Yes they are. Dolls have been a source of “play” and ceremony since the beginning of history. The first doll was a spirit used in magical and religious rituals around the world. The first “doll” dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece and Rome. The first use of a doll as a toy dates back to Greece around 100 AD. They were crude in some cases and elaborate in others. The dolls were made from available materials such as clay, stone, wood, bone, ivory, leather and wax, which is considered the oldest known toy.
Like children today, dolls were dressed based on what they saw around them, their parents, their grandparents, and the leaders of their village or town. Dolls have been used for educational purposes, carrying cultural heritage, charged with magical powers, entertainment and of course, the voodoo doll which held special powers. Voodoo in America is still actively practiced and its capital is New Orleans, Louisiana, known as Mississippi Valley Voodoo. Its spiritual beliefs and practices developed from the traditions of the first African peoples brought to Louisiana. These are the spirits that enter the lives of its believers through dances, music and songs.
There was, at one time, a craze for the kitchen witch doll, dressed in the stereotypical outfit and hung in the kitchen for the 20th.th housewife of the century… hmm. I wonder where mine is. Closer to home is the poplar Hopi Kachina doll that embodied the characteristics of the ceremonial Kachina, the masked spirits of the Hopi Native American tribes of northwest America. For the Inuit people, “dolls” were dressed in clothing that would get them through cold winters while those of the Incas were dressed in corn. Cornhusk dolls are a traditional Native American doll made from dried corn husks. These dolls did not have faces because they represented nature and the spirits of Native American beliefs. Making cornhusk dolls was adopted by early European settlers in the colonies.
Wood was the predominant material for dolls until the 18thth & 19th century where it was combined with other materials such as leather with bodies made more articulated. It’s unclear when glass eyes first appeared, but brown was the color of choice until the Victorian era, when blue eyes became popular, inspired by Queen Victoria. During the 19th Doll heads of the century were often made of porcelain and combined with a composite material called composition, a mixture of wood pulp, sawdust and glue. They were painted a light pink color. They were dressed in appropriate robes, wigs, underwear and a hat…they needed that hat.
Today’s doll collectors are quick to correct the terms bisque, china and china because they are not the same. A porcelain doll has a head of glazed porcelain and a bisque doll is made of unglazed bisque porcelain. A real porcelain doll has a white head with molded hair that is painted with the appropriate hair color and a cloth or leather body popular between 1840 and 1890. The head of a Parian doll is white porcelain but not tempered in varnish but left with a matte finish having their popularity between 1860 and 1880. Biscuit doll faces are characterized by their realistic skin-like matte finish with their peak popularity between 1850 and 1900.
The most commonly collected dolls are those from France and Germany, with some dolls from doll makers being sold at very high prices. Manufacturers marked the back of the neck with their signature or letters indicating the type of doll, its size and, of course, the manufacturer himself. Initially, dolls were made to look like adults and this can be seen on French dolls, but by the mid-19th century, dolls took on more childish features. I explained to a little girl in our Stone-Otis household that dolls were made for little girls to be like friends and look like them. Yes, there are dolls whose eyes wander after many years of play, but you should still enjoy them regardless of their imperfections.
No one can forget the adorable Raggedy Ann and her brother Andy, a pair of soft, cuddly dolls first introduced by Johnny Gruelle in 1918. The stories focused on love, care and responsibility for each other others and towards others as their adventures, in the many, many books he wrote, which took them on far-flung adventures. Each story had a message of kindness. These dolls were reproduced by several manufacturers, with only one being sued for copyright infringement. Few dolls have had stories written about them, but these two have adventures in The deep, deep woodswith The camel with wrinkled knees, The golden ring, The wonderful witch and a host of others. Gruelle and his family lived in Norwalk where his books were written and his creation of Raggedy Ann which some say came out of a rag doll he found in his attic.
The American Girl doll, created in 1986, continues to be popular with its October 4 release.th reveal of next year’s girl. This doll depicts girls ages 8 to 11 from various ethnic backgrounds, starting with Kaya, a Native American girl. Each historical figure brings their past to life with lessons of love, friendship, and courage. Pleasant Rowland, the creator of American Girl, felt there was a gap in the doll market in the 1980s. Dolls were newborns that young girls could nurture as “parents” and the Barbie was aimed at older girls aspiring to stardom.
The history of each of the American lineages gives girls the opportunity to learn about them, in relation to their times, and to seek to delve deeper into history. The market also offers books for each doll and craft books. For me, I like 19th the girls of the century, the already loved dolls, some with cross-eyed eyes, peeling paint, sun-drenched clothes and very unkempt wigs.
In 1923, Madame Bertha Alexander, then aged 28, founded the Alexander Doll Company with dolls initially made of fabric and then of composite material. After World War II, hard plastic entered the world of Alexander dolls with his President’s Wives series released in 1976, starting with Martha Washington. There are 38 in all, having ended with the death of Madame Alexandre. Each of the dolls is as close to a replica as possible with replica inaugural gowns. This doll is so special that the entire collection was on display at the LBJ Library in Texas.
Needless to say, we can’t leave out the Cabbage Patch doll. By the end of 1983, nearly 3 million of these dolls had been “adopted” and this doll is said to be the most successful doll introduction in doll history. Wow…that says a lot about entrepreneur Xavier Roberts. In 1985, a little guy with red hair went into space on a shuttle, and in 2000, a little girl was featured on a 33-cent stamp! The doll company is still in business when I looked at their website. So, have I made a good case for dolls and collecting them? I hope so.
If you are reading this article after September 30th You missed our doll sale at the Academy, 605 Orange Center Road, but come by any Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and we will have some of the collection available for sale during the holidays.
