July 10, 2022, Meeting

Appropriate for Austin's hot July weather, member Sharon Weintraub did a program on antique dolls dressed in bathing suits.  She explained that although sea bathing was long considered to have curative powers, beginning in the Victorian era, with the rise in the middle class and leisure time, trips to the beach became more merry than medicinal. The 40-hour workweek and public transportation brought weekend trips to the beach within the reach of many working class families. Doll companies reflected their era by offering dolls in the latest style of swimwear 

This 17-inch tall French fashion doll models an antique doll-size bathing suit from the 1860s or 70s. Such dolls were the Barbie dolls of their day, and their exquisite and costly wardrobes included every article of accessory or clothing a proper lady would need in her trousseau, including a demure, but fashionable, bathing suit for a visit to the beach. Her two-piece bathing suit, consisting of a long tunic top and full trousers, is beautifully tailored of canvas with wool ribbon trim. Typically, such bathing suits were made from wool, serge, or flannel. All the buttons, even on her cuffs, are fully functional. The snood, stockings, and leather slippers are far newer than the suit itself, but are appropriate for the period. The doll herself has a bisque swivel head on a matching shoulder plate and a kid body. She wears her original mohair wig, which perfectly matches her eyebrows. Although marked only "4" on her shoulder plate, she is attributed to the French manufacturer Masion Jumeau. Her exaggerated elongated almond-shaped eyes, dubbed "wrap around" by collectors, are typical of early Jumeau fashions.

In 1878, Elie Martin, patented a mechanical "poupee nageuse" (swimming doll), marketed as Miss Ondine. The doll must have been popular, as she was produced in some form through the early 1900s. Sharon displayed two versions, an earlier example with a French fashion head and a later version with a Simon and Halbig head, mold #1079. Both dolls wind underneath with a key, moving their arms and legs in a frog-like breaststroke. Sharon told members that their cork bodies were advertised as waterproof and capable of floating in water, but she has never dared to try it. The French Ondine is unusual because she has a bisque breastplate; Sharon explained that typically the head was mounted on a cork and the bathing suit sewn shut around the neck (as is the case with the Halbig version). The plate is not simply a shoulder plate that was cut in half, but was clearly molded this way, as all the edges are finished. The lady has a cork pate and is only marked "2" on the back of her head. The Halbig swimming doll wears her original silk swimsuit, once blue, but now faded to ecru. Later or cheaper models had bisque heads from lesser German companies or celluloid heads.

Sharon shared a number of little German all-bisque dolls in molded bathing suits. She explained that although many collectors think that these dolls are dressed in their undergarments, they are actually outfitted for a day at the beach.

The Black girl in her original striped bathing suit is an early all-bisque doll by Simon and Halbig. The little girl in the pink swim attire by her side is an all-original character doll by Gebruder Heubach on a composition slender body. She is incised on back of head “8192 Germany Gebruder Heubach 11/0.” 

In front of her is a little all-bisque girl seated in her beach chair; jointed only at the shoulders, this little girl is molded into a sitting position. She is made from pre-colored bisque, meaning that the slip already has a pink or skin tone. Originally, the slip used for bisque dolls was white and the complexion coat had to be padded on and refired. Beginning around WWI, some German companies began using a precolored slip. Incised on the back "771 Germany,” she is from the German firm of Hertwig and Company. Not only did this firm extensively use precolored bisque for its all-bisque dolls, bathing beauties, and similar novelties, Hertwig was a whiz at using inexpensive materials to make an attractive presentations. There was a lot of competition between German doll companies, each trying to come up with cost-effective ways to make their items more eye-catching to the consumer. Hertwig often cleverly clad its dolls in a few scraps of cheap material to make them more appealing. The molded hair loop holding a miniature rayon ribbon bow is typical of Hertwig, as is the little mesh bathing suit. The chair, which actually folds, is another example of Hertwig's imaginative use of inexpensive material to make its merchandise more marketable. A few slats of lightweight wood and a thin strip of colorful material create a cunning toy chair that certainly would appeal to little girls, yet be inexpensive enough so that most parents could afford to be indulgent. The chair is faintly stamped “Germany.” Typically, Hertwig produced boy and girl pairs, so perhaps she has a male counterpart in his own little lounge.

Also of precolored bisque from Hertwig is this pair of all-bisque chubby toddlers are dressed in their original net bathing suits, trimmed with matching ribbon. 

Inside her original box labeled "Bathing Girl,” the doll in the striped attire doll wears in her original  bathing suit and matching cap, trimmed with silky bows. Marked "Heubach Kopplesdorf 250-17/0 Germany," and 6.5 inches tall, in her day, she was a rather inexpensive play doll, but sweet and pretty enough to catch a little girl's eye and win her heart. Sharon said that dolls such as this may have been sold in seaside souvenir shops, alongside the lithographed tin sand pails and wood-handled fish nets. This little blond beach babe is also still tied into her original box and wears her original pale blue mesh bathing suit and matching cap. Her painted eyes and closed mouth suggest that she was an even less expensive souvenir than the Kopplesdorf doll. The back of doll's head is incised with an intertwined "W&S," the mark of the German firm of Walther and Sohn, and "Made in Germany."

Members brought a wide variety of darling dolls in sun or swim attire to share.

Jenell Howell brought this vintage Vogue Ginny in a green polka dot sunsuit and her little playmate, an Alexander-kin by Madame Alexander. An all-original Number 1 Barbie, complete with her stand, babysits while an all-composition Scootles by Rose O'Neill wants to join in the fun.

Member Bette Birdsong shared this trio of Ginny dolls,  all dressed for a day of fun in the sun.

The Terri Lee doll with her personalized inner tube also belongs to Bette. Standing next to her is a porcelain Shirley Temple doll by Danbury Mint belonging to member Sylvia McDonald and in front of Shirley is another doll from Sylvia, designed by Helen Kish. The sophisticated sun worshipper in the striking aqua and navy ensemble is a vintage Dollikin belonging to member Myrna Loesch. 

The Cabbage Patch doll dressed as an Olympics swimmer for Team USA also belongs to Myrna. The other two dolls were shared by guest Joey Gomez. The doll in the lilac bathing suit is Fanfan, a contemporary fashion doll from France. The seated doll in bright blue is a Neo Blythe.

 

Ann Meier shared this sweet little Betsy McCall.

 

June 3, 2019, Meeting

The refreshment table was decorated in red, white, and blue to commemorate Juneteenth.  The holiday, its name a blend of "June" and "nineteenth," commemorates the June 19, 1865, announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas.

Proudly waving a Juneteenth flag, these two little all-bisque girls celebrate under the watchful eye of an antique cast iron bank.  The taller girl is attributed to the German firm of Gebruder Kuhnlenz and her little sister in her crocheted original outfit and straw hat is a little French all-bisque doll called a Lilliputien.

Holding her Juneteenth flag in one hand and cradling her Lilliputien doll, this all-bisque girl is by the German firm of Simon and Halbig.  She wears her original bathing costume.

Member Brenda Kaye White did a program on Betsy McCall dolls.  She told the club that Betsy began as a paper doll published in McCall's magazine in 1951 as a promotional item.  Although other publications had included paper dolls among their pages, Brenda Kaye explained that Betsy was different as she not only represented a young girl, but each page included a story about Betsy's latest adventure.  Betsy was a huge hit and little girls clamored for their mothers to buy the newest edition of McCall's.  Many fashion designers competed for the honor of designing costumes for Betsy and subsequently patterns were published for recreating Betsy's wardrobe both in doll and child sizes.  Brenda Kaye explained that Betsy's look and fashions in McCall's evolved over the years and her stories became more elaborate with the addition of family members.

This is the magazine that introduced Betsy to the world.

Brenda Kaye said that from 1952 to 1953, Ideal produced the first Betsy as a three-dimensional doll.  The doll was enormously successful.

American Character produced the next generation of Betsy beginning in 1957.  The dolls were made in a wide variety of sizes, from eight inches to a 14-inch doll with flirty eyes to a child-sized 36-inch tall version.  

Brenda Kaye said that these 8-inch Betsy dolls are the type she played with as a child.

In 1964 Uneeda produced Betsy as an 11.5-inch tall teenage doll.  Horsman began producing a doll using the Betsy McCall name beginning in 1971, but the dolls were generic and lacked Betsy's character and features.  The Rothschild Doll Company in 1986 made limited edition Betsy dolls to celebrate her 35th anniversary dolls and today the Robert Tonner Doll Company has reintroduced Betsy.

A number of members brought Betsy dolls from their collections.  Ann Meier shared this Betsy bride doll she received for Christmas when she was around eight or nine years old.

Ann Countryman brought several examples of eight-inch tall vintage Betsy dolls.

Sylvia McDonald had this example of a Rothschild Betsy.  She said she fell in love with the doll's face.

Myrna Loesch said that this 14-inch tall Betsy belonged to another little girl in her hometown and that her mother had later purchased it at an estate sale.

This Betsy was Myrna's childhood doll.  Myrna described how she could purchase outfits for her doll on display cards at the toy store.

This Betsy doll was created for the 2007 Betsy McCall convention held in San Antonio.

Sallie Howard shared several Betsy dolls from her collection.  She said that the nurse is by American Character while the little girl in pink is a limited edition doll by Tonner.

This is an Ideal Betsy.

Tonner made this Irish Betsy with auburn curls and an elaborately embroidered outfit.

This Betsy doll belongs to Anne Campbell.

Beverly Howard brought a batch of Betsy dolls.

She explained that the doll in red and white is not a Betsy McCall, but Sandra Sue, who also fit the patterns made for the Betsy dolls.

Jan Irsfeld brought this Cissy doll she dressed to honor Jillian Mercado, a fashion model who, because of muscular dystrophy, uses a wheelchair use.  The wheelchair is from American Girl and the dress is a copy of one modeled by Jullian.

April 2, 2018, Meeting

Member Betty Birdsong did a program on paper dolls. She said that antique and vintage paper dolls are less expensive than their three-dimensional counterparts, are easy to store and transport, and illustrate both the history of fashion and printing. Bette told the club that prior to the 1800, paper were handmade or engraved and hand colored. Such dolls were sold precut, as scissors were costly. In the 1800's, less expensive printing technology allowed paper dolls to be sold in uncut sheets. In 1863  McLoughlin Brothers, followed by Raphael Tuck and Sons in 1866, began to mass produce paper dolls with a wide variety of colorful costumes, including foreign and and fairytale dolls. By the end of the 1800's, paper dolls were showing up in newspapers and as promotional items on products such as cereal boxes and coffee cans. Children also created their own paper dolls by cutting people out of magazines and drawing their own wardrobes.

McLoughlin and Tuck offered dolls on thicker pasteboard with beautifully printed outfits and accessories.

Bette has this terrific trousseau of early doll dresses, but is still looking for the paper doll that wore them.  

This book by famed illustrator Frances Brundage dates from 1920.

Many women's magazines included pages of paper dolls to encourage sales.  Betty Bonnet appeared in Ladies Home Journal in the 1910s.

McCall's first offered Betsy McCall in 1951.

The Dennison Manufacturing Company prompted its crepe and tissue paper products by selling jointed paper dolls with three-dimensional crepe paper clothing.  This little girl comes with pre-printed outfits, but the dolls were also offered sheets of colorful crepe paper and patterns so that children could create their own costumes.

New printing technology made paper dolls even more affordable.  Stores like F. W. Woolworth offered inexpensive paper dolls books. Companies such as Saalfield Publishing Company, the Werner Publishing Company, and Whitman Publishing created a wide variety of paper dolls. 

By the 1920's, paper doll books began to feature movie stars such as Shirley Temple, as well as celebrities like the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. In the 1940's paper dolls of Claudette Colbert, July Garland, Ava Gardner, Betty Gable, Rita Hayworth, and Elizabeth Taylor were popular. However, with the introduction of inexpensive hard plastic dolls in the 1950s and Barbie in 1959, little girls began to lose interest in paper dolls.   Paper dolls were still produced in the 1960s, typically based on television shows such as Dr. Kildare and the Beverly Hillbillies.   A nostalgia craze in the 1970s resulted in reproductions of antique paper dolls, but these copies could not reproduce the high quality of the original printing process.

This delightful paper doll with her dresses of real fabric glued to paper was created by Bette's mother, an art major.  Her mother also made a set for Bette's sister,  Lynda.

Member Elaine Jackson supplemented her March program on Schoenhut dolls.  The standing doll is by Schoenhut, but although the seated doll at first glance also appears to be from this company, it was in fact made in 1919 by Giebeler-Falk Doll Corporation in the United States and has an aluminum head.  Like Schoenhut, Giebeler-Falk advertised its dolls as the unbreakable alternative to fragile bisque doll heads.