A Breath of Spring

With Austin just emerging from a week of unusual ice, snow, and freezing weather, we all need a reminder that spring really is coming. This beautiful Margaret O'Brien doll from member Michele Thelen, so pretty in pink, is dressed for a bright spring day. The doll, which Michele purchased at her first United Federation of Doll Clubs convention in 2019, is by Madame Alexander. The composition doll is 20 inches tall and all original, except for her shoes. Alexander introduced the composition O'Brien dolls beginning in 1946, but in 1948, in an attempt to create a more durable doll, produced a version entirely out of hard plastic. This new medium proved so successful that by the mid-1950s hard plastic dolls had replaced composition.

Born Angela Maxine O'Brien in 1937, O'Brien began her career as a famed child actress at the age of four in the 1941 movie "Babes on Broadway." It was the following year that her role in "Journey for Margaret" won her fame and acclaim. Her name was changed to reflect the success of the movie. She would appear in a number of films, including "Jayne Eyre," "The Canterville Ghost," and "Meet Me in St Louis." In 1944, O'Brien was honored with the Juvenile Academy Award. O'Brien continued

to work in television and film throughout her life.

Happy Birthday to Susan B. Anthony!

Today is the birthday of Susan B. Anthony (February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906), an American social reformer who fought for the abolition of slavery, universal suffrage, and women's rights. In 1878, Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a leader in the women's rights movement, supported the introduction of legislation to the United States Congress amending the United States Constitution to grant women the right to vote. The amendment, later known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, was ratified in 1920 as the Nineteenth Amendment.

The Nineteenth Amendment prohibits the states and the federal government from denying United States citizens the right to vote the basis of sex. In commemoration of Anthony's birthday and the long battle for women's suffrage, this Gebruder Heubach lady is dressed in the role of an Edwardian suffragette preparing to march for the right of women to vote. Wearing her original mohair wig, this 12.25 inch high lady doll has a bisque shoulder head on a cloth body with composition lower limbs. Her antique silk outfit, with its hobble skirt, would have been the height of fashion in the early 1910s.

 

First Love. . . .

"Will you be my valentine?" this young lad sweetly asks as he offers a rose to a shy little girl. The boy is a mold called “American schoolboy” and is attributed to J.D. Kestner. The object of his innocent affection is a Kammer and Reinhardt 101, also know as “Marie.” Both dolls are on ball-jointed bodies and are 9 inches tall. Marie’s tiny doll is by Simon and Halbig. 

新年快乐 (Happy New Year!)

As noted previously on this blog, the Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, falls on Friday, February 12th. This 18-inch tall Simon and Halbig character doll by Simon and Halbig is mold 1329 and doll wears an antique costume typical of an upper class Manchu woman of the Chinese Qing dynasty. The bisque head has a soft olive complexion and brown almond-shaped sleep eyes. Her ball-jointed composition body matches her head's skin tone. This mold can be found dressed various Asian costumes, such as Chinese, Japanese, and Burmese. The original outfits are often detailed and of silk and other fine materials. Many of these dolls were sent to France, where they were dressed in authentic costumes for exhibit. The Manchu, a Chinese ethnic minority originating from Manchuria, established the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 through 1911. They retained elements of their original culture, including the style of dress. Her long loose gown is called a qipao. The elaborate embroidery would indicate a woman's rank and status. The headdress is a replacement, but is made of antique materials.

Manchu women did not bind their feet. Upper class women wore tall platform shoes with a base shaped like a flower pot or horse’s hoof, so the shoes are sometimes referred to as “pot-bottom” or “horse-hoofed."  The upper part of the shoe was adorned with embroidery and, for the wealthy or noble ranks, jade and other precious stones. The shoes were considered to gave Manchu women a tall and regal stance.

 

Another Adorable Dollikin

 Another example of the Uneeda Dollikin, belonging to member Michele Thelen. She wears a sweetly demure and romantic dress for her Valentine's Day date. Dollikins came with a variety of hairstyles and makeup, from the previous doll's dark hair with a pronounced widow's peak and dramatic makeup to softer styles and subtler facial coloring, as in this example. This doll's lovely face resembles that of Madame Alexander's popular Cissy.    

Twofer. . .

. . . as this lovely lady wears an outfit suitable for two approaching holidays. Her stylish ensemble would be certainly be appropriate for celebrating the Chinese New Year or for that special Valentine's Day date. The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, begins with the new moon that appears between January 21st and February 20th. This year it falls on Friday, February 12th.  Each year of the 12-year cycle is named after an animal in the Chinese zodiac. This year is the Year of the Ox.

This beautiful belle is a Dollikin. The popularity of Madame Alexander's Cissy doll inspired other doll companies to create their own fashion ladies. Introduced in 1958 by the Uneeda Doll Company, Dollikin was advertised as the “Original Doll Mannikin.”  Her 16 joints (neck, shoulders, upper arms, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles) allow her to assume a wide variety of poses. This large version, similar is size to Cissy, was produced until 1962. Her richly-colored Asian-inspired outfit is original. According to this page from a Uneeda trade catalog, she is "Mandarin Dollikin" The page carries the handwritten date "1963," suggesting that Miss Mandarin may have been among the last of the larger Dollikin line. 

 

Pajama Party!

Preparing for Valentine's Day, Jan Irsfeld's collection of sophisticated Cissy dolls by Madame Alexander model the latest in lacy lingerie and sheer sleepwear.  Jan says that the world of nightgowns, teddies, peignoir sets, and lingerie will never be the same. These lovely ladies will certainly keep Cupid busy!

 

New Year, New Doll. . . .

Member Jenell Howell rang in the new year with a new doll, an all-original composition "Karen Ballerina" by Madame Alexander.  Jenell said that this is one of the dolls she has been searching for over many years. This delightful dancer with near-mint clothing and hair is 15 inches tall.

According to Jenell, "Karen Ballerina" was produced in 1946 and came in three sizes, 15 inches, 18 inches, and 21 inches. The costume came in blue, pink, green, white, and yellow. The doll also would be made the transition year of 1947, when Madame Alexander moved from using composition to hard plastic.

Karen Balllerina" was influenced by a Margaret O'Brien movie filmed in 1946 and released in 1947, The Unfinished Dance, a movie set in the world of a ballet company

 

Happy Thanksgiving from the Austin Doll Collectors Society!

Thanks to member Sylvia McDonald for this festive Thanksgiving display. The Native American man in the beautifully beaded leather clothing represents a Plains Indian and dates from the 1930s. His clothing is beaded on the back as well and trimmed in real fur. He is hand carved of wood. The woman next to him dressed in bright velvet is Navajo. She also wears a concho belt and detailed moccasins. Sylvia says that this doll is very special because her brothers bought her for Sylvia in the summer of 1954 or 1955 when they visited Taos, New Mexico. The smaller female doll in front of her is Apache and purchased in 1972. She carries a papoose on her back. The two singing “pilgrims” are Byers Choice pieces Sylvia bought in Lexington-Concord, Massachusetts in 2001. She says that the final figurine of a

pilgrim mother is "nothing special," but she does complete the scene!

 

Hey, Good Lookin' . . .

Whatcha got cookin'? 

How's about cookin' somethin' up with me? 

Hey, sweet baby 

Don't you think maybe

We could find us a brand new recipe?

Hank Williams, 1951

This Cissy by Madame Alexander is certainly cooking up some trouble for Halloween. She wears an elegant coat and gown made by member and talented seamstress Jan Irsfeld. Jan says that this hauntingly beautiful outfit was inspired by an ensemble from Paris luxury fashion house Balenciaga, originally founded in founded in 1917 by designer Cristóbal Balenciaga in Spain. Cissy certainly seems to have her rival in a stew.

Fresh From the Pumpkin Patch. . .

Halloween is just a few days away, so it is time to carve a festive Jack-o'-lantern. This posse of precious peddlers is prepared to provide you the necessary pumpkins. They belong to member Sylvia McDonald and were all designed by German doll artist Annette Himstedt in 2004. Sylvia explains that the boy, Anton, has on his cat hat that he may use for Halloween, but that the girls are still deciding what to wear! (Isn’t that just like girls?) Miki is the long-tressed blond dressed in blue and Liri is the big sister in the family. The littlest sibling is Lottchen. Sylvia says that the three larger dolls were made for collectors, but Lottchen was designed as a play doll.

 

Fire Burn and Caldron Bubble

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,

Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

William Shakespeare, Macbeth

This wicked witch, her grinning green-eyed black cat, and her rapacious raven are no doubt boiling up a big batch of toil and trouble for Halloween. The 9-inch tall witch is Hexe from the German company of Simon and Halbig. Her fiendish feline familiar is by Gebruder Heubach and their foul feathered friend was made by Hertwig and Company. They are all from the collection of member Sharon Weintraub.

Devilishly Bewitching

This darling devil and wonderful witch are ready for an evening of trick or treating. The pair belong to member Bette Birdsong. The 26-inch tall witch is a Jumeau and the 24-inch tall devil is by Simon and Halbig. Bette says that her mother made the devil costume and that she rigged the witch one out of an antique doll skirt. The Jumeau was Bette's first and she admits that she refused to leave a woman’s kitchen until she sold her the Jumeau! The adorable devil was purchased in Galveston and someone had made her earrings by threading tiny seashells on string.

 

Trick or Treat, Me Matey

With Halloween just around the corner, it is time to start searching the closets for costumes. Pirates are always a favorite disguise for dress up. This sweet swashbuckler is Riley, "The Tiny Pirate," who belongs to member Jenell Howell. By doll artist Helen Kish, this 7.5-inch tall petite privateer is a limited edition made for the Kish Luncheon at the 2011 United Federation of Dolls Clubs cConvention in Anaheim, California. All she needs is a Trick or Treat bag for her Halloween booty. 

These stunning Madame Alexander Cissy dolls belong to member Jan Irsfeld. In the center is Captivating Swashbuckler, a 2007 limited edition. The two lovely ladies being escorted by the buxom buccaneer were dressed by the talented Jan. She explained that she loved Alexander's version of Morgan LeFay, but did not care for the colors, so she created her own beautiful versions.

 

Going (Pennsylvania) Dutch

Member Gail Simpler shared an exciting serendipity. Gail explained that a couple of years after she moved to Boerne, Texas, she stopped at a yard sale. She spotted a hatbox she wanted to purchase. Inside were a miniature rocking chair, matching bed, and a doll dressed in traditional Amish clothing.  Gail bought them as well because she thought they were interesting. She had just received Fall 2020 edition of Doll News, the publication of the United Federation of Doll Clubs, and discovered an article by Kari Gluski on Pennsylvania Dutch doll furniture produced in the 1950s and 60s. Gail had no idea there was an extensive line of furniture made and now will be on the lookout for more pieces. 

 

Labor Day Dolls; Buy Braw Troggin

Buy braw troggin 

Frae the banks o' Dee!

Wha wants troggin 

Let him come to me!

(Buy fine wares

From the banks of Dee!

Who wants fine ware

Let him come to me!)

Robert Burns, 1795

Although street venders hawking their wares were long familiar to the streets of London, the rebuilding following the Great Fire displaced many small shop owners and stall holders. Some turned to peddling and street vending. By the Victorian period, peddlers and street vendors carrying an array of inexpensive goods and notions in a basket or displayed on a tray in the city streets were a common sight. Many labored long hours in every sort of weather trying to earn enough to keep themselves and their families fed and sheltered. It became a popular pastime for well-off ladies and girls to dress a doll as a peddler or "notion nanny" and fill her little basket or tray with all sorts of tiny treasures, some homemade and others purchased. The dolls were made from a wide variety of materials, such as wood, papier mache, china, or bisque. When completed, the notion nanny was typically displayed in a glass dome.

This pretty peddler stands in a stall offering a wide variety of goods.  Her dome is handblown.

Removing the dome allows a closer look at the doll and her wee wares.  The doll has a papier mache shoulder head and cloth body.  All her offerings are antique.

She offers several tiny toys for sale, including these delightful diminutive dolls.  

Labor Day Dolls; Sailor Bold

Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be,

Who love a jolly sailor bold that ploughs the raging sea,

While up aloft, in storm or gale, from me his absence mourn,

And firmly pray, arrive the day, he home will safe return.

. . . . 

My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,

There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold.

Real Sailor-Songs by John Ashton, 1891

Labor Day recognizes the contributions of workers to the achievements and prosperity of the United States, both on land and at sea. This handsome sailor lad has appeared before on this blog, but in the dress of his German homeland. By doll artisan Käthe Kruse, he belongs to Member Sylvia McDonald.  This doll was a childhood toy of Sylvia's great-aunt, who was born in 1902 and may have received the doll around 1912. He has a wardrobe of clothes carefully crafted by his original owner, including this dashing sailor suit. Certainly any doll collector would love this sailor bold!

Labor Day Dolls

To celebrate this coming Labor Day, over the next week this blog will feature dolls in the holiday's theme. These scintillating Cissy dolls from Madame Alexander represent a labor of love by Member Jan Irsfeld. A talented fashion designer and seamstress, Jan says that she loves the vintage Madame Alexander "torso gown" so much that she has made 15 variations.  Here her bevy of beautiful Cissy fashion ladies, each modeling a different (but equally lovely) version of the elegant gown, gracefully descend the stairs on their way to the ball. 

International Travelers

Member Sylvia McDonald, who has appeared a number of times on this blog sharing some of her extensive collection of international dolls, has made the difficult decision that many of us collectors will have to face someday--what to do with our beloved doll collections that have given us so many hours of joy?  She has made the generous decision to spread that joy by donating many of her dolls.  As reported earlier on this blog, Sylvia donated a set of beautiful hand-crafted Polish dolls  to the Polish Heritage Center.  What follows is her story telling how 102 of her international dolls traveled to Birmingham, Alabama:

How do you go from having 4 little plastic dolls that you and your mom dressed as international “foreign” dolls to a collection of about 150 international dolls? (If the truth be told, there would have been more if I hadn’t used restraint!)

As a young girl and on into high school, I was a part of the Girls’ Auxiliary (G.A.), an organization under the Woman’s Missionary Union of the Southern Baptist Convention (WMC).  Scripture memorization and missions around the world are the focuses of G.A.

One activity I chose to do was dress four dolls in international costumes. I’m sure my mom did more of the “dressing” than I did, but they are wonderful to have! Along with these dolls and learning about the lives of missionaries around the world, I grew to love international dolls and the people of these countries.

Through the years my family and I have had friends who have visited countries around the world, and I would ask them to bring me dolls or they would just bring me dolls from those trips. A college student on a summer mission trip brought me back five dolls from Russian areas with the $25 I had sent with him! 

Being a part of the Austin Doll Collector’s Society I have had opportunity to acquire many international dolls that are unique. It has been so nice to learn about the history and culture of various areas because of these dolls. I’ve displayed different groups of the dolls once or twice a year at events at our church where missions and international countries are involved. I’ve had Girl Scouts and other groups into my home to see the dolls over the years. Everyone has loved them.

These international dolls are just a part of my overall collection of dolls, and as I have gotten older I realize that my kids can’t manage all of the dolls. Thus the search of what to do with the dolls began. I was hoping to keep them in Texas at a university or a seminary, but had no luck there. I thought of WMU and G.A.! They began this craziness, so why not check with them? My son’s former Baylor roommate had some connections, and voila, the WMU wanted the dolls . . . and they wanted as many as I would send! 

It took me over a month to go through the dolls and decide which ones to send because there were some of the “first” ones and some from family, etc., that I wanted to keep. I also pulled out ones that had been given to me to send to family members of those who had given the doll to me. One of my first international dolls was a geisha from a young bride and groom serving in the military in Japan in whose wedding I was a candle lighter! They are no longer living, but I sent the doll to their daughter. An Australian swagman went back to the one who sent him to me. Peruvian dolls went to family members who had married Peruvians, etc.

This has been a labor of love, and yes, it has been hard to part with them. I have so many memories connected to the dolls and the people who gave them to me. I am thankful that the dolls will be displayed from time to time in the National WMU Building in Birmingham, Alabama, and when not displayed, they will be stored as a group so that they will be well cared for.

Now you may ask, do my shelves look empty? Absolutely not, unfortunately, but less crowded! Do I miss them? Yes, but hopefully the dolls will continue to bring joy to others who realize we are one big happy family of peoples the world over.

Boudoir Belles

This lovely lady belongs to member Michele Thelen.  She is known as a boudoir doll. This gorgeous gal has a composition head and was probably made in the United States.  Her colorful ruffled gown is original and her composition complexion is in excellent condition.

These elongated long-limbed lasses were not made as children's playthings, but for fashionable women to display in their bedrooms and salons, hence the name "boudoir dolls." The boudoir doll was grew out of the art doll movement of the 1910s. Artist Stefania Lazarka moved from her native Poland to Paris prior to WWI. The coming of the war stranded many Polish citizens in France, leaving some without any source of income. Lazarka created the Ateliers Artistiques Polonais, hiring Polish artists to handcraft artistic cloth dolls, with the proceeds going to support their community.  Fashion designer Paul Poiret saw some of the dolls on exhibit and soon his fashion salon was producing similar dolls for his atelier.  He had his models stroll down the runways with with cloth dolls dressed in miniatures of his most recent creations draped over their arms.  Soon boudoir dolls became the "must have" fashion accessory of the season.  Not only did they adorn boudoirs and sofas, women carried them around as mascots and upper-scale night clubs even offered them to their female patrons.  Some dolls doubled as lingerie bags or purses, but the vast majority were purely decorative.  Soon boudoir dolls were being produced not only in Paris, but throughout Europe and the United States.  The dolls were produced in a wide variety of materials, with heads of silk, felt, muslin, or composition.  They varied in size, some a petite 14 inches or so while others stretched to 30 inches or more. Throughout the 1920s and 30s the dolls' dresses became more creative, not reflecting fashion as much as some designer's imagination.  The dolls ranged from expensive artistic creations to inexpensive gaudily-gowned ladies offered as carnival prizes.   By the 1940s the fad had faded.

This example is a petite 14-inches long and has a papier mache head that is stamped Made in Germany. She wears her original clown costume and is "puffing" a little wooden cigarette.  These dolls with a cigarette dangling insouciantly from their rouged lips are known to collectors as "smokers" and are highly sought after.  Sadly, so sought after that some less-honest dealers are cutting holes in the face of more ordinary boudoir ladies and adding often oversized cigarettes.

A close up of her face shows her very daring and detailed eye makeup.

This serene señorita is the creation of Lenci, founded by Elena König in Italy and renown for its artistic felt dolls.  She is 27 inches tall and lavishly dressed in the traditional Charro folk costume of Salamanca, Spain.  She is all original except for her necklaces, rosary and slippers.

The doll as pictured in the 1930 Lenci catalogue.

This boudoir doll head from the German firm of Hermann Steiner is very unusual, not only because she is made from bisque, but also because she is a "living eye" doll.  “Living eyes” were advertised by Steiner in 1926, and consisted of a loose glass disk iris under clear dome; when the doll is tilted, the iris slides back and forth. Most living eye dolls by Steiner  are child-like googlies.  She is incised on back of the neck with an intertwined H and S over Germany 395 0.