Resources for Doll Making

Antique, composition head, mechanical doll.
      A doll is an object that represents a baby or other human being. Dolls have been around since the dawn of human civilization, and have been fashioned from a vast array of materials, ranging from stone, clay, wood, bone, cloth and paper, to porcelain, china, rubber and plastic.
      While dolls have traditionally been toys for children, they are also collected by adults, for their nostalgic value, beauty, historical importance or financial value. In ancient times, dolls were used as representations of a deity, and played a central role in religious ceremonies and rituals.
      Lifelike or anatomically correct dolls are used by health professionals, medical schools and social workers to train doctors and nurses in various health procedures or investigate cases of sexual abuse of children. Artists sometimes use jointed wooden mannequins in drawing the human figure. Action figures representing superheroes and their predecessors, action dolls, are particularly popular among boys. Baby dolls, paper dolls, talking dolls, fashion dolls - the list is almost endless.

Early Dolls Wooden Dolls - Most of these dolls were crafted in England. Sometimes these were called "Queen Anne" dolls, however, most were not made during her reign. Authentic antique Queen Anne dolls are priceless.
Peg Wooden Dolls - large quantities of these dolls were cheaply produced in the 1920's by Companies like Grodener Tal, in Germany. Sometimes they were called Dutch dolls which should have been Deutsch, meaning German. These dolls were often sold "undressed" to cut costs even more.
Joel Ellis, Patented Dolls - This doll by Ellis had a rock maple head that was steamed and shaped in a hydraulic press. Her hands and feet were made of lead.
The Jointed Doll Company of Springfield, Vermont - This doll company manufactured versions by both George W. Sanders and Charles C. Johnson.
Schoenhut All-Wood Perfection Art Doll - A German immigrant to America who began trading in Philidelphia around 1872. His company invented a doll with metal spring joints and was awarded a patent in 1911.
Poupards and Stump Dolls - 1800s to the present, these dolls have no legs and sometimes no arms as well.
      A composition doll is a doll made partially or wholly out of composition, a composite material composed of sawdust, glue, and other materials such as cornstarch, resin and wood flour. Composition dolls were marketed as unbreakable and hailed as an improvement in doll making from the fragile bisque and china material previously used. There are two types of composition manufacturing processes: cold-press and hot press. The cold-press composition manufacturing process was invented by Solomon D. Horsman in 1890s. Hot-Press composition began around 1920 and was an improvement in the processing. Composition doll manufacturing lasted until the late 1940s, when plastic began to be used for dolls.
      Many antique German and French bisque dolls from the 19th century combine a bisque head with a ball-jointed body made of composition. In 1877 French dollmaker Jumeau introduced the Bébé Incassable, with a bisque head portraying a young girl and a fully articulated composition body. With realistic glass eyes and contemporary fashion styles, thousands of Bébé dolls were produced for an international market. The French Bleuette doll from S.F.B.J. has a jointed composition body with a bisque or composition head. The composition Bleuette was produced from 1905 to 1958.
      Some early celebrity dolls were made of composition, like the Baby Peggy doll from Louis Amberg & Sons, which was a success in 1923. The American Ideal Toy Company began making composition dolls in 1907. They produced over 200 variations of dolls throughout the composition era. Their Shirley Temple doll was one of the most successful celebrity dolls. First produced in 1934, millions of the composition Shirley dolls were produced.
Early Baby-Walker Dolls - had entire bodies, including their cloths were made from composition 
Child in Walker Toy, Germany, c. 1860, molded papi 
Kathe Kruse: Boy and Girl Dolls - pressed felt dolls had composition socket heads
Early Boy by Kathe Kruse 
Shirley Temple Doll - Ideal Toy and Novelty Company in New York City negotiated a license for dolls with the company's first doll wearing the polka-dot dress from Stand Up and Cheer!. Shirley Temple dolls realized $45 million in sales before 1941. 
Shirley Temple, Dolls and Collectibles  
Baby Peggy Doll - Diana Serra Cary (born October 26, 1918), best known as Baby Peggy, was one of the three major American child stars of the Hollywood silent movie era along with Jackie Coogan and Baby Marie. 
Helen's Babies  
More American Ideal Toy Company Dolls 
Composition Dolls
Ideal's Composition Dolls
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News, Articles and Video about Dolls
  1. You're never to old to play with a doll.
  2. Tacoma Woman's Collection
  3. Christmas I remember best: Christmas of rag dolls altered view
  4. Toys then and now
  5. Just Like Me, Ethnic Dolls
  6. A world of dolls
  7. Rosalie Whyel Musuem of Doll Art
  8. Wooden Dolls From the Americas
  9. Teddy exhibit comes to doll museum.
  10. Raggedy Ann is still in the hearts of many
  11. "American Girl" heads to the big screen.
  12. Cuddling up to the past. Memorable collection of black dolls brightens.
  13. Crafty group helps dress up rag dolls. 
  14. Civil War Doll Suspected of Trafficking Drugs?
  15. The legend of the Mayan Trouble Dolls
Toy and Doll Museums
These little dolls and projects will inspire classroom art teachers:
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