My great-grandmother left me this set of dolls. My mother remembers that she kept it in a special drawer and took it out from time to time to show the children one of her playthings. Can you tell me anything about this?
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DOLLS reader Joan Elizabeth Paul recently sent us the following examples of her creativity. “I have been making fabric dolls for several years,” she said. “Sometimes I like to write a poem to go with each doll.”
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Q: I am a retired nurse and I remember the original Barbie registered nurse outfit. I learned that a Barbie doll and the outfit had been reissued, but I didn’t know it at the time. Fortunately I found one on eBay. I was very pleased with it. There were a few listed, and prices varied considerably. I was wondering if you could comment on this?
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The Modern Doll Collectors Convention (MDCC) began as a Vogue Ginny convention in Lakeland, Florida, in 1979. Now in its 44th year, MDCC has expanded to include a fantastic array of contemporary doll artists and manufacturers in an annual convention that’s held in various parts of the continental USA.
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Over a million Barbie dolls had been sold by 1962, according to a Mattel press release. This is just three years after Barbie was introduced at the 1959 Toy Fair. In an interview with Elliot Handler, one of the founders of Mattel, in 1986, he told me even he was unconvinced that Barbie would be a success.
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Since 2004, BJDC has been a long-standing tradition for the ball-jointed doll (BJD) community of artists, vendors, and collectors as the largest BJD-focused event in North America. Over the years, the convention has grown and evolved, and the theme changes for each event, but one thing remains the same — our passion for BJDs brings us together year after year!
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Jozef Szekeres is an artistic triple threat: comic-book illustrator, Disney animator, and high-fashion doll designer. It’s the latter, however, that’s his passion and primary focus. The Sydney, Australia, resident introduced his first dolls, the stunning Elizabet and Kolatin Bizelle sisters, in 2003. On the heels of an unplanned hiatus, he revisited his original concept and released the GlamourOZ Doll line in 2020.
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I have quite a few antique dolls from the ABG factory. They are china and bisque shoulder heads, many with molded hair, all beautifully made, probably all made before 1900. You say in your books that ABG produced character heads in the 1920s. Could you be more specific about these later dolls?
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During a nearly 30-year doll-design career, Elizabeth Cooper has unfailingly relied on the same successful formula. First comes inspiration, followed by motivation, perspiration, and when necessary, innovation.
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Q: I won this stunning 21-inch composition Margaret O’Brien doll by Madame Alexander at an auction. The original owner had purchased the doll new in the original box with the clover wrist tag that said Margaret O’Brien. For some reason, the previous owner discarded the box and the wrist tag but kept the doll in a glass cabinet. Her son had put the doll up for auction. She is flawless, and the dress is tagged Margaret O’Brien. I also have a Margaret O’Brien Madame Alexander doll in hard plastic, and I was wondering when the change from composition to hard plastic occurred?
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Before she became a full-time doll artist, Cindee Moyer was a human resources manager for a manufacturing company in Iowa for 15 years. One of her accomplishments she’s most proud of was integrating refugees into the company’s workforce. At the time, Iowa was processing large numbers of refugees from Bosnia, Vietnam, and Sudan. “Our company was expanding rapidly, so working with the Bureau of Refugee Services, I was able to hire 30 refugees in the first month — and that was just the beginning,” Moyer said.
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The early 1960s were a time of rapid change in the toy world, particularly when it comes to dolls. The doll market included toys designed for children as young as 3 years old up to 14 years, from baby dolls and toddlers — some made to be life-sized, like Ideal’s 42-inch Daddy’s Girl — to adult-figured fashion dolls. But the whole market was in the midst of a shakeup.
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The doll world is a little sadder with the recent passing of beloved doll artist Shirley Peck. Her doll company, American Beauty Dolls, made highly collectable porcelain dolls early in her career.
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Q: My grandmother left this little doll. We would like to know something about it. I was told to look on the back of the head for information. It is incised with a “K” and “R” on each side of a six-pointed star, the letters “S&H,” and the number 23. Can you tell me anything about her? Does she have any value?
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Let’s explore Famous Queens and Martha Washington, a complete boxed set of early portrait paper dolls created by Canadian artist Elizabeth S. Tucker with soft-toned watercolors. In 1895, Frederick A. Stokes and Company in New York used the chromolithography process to print them. Seven women comprise the set: Queen Marie Antoinette from France, Queen Isabella I from Spain, Queen Elizabeth I of England, Queen Louise from Prussia, Queen Victoria from England, Queen Margherita from Italy, and Martha Washington.
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Q: A longtime friend of mine recently went through the dolls that her mother left her some time ago. My friend is basically a Madame Alexander collector. She found and gave me this Shirley Temple doll that is dressed in what I presume is the sailor suit from Shirley’s movie Captain January. The doll is about 12 inches tall. She is all vinyl, with rooted hair and sleep eyes, and has her original box as well. I was aware of this fashion being all white and have never seen it in blue, but this one is tagged and obviously is original. What can you tell me?
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Julia Kristal has always loved dolls and collected them into adulthood. In college, while she was focused on music and education, she also began learning to draw and loved using colored pencils to draw realistic portraits. She also learned to knit and crochet, and she began making dolls using yarn. When she finally stumbled across reborn dollmaking and sculpting, she had found her niche. Since her love of dolls had never ended, it probably was inevitable that she would eventually become a doll artist.
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Q: I have fallen in love with Bye-Lo Babies and plan to buy one as my first antique doll purchase. Can you tell me what specifics I should look for? I don’t want to make any mistakes.
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A catastrophic illness — one that kept her in a medical facility on a respirator for four months — changed Esther Manso’s life and career path in 2010. At the time, she was married, raising a large family, and had been working as a comptroller for a large Miami car dealership — a job she described as rewarding but stressful. Her 30-year career came to an end with her illness.
“It is hard to believe that because of that, I am now able to enjoy my later years in complete happiness and bliss, doing what I was meant to do and what I love the most,” Manso said. “When I became disabled, I taught myself how to sew and make cloth dolls, until I found polymer clay and fell in love. I love how the clay allows me to express myself easier.”
I could not resist buying this reproduction bubble-cut Barbie wearing this amazing outfit that I remember my older sister having. As I recall it was one of the expensive outfits. Perhaps you have more information about this lovely doll and fashion?
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