June 11, 2023, Meeting

The theme of the June meeting was "Brides," and member Myrna Loesch provided this beautiful (and delicious) wedding cake for the refreshment table. 

Member Jan Irsfeld did a program on bridal fashion, with dolls from her collection of Madame Alexander Cissys modeling her beautiful hand-tailored bridal gowns. Jan explained that she keeps scrapbooks of pictures and articles from fashion magazines featuring outfits she finds beautiful or intriguing and uses these to inspire her own creations. Some of the dolls were dressed in outfits she had made for a 1987 Las Vegas exhibit of bridal fashions from around the world.

Queen Elizabeth the First of England stated that she could not wed because she was married to England.  Jan accordingly dressed Good Queen Bess as an Elizabethan bride.

This torso gown shows how a bride might have appeared in 1955.

These two dolls appeared in the Las Vegas display. They model bridal fashions from Africa and Japan.

This Cissy represents a French bride in floral lace finery.

The blond bride represents England while the belle with bare shoulders models Jan's interpretation of a 1992 bridal gown.

Two more international brides. The Spanish bride wears a black lace mantilla and a dress adorned with embroidered flowers. Next to her is a bride from Shanghai, who also holds the dress that she will don for the post-wedding reception.

This bride from Mexico is bedecked with bright ribbons.

The bride with the wide-tiered bodice models a version of a gown from 2015. The other Cissy wears a dress in the style of 1957.  Jan hand painted each flower on her wide lace skirt.

A bead-encrusted bridal gown made by Jan.

Members brought many examples of bride dolls to share.

Pam Hardy displayed two porcelain dolls that belong to her daughter. This doll portrays Sarah, the Duchess of York, at her marriage to Prince Andrew.

And this doll represents Princess Diana when she married Prince Charles.

Nancy Countryman brought examples of Madame Alexander brides, including this little Lissette,

and this much larger red-haired Elise.

A Kitty Collier bride by the Tonner Doll Company.

This porcelain doll designed by Suzanne Gibson represents Harriet Rebecca Lane Johnston, who acted as First Lady during the administration of her uncle, President James Buchanan.

Myrna shared this lovely reproduction French fashion doll made by former member Mary McKenzie and dressed by Jan in a bridal gown in the style of the 1870s to 1880s.

She also displayed this composition Madame Alexander Wendy Ann she had won at a recent luncheon with the Fort Worth doll club. The doll dates from the 1940s.

This Madame Alexander Cissette belongs to Sylvia McDonald, who told the club that the doll was given to her daughter in 1969 or 1970.

This Nancy Ann Storybook wedding party is from Sylvia's childhood.  She told the club that in the 1964 they were used as decorations in a relative's wedding and the bride and groom were redressed for that wedding.

Ann Meier displayed this wedding outfit her grandmother had made for her childhood Saucy Walker doll.

Jenell Howell brought this BJD elf adorned in a wedding dress from a Madame Alexander Elise.

Bette Birdsong shared this Gene doll dressed in bridal finery.

This antique Mold 1469 doll made by Simon and Halbig for Cuno and Otto Dressel wears belongs to Sharon Weintraub. She models a hand-sewn and beaded antique bridal gown from the 1920s.

These diminutive dolls also came from Sharon's collection. The center doll is a pink-tinted frozen Charlotte dressed in an antique lace bridal outfit. Sharon told the club that it was a tradition to dress a small doll in scraps of the bride's gown as a keepsake. The taller bride and groom are wedding cake decorations by Hertwig and Company of Germany. The small pair are also German cake decorations.

Two sets of antique all-bisque German bride and groom dolls in their original boxes. The large pair are from Hertwig while the miniatures in crocheted costumes are by Carl Horn.

 

April 23, 2023, Meeting

The theme for the April meeting was Easter, spring, or April related dolls. 

Jan Irsfeld brought two of her Madame Alexander Cissy dolls in a trunk that she had created. The doll in white is entitled "The Promise of Spring" and the lovely lady in green is Spring for the Madame Pompadour four seasons series.

Sharon Weintraub brought out a bunch of itty bitty all-bisque bunny dolls. All are by the German firm of Hertwig and Company, except for the largest bunny boy in the brown felt jacket, who was created by Gebruder Heubach.

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These bunnies are all dressed in their original crocheted clothing. The tallest in only 2.5 inches tall.

Bette Birdsong shared her Gene doll in the "Suddenly Summer" ensemble. Although the title says "summer," the outfit is certainly appropriate for a spring stroll.

Bette also shared this vintage Ginny in a pineapple print dress.

Elaine Jackson brought several dolls, including this wistful wooden doll by Swiss artist Erika Catellani.

This reproduction all-bisque girl in a bunny hat is dressed in an outfit from a mini American Girl Elizabeth.

Elaine also shared a doll she had long wanted and finally found.  This is a composition Patsy-type made by the Averill Manufacturing Company.  Elaine told the club that the doll was sold by various companies under different names. This is "Boots" sold by Horsman and has a twisting waist. The vintage dress is "mommy made." 

Nancy Countryman brought this vintage McGuffey Ana doll by Madame Alexander,

 

as well as this antique German doll by Armand Marseille.

Jenell Howell shared this charming Crib Crowd doll by Madame Alexander.  She is all original, including her basket, and has a caracal wig. 

Jenell also made this pair of all-bisque bunny dolls, who are reproductions of models by Gebruder Heubach.

Another all-bisque doll shared by Jenell was this reproduction of an antique German "wrestler" made by doll artist Becca Hisle. The doll was the souvenir from the March 18, 2023, luncheon held by the Fort Worth Antique Doll Club to celebrate its 65th anniversary. 

Myrna Loesch brought the doll in the pink floral dress, which she had patiently assembled. She told the club that the head, Mold 1078 by Simon and Halbig, and body were found at a doll show, the dress came from Theriault's, and she made the wig. 

The little girl in the embroidered red dress belongs to Pam Hardy. Pam told the club that both her mother and aunt were doll collectors. The doll, made by Schoenau and Hoffmeister, was one of her mother's first dolls.  

Sylvia McDonald brought this girl in green by doll artist Heidi Plusczok, issued in 2004. 

 

March 12, 2023, Meeting

In honor of the upcoming Saint Patrick's Day, members were asked to bring Irish dolls or dolls dressed in green. Jenell Howell brought this little German boy in his original outfit. He was made by Porzellanfabrik Rauenstein.

This little doll in an Irish outfit is by Madame Alexander. Myrna Loesch told this club that this is one of the last dolls she received as a child. This doll has bent knees and was made between 1963 to 1972. 

She also brought these Madame Alexanders in outfits Myrna said represented the six flags that have flown over Texas.

Sharon Weintraub shared some Japanese dolls in honor of another March holiday. She explained that March 3rd is the Japanese holiday of Hinamatsuri, also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day. It is traditional in Japanese homes to set up a display of tiered platforms with dolls representing court figures from the Heian era (794-1185 AD). The dolls, called hina-ningyō, include an emperor and empress, always seated on the top tier, with court ladies, musicians, and ministers, and attendants displayed on descending tiers, along with miniature lacquer furniture and other accessories. The kneeling doll in the front is a hina-ningyō representing an attending court lady and the lacquer chest behind her is typical of the furniture used in the Hinamatsuri display. The little doll in green next to her represents a boy and has a head of carved ivory. Behind him is Mausu-san, a doll Sharon created using a vintage Japanese doll that had lost its head and a taxidermied mouse. In the back are two ichimatsu dolls, traditional Japanese play dolls, but these two are unusual. The little girl has a head of bisque instead of the tradition gofun finish (a mix of glue and ground oyster shells) and the doll next to her represents an adult woman, although typically ichimatsu represent young children.

Guest Mary Jordon shared a fashion doll by the Tonner Doll Company that she had redressed in an outfit inspired by the popular "Outlander" book and television series, as well as two Neo-Blythe dolls.

Elaine Jackson brought this doll created by Jay of Dublin, dressed in the traditional outfit of Sligo County Doll. These dolls were made from the 1930s through the 1960s and came in detailed costumes of the different regions in Ireland. She has a painted plaster face and wire armature body.

Another doll from Elaine, a cloth girl dressed in green. She is an early example from the Deans Rag Book Doll Company.

New member Kenneth Reeves brought a number of examples of dolls in Irish costumes. The two small dolls in the front are also by Jay of Dublin.  The little girl in the green dress and white cap is a Ginny by Vogue Doll Company and the doll next to her in the red head scarf is "Irish Colleen" by Peggy Nesbit.  

More dolls displayed by Kenneth. The three dolls with the ceramic faces and painted features are by Si-Og, a company that handcrafts the dolls in Ireland using local materials. Kenneth explained that Si-Og means "little people." The red-haired girl in green is Adora Irish Belle by Marie Osmond.

Elaine McNally brought these tiny tots clad in green. The doll in the front was hand-carved and dressed by Elaine and the other doll is a needle-sculpted and painted creation by doll artist Dianne Dengel.

More creations by the talented Elaine, three cloth dolls inspired by antique Izannah Walker dolls.

Pam Hardy shared these two dolls in shamrock print dresses. She told the club that the dolls were given to her and her sister when they were children by an aunt who collected dolls. Pam said that she played with her doll, so that it looks a bit "loved."

Sylvia McDonald brought this Effanbee vinyl doll dressed in green as Goldilocks. Sylvia received this doll from her brother.

Skilled seamstress Jan Irsfeld shared this reproduction doll she had dressed.

Nancy Countryman brought several dolls gowned in green. This is Scarlet O'Hara by Madame Alexander. Nancy added the hat in honor of Saint Patrick's Day.

Two other dolls from Madame Alexander are the little girl in the Irish outfit and "Little Lambkin Wendy." The doll in the back is another Goldilocks from Effanbee.

 

February 12, 2023, Meeting

 Member Elaine Jackson did a program on Norah Welling dolls. Elaine told the club that Wellings was born in England in 1893. She attended school until she was 14-years old, staying home to help her mother care for her father. Wellings took art courses by correspondence with the London School of Art and in 1919 took her art certificates and applied to the Chad Valley Company. She was hired as one of the company's chief doll designers. In 1926, Wellings left the company over a dispute with management. It was reported that she took and destroyed her designs so that Chad Valley could no longer use them.

Her brother Leonard helped Wellings set up the Norah Wellings Company, renting her space in the family's plastering firm. In 1929, Welling's company purchased an abandoned church and Leonard began working with his sister full-time; Elaine said that the company employed many of Wellings' family and friends. By 1930, the company had opened a showroom and office in London. In addition to dolls, the company also made animals, pajama and handkerchief cases, and tea cozies. After Leonard died in 1959,  Wellings decided to retire, closing the factory and destroying all designs, tools, and unfinished dolls. She died in 1975.

Elaine explained how to identify Wellings dolls. Some carried a round paper tag.  Other dolls have a stitched fabric label around the wrist or on the sole of the foot reading "Made in England by Norah Wellings." The faces are molded and hand painted, either on felt or, for the smaller later dolls, stockinette. Elaine said that the dolls never had composition or plastic faces. The ears are two layers of fabric, stitched around the edge.

This doll with a beautifully pieced felt dress is the model called Norene, produced from 1930 to 1959. She represents a Dutch girl. The red-haired girl in the center of the first picture is Norette, a series produced from 1934 through 1934 as child dolls. She does not have her original clothes. 

This doll possibly represents a Dutch boy.

Wellings made a variety of character or novelty dolls, such as this Native American man. The dolls had stitched jointing and the clothes were sewn on the dolls as an integral part of the design. The admiral doll in the first picture, holding a British flag, is another example. The most common Wellings character doll is  a sailor; the dolls were sold to cruise lines to stock as souvenirs and often carry the name of the ship or line on the hat band.

This style of doll is referred to as "Old English." 

This doll is from a line called "Tiny Tot." Produced in the 1950s, the doll has a stockinette face and cotton limbs. The admiral doll stands behind her just to her right.

Member Jenell Howell brought this felt doll by the Italian firm of Lenci to compare with the Wellings felt dolls.

Member Nancy Countryman brought four dolls.  Three of the dolls are by Madame Alexander; the two dolls in the front are Cissettes (the one in the gown is Cinderella), and largest doll is from the Little Women series with a Maggie face. The fourth doll in the red and black outfit is an unmarked composition girl.

Member Elaine McNally shared this charming wax over composition antique doll.

Guest Kenneth Reeves displayed two cloth dolls by the Canadian company of Bamboletta. He said that the  Waldorf-style dolls are handmade of natural materials. 

Member Pam Hardy told the club that this doll had been brought from Europe by a relative. She said that the doll stayed in such good condition because the children were not allowed to play with her. The label on the doll's skirt identifies her as being made by the Italian firm of Magis.