October 8, 2023, Meeting

Member Kenneth Reeves did the program on Ginny  and other Vogue dolls. He explained that in 1922 Jennie Adler Graves opened the Ye Olde Vogue Doll Shoppe. She began by dressing dolls imported from Europe and by 1925, Graves had to hire an additional seamstress, as well as home workers. In 1937, she purchased composition Toddles dolls from  from Arranbee Doll Company. Her daughter, Virginia, joined the company in 1942 (she would take over the company from her mother in the 1960s) and in 1945 Vogue Dolls was incorporated. The company moved to hard plastic in 1946. In 1948, Graves introduced an 8-inch hard plastic doll. The doll was so popular that Graves designed her own version, christening her creation "Ginny," after her daughter, Virginia. Ginny originally had painted side-glancing eyes with sleeping eyes introduced in 1950. The early dolls had painted lashes, with molded lashes introduced in 1955. In 1954, "walking" dolls became popular, with the head turning from side to side as the dolls legs were moved. Kenneth said that Vogue focused on doll fashions. 

Kenneth shared these two early Vogue dolls with painted side-glancing eyes. The girl in the bonnet is Little Bo Peep. 

The doll in the striped dress is a bent-knee walker, introduced in 1957. 

Kenneth said that in 1957, Vogue began creating a family for Ginny. Jill (floral gown) was Ginny's big sister. Jan (doll in polka dot dress), was Jill's best friend and made for one year in 1959. 

Jeff was Ginny's big brother.

Vogue brought back Jill in 1962 in vinyl and reintroduced her again in 1965, dressing her in historic eras. The doll in the floral bonnet and blouse and blue skirt is Jill as "Frontier Days."

Kenneth explained that Vogue acquired Arranbee (R & B) and used used the R & B molds for Littlest Angel until Vogue redesigned the doll in 1964. He stated that the girl in the white dress with tiny pink flowers was made by R & B in the mid 1950s. The chubby-cheeked cutie in the pink dress was made by Vogue in 1963, the last year Vogue used the R & B mold.  The redhead at the end of the front row is Li'l Imp made by Vogue in 1959 and 1960, using the R&B Littlest Angel mold. The charming child in bright yellow in the center is the Vogue version of Littlest Angel and the doll in the blue and white print dress and big pink bow is Vogue's Lil' Lovable Imp. Kenneth stated that Vogue reintroduced Littlest Angel in 11-inch and 15-inch sizes (the brunette in the back row in the red and white outfit is 15-inch example). The smaller size was discontinued in 1975 and the 15-inch version in 1980. The curly-headed blond with the character face in the back row is Brikette

Kenneth explained that in 1972 Vogue was sold to Tonka Toy Company and in 1977 Lesney took over the Vogue Ginny name. In the 1980s, R. Dakin & Company bought out the Ginny and Vogue names.

He told the club that Ginny was introduced in the 1970s as an international doll. The doll in green represents Ireland. The baby doll in pink is Ginnette

In 1970s, Kenneth said that Miss Ginny was introduced. This example is pretty in purple.

Members shared their Ginny and Vogue dolls as well. The cowgirl belongs to Elaine Jackson. She was made as a souvenir for a United Federation of Doll Clubs convention. The Ginny in the blue dress with the blond "pixie cut" belongs to member Myrna Loesch.

Myrna also displayed these two hard plastic Jill dolls from 1957-1960 in detailed "mommy-made" outfits.

This little Ginny on roller skates belongs to member Bette Birdsong. . . .

as does the darling doll in the colorful felt dress.

This is a childhood doll of member Elaine McNally. The photograph shows a young Elaine with her doll. 

Member Jenell Howell brought several examples of vintage Vogue dolls. The twins in the front row garbed in blue and white gingham are Toddles.

A Jill babysits two of Jenell's Ginny dolls.

This is Jennie Southern Belle from 1943 to 1944.

This curly haired cutie from the 1950s is from Vogue's Crib Crowd.  The Crib Crowd dolls use the standard Ginny head, but have curved baby legs.

Graves began by creating outfits and trousseaus for imported dolls, like this "Just Me," a googly-eyed character doll by the German maker Armand Marseille. This 9-inch tall example belongs to member Sharon Weintraub.  Although the doll has her original dress, shoes, and socks, they do not carry the "Vogue" tag.

 

January 8, 2023, Meeting

Member Sharon Weintraub did a program on "Weird, Wacky, and Ugly Dolls." She explained that while we tend to think of dolls as beautiful, with phrases such as "dolly face" or "she's a real doll," doll companies also created dolls that many would consider odd or ugly.  She shared a number of examples from her collection. This automaton is by Leopold Lambert and entitled "Bébé et Polichinelle." Made in the 1890s, when the automaton is wound, the little girl lifts and lowers her broken polichinelle doll as she turns her head and raises her left hand to "wipe" tears from her eyes. The character head, with squinting eyes and wide-open wailing mouth, is Mold 211 by Jumeau. 

This wicked witch, complete with many molded warts, is "Hexe," created for Cuno Otto and Dressel by Simon and Halbig as part of Dressel’s portrait doll series from 1898 through 1903. Other dolls in this series include the Farmer, Rip Van Winkle, and Uncle Sam, as well as historical figures from the period, such as Admiral George Dewey and Admiral William Thomas Sampson.

Another witch doll, with a hooked nose, wrinkled face, and painted fangs, made by the German firm of Hertwig and Company. She is dressed in her original outfit. Hertwig also offered this doll as part of a set, with two all-bisque children representing Hansel and Gretel. The little china boy is front of her is a mysterious oddity. He is molded into his chair and when a metal lever is moved in the back of the chair, he jiggles his head and arms.

This peddler doll with her basket full of tiny antique items has a German papier mache head of the type made from the 1870s through the 1890s. The head represents an elderly woman with a large hooked nose, a wide grin exposing two teeth, and wire eyeglasses. Such heads were also used for characters such as witches and Mother Goose.

The taller monkey is of early composition covered with brown mohair and his smaller companion is an all-bisque monkey. Although unmarked, Sharon stated that they were no doubt of German origin

This early all-bisque doll is two toys in one, as his hat is also a whistle.

Another unusual male all-bisque doll, this man appears to be dressed as a character from the traditional commedia dell'arte. His hands are pierced, there are loops on each foot, and another hole in the brim of his hat, suggesting that he could be strung as a simple marionette. Sharon thinks that he may have been intended to be part of a child's toy theatre.

This pair of unusual early bisque nodders features a naughty boy in a dunce cap sticking out his tongue at his primly dressed sister.

The popularity of Rose O'Neill's Kewpie doll introduced in 1913 sent German companies scrambling to create their own Kewpie-inspired dolls to try to cash in on the Kewp craze. This well-fed trio are "Happifats" dolls designed by Kate Jordan and produced by George Borgfeldt in Germany from 1913 to 1921. They were produced in three sizes of all-bisque dolls as well as a version with a composition head. Happifats were also produced in Japan and companies like Shackman made reproductions as well. The German dolls have the finest bisque and decoration and often carry a stamped “C” for “copyrighted” on the sole of one foot. 

 The little horned imp was no doubt another German company's creative answer to the rather angelic Kewpies. He has cloven hoof feet and even a tiny goat tail. The other doll is HEbee SHEbee designed by Charles Twelvetrees, a prominent illustrator of the 1920s who specialized in drawings of cute children, often with humorous captions. E.I Horsman introduced HEbee SHEbee in 1925 both in bisque and composition. The boy and girl dolls are identical, except that SHEbee has pink shoes and while HEbee wears blue ones. 

These grinning or grimacing girls were designed by Jeanne I. Orsini in 1920. The all-bisque dolls were made in Germany and distributed by George Borgfeldt. The unusual right hand with the extended pointing finger is unique to these dolls.

Jenell Howell shared her recent find, a Trudy doll with three faces. Trudy was introduced in 1946 by the Three-in-One-Doll Corporation and was designed by Elsie Gilbert. She has a composition head and a cloth body.

Elaine McNally brought this German doll dressed in its original Shaker costume.  Founded in the 1740s in England, the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second was a Christian sect that became known as the "Shaking Quakers" because of the dances and movements they made during worship services. A number of Shaker settlements were established in the United States beginning in the 1780s. The Shakers were known not only for their unique dress, but also for their fine arts and crafts. Shaker woman and girls dressed dolls in traditional Shaker costumes to sell to the public as souvenirs. 

Inspired by her find, Elaine created her own version of Shaker dolls. The larger doll she calls "Sister Flora." The dolls are cloth with paper clay faces. 

Elaine Jackson brought this trio of dolls created by Jane C. Furbee (1891 -1978). Little is known about this doll artist other than she started making and dressing dolls in the 1940s. The two taller dolls are wood and cloth and the one in the violet dress has a cloth tag stating that she is a "JanFer Woodee Doll."  The little girl is carved completely from wood and dates from 1970.

Kenneth Reeves shared this picture of his three R & B (Arranbee) Littlest Angels. He stated that the girl in the white dress with tiny pink flowers was made by R & B in the mid 1950s. The redhead in the center is Li'l Imp made by Vogue in 1959 and 1960 using the old R & B molds. The one in pink on the right was made by Vogue in 1963, again using the old R & B molds. He said that 1963 was the last year of production of Littlest Angel using the old R & B molds.

October 9, 2022, Meeting

Member Jenell Howell did a program on Arranbee dolls, which she referred to as a mystery company. She explained that very few collectors are familiar with the company and that many of its dolls were not marked and can be difficult to identify. When the dolls are marked, she said that they may be branded "Arranbee,” “R&B,” or with the doll’s name. 

Jenell stated that the company was founded in 1919 by Bill Rothstein and Berman, hence the name Arranbee. By the 1930s, Rothstein was the sole owner. The company’s motto was “The dolls that sell on sight.”  The company started by importing dolls from Germany. Its most popular import was “Dream Baby’ by Armand Marseille, such as this tiny example, as well as Simon and Halbig dolls. Jenell said that sometimes the Arranbee name appears on these dolls. Arranbee also sold doll hospital supplies and doll parts. 

Around 1925 the company began manufacturing composition dolls, both under its own name and for other companies. It sold a “mama doll” named Nannette. Jenell noted that Arranbee often reused names like “Dream Baby” and “Nannette” for other dolls in its line. The company was known for quality dolls at reasonable prices. Ruby Hopf, the sister of George Averill, designed clothing for the the company’s doll line. In 1927, Arranbee formed a partnership with Vogue. This little doll in blue is an example of this partnership. 

This cute 9-inch tall cowgirl belongs to member Elaine Jackson and is an example of the company’s storybook series. 

Jenell told the club that Arranbee created the Nancy doll to compete with the ever-popular Patsy doll. The doll was made in a wide variety of sizes with painted eyes, sleep eyes, molded hair, or wigged. This example belongs to member Elaine McNally and is marked “Nancy. 

Another example of Nancy with molded hair, belonging to member Nancy Countryman. The doll is marked “Arranbee. 

Debuteen was another popular doll offered by Arranbee. This example belongs to member Myrna Loesch. Jenell stated that the doll may have been made by Vogue for Arranbee. 

Jenell shared several variations of hard plastic Nancy Lee or Nannette. She said that these dolls have pointed chins and lips painted with the right side very slightly higher than the left. Several of the dolls have floss wigs.

The ice skater has a walker mechanism. Her striped dress is

not original.

This adorable redhead is Littlest Angel, which Jenell noted is similar to “Wee Imp” by Vogue. She said that Arranbee introduced the small bent-knee toddler doll. 

Jenell stated that Rothstein died in 1957 and the following year the company was bought out by Vogue. Vogue kept Arranbee as a separate company for three years, then merged the two companies. Jenell noted that Arranbee clothing uses lots of bias tape and square snaps, and that a fichu is often part of the outfit. 

Member Sylvia McDonald brought one of her childhood dolls, this charming child in her original outfit. The doll has been purchased for her in 1946 or 1947 from White’s Auto Store and put away for her as a Christmas present. However, Sylvia came across the doll before the holiday and that is how she learned that Santa was in fact her father! 

New member Pam Hardy shared this beautiful Toni doll in its original box. She said that it was given to her by a neighbor who learned that she collected dolls. The doll belonged to the neighbor’s daughter, who had never played with it. 

Jan Irsfeld displayed this Dollikin, which she said replaced one she had in childhood. Jan also created her striking outfit.