, not history or text.  We want to zoom in on doll marks and mold numbers; we’ve analyzed the dolls to death by their parts, and can’t put them back together. As one of my good friends, Mary Hillier once observed to me, doll folk aren’t always much for reading.

 

We don’t use photo studies any more to identify dolls as we did with the brochures Seeley Molds and Doll Crafter used to publish.  We are more interested in investment, and price. We also don’t like to read.  We are obsessed with pictures, and not with interpreting them.  So, we have doll porn, which describes the knee jerk reaction we have to big splashy photos of dolls. 

 

Doll porn also makes us doll snobs.  We have lots of comments on how a do is dressed, its wig, its condition, the doll itself.  In the immortal words of Sly Stone, different strokes for different folks.  Or else, different dolls for different doll collecting folks.

 

Words paint pictures, too, and words on dolls can be eloquent and historical.  My first doll books were more text than photo; I fell in love with the history behind dolls, and that led me to love all kinds of dolls.

 

I’d like to see more publications like Doll Talk or Clara Hallard Fawcett’s books, illustrated with small photos or drawings where appropriated, but with meaningful text.  Dolls are not subjects of material culture studies.  In general, we academics actually write, not just create picture books for grown-ups.

 

No one has to agree with me; but I feel the need to speak.  Doll collecting should not be a creepy habit, but a fun and educational pastime.  It should not just belong to those who can afford the big splashy photos in expensive catalogs featuring dolls that cost the price of someone’s house.

 

As Genevieve Angione wrote, All Dolls are Collectible.  Every doll’s picture tells a story.  Let’s read it, and study it.  Let’s not just drool over high prices and numbers incised on the back of a doll’s neck.