The Doll Creations Of Muriel Joseph George

The doll company called Josef Dolls was established in the late 1940’s by its founder Muriel Joseph George in California.  She did not first start as a doll maker but she was known as a jewelry maker with her company, Muriel of California.  She used Lucite to make her jewelry, however during World War II the material was hard to purchase and so she started using ceramics for her work.  This would then inspire her to make figurines and molded the ceramics to shapes of animals, children, fairies, and angels.

After the war, Muriel expanded her pottery venture and ordered labels for it with a print “Joseph”.  But this did not go as planned since the labels that came back had the print “Josef” instead.  Since she could not wait for a batch of label with the correct name imprinted on it, Muriel continued to use the misspelled labels forever changed the company name.  Muriel’s dolls and figurines became popular that the Japanese doll makers started to copy her some of her work around the 1950’s.  However, the knock-offs were of poor quality.  

She was upset about the fact that people would think that her creations have deteriorated in quality.  This then prompted her to put so much detail in her pieces that caused her items to be priced high.  It also became a deterrent factor for people to purchase her creations since these were not affordable as before.  In 1954, she met George Good who would then become her business partner after he convinced her to outsource the production of her dolls in Japan.  The company’s name was then changed to George-Good Corporation.  After initially overseeing the production in Japan, Muriel went back to the United States and focused on designing her new doll series.

After several years of hard work, Muriel decided to retire in the late 1980’s for which George bought her shares and continued the production of her dolls.  In 1985, George sold the company to Applause Incorporated which subsequently changed its name to Dakin.  The dolls are still manufactured until today but these dolls are now produced in Hong Kong.  Muriel’s early batch of dolls had the markings of M.J. George.  Thus, for collectors who are looking for vintage Josef pieces, look for the mark “Josef Originals” and the letter C inside a circle at the bottom of the item.  Other markings are on a black oval sticker with gold borders and letterings on it.  Later pieces would normally have the mark Made in Japan.

The History Of Annalee Dolls Incorporated

The Annalee Dolls was founded by Barbara Annalee Davis who was born in 1915 in Concord, New Hampshire.  She began handcrafting her own dolls since she was young due to her interest in puppetry.  In the 1930’s, Annalee continued handcrafting dolls and sold these to the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen and then later to the S.S. Pierce and Company when she moved to Boston.

In 1941, she met Charles Thorndike whom she soon married and the couple raised a family in Meredith, New Hampshire.  They established a business named Thorndike’s Eggs and Auto Parts but it only lasted until 1950 when the price of poultry produce declined.  Annalee was then encouraged to try selling dolls again and started with a skier doll line.  The doll line was a hit that they soon built a factory to produce more dolls.  They made dolls with felt body and that were bendable.  The doll body also had a wire frame while the rest of the doll parts were sewn and its facial features were painted by Annalee.  

The small company expanded and was incorporated to be known as the Annalee Mobilitee Dolls (AMD).  Stores in Boston and Manchester started purchasing dolls from Annalee for their display windows.  The state of New Hampshire also contracted Annalee to produce dolls that would be used to market tourism in the state.  Orders started to fill in that their dolls were now distributed to around 40 states in the US including Puerto and Canada.  They soon expanded their operations and moved their factory to a 14-acre land with several buildings built on it.

In 1975, the company had its publicity when a state legislator gave former president Gerald Ford a doll set used as a decoration for a Christmas tree in the White House.  Annalee Dolls also became a sponsor for United States Ski Team member Christopher Pederson.  The company logo was printed on Pederson’s ski gears and they had made a special edition Victory Ski Doll for the ski team.

However in the late 1990’s, the company began to outsource some of its operations overseas due to the decline in the demand dolls and novelty items.  

 On April 7, 2002, the company’s founder, Annalee Thorndike, passed away and the operations were left to her two sons.  But a legal dispute broke out between the two sons, Charles and Townsend, which prompted the sale of the company to the Imagine Company of Hong Kong, Bob Watson, and David Pelletier.  The land on which their factory was built was also sold to the Winnipesaukee Playhouse.  Yet even with these changes, the company still continues to manufacture dolls and gift items until today.

The Hard Plastic And Vinyl Dolls Of Allied Imported Doll Company

The Allied Imported Doll Company had been known for its other company names such as the Allied Imported, Allied Doll Company, Allied Eastern Doll Company, Allied Doll & Toy Company, and Allied Grand Doll Manufacturing Incorporated.  The company was established in 1918 in Brooklyn, New York.  They mass-produced dolls and doll parts which they supplied to other doll makers such as Deluxe Reading.  Allied Doll Company was mainly known for its vinyl dolls although they have also produced doll made of composition materials.  Some would consider the doll markings AE which are found on other doll manufacturers’ doll heads and bodies to have been made by Allied Doll Company or perhaps its subsidiaries.

Here are some of Allied Doll Company’s popular mass-produced dolls:

1)      Jackie Robinson (1940’s) – This 13-inch composition doll was fully-jointed with molded painted hair and painted eyes and facial features.  The doll also wore a white Dodgers baseball uniform with a blue baseball cap marked with the letter D.  It also has a wooden baseball bat, ball, vinyl black shoes with blue socks, and a hang tag patterned after a baseball mitt.

2)      Child Dolls (1950’s) – These dolls had a vinyl body with side glancing eyes and molded hair topped with a bow.

3)      Patti Playpal Doll (1960’s) – This 36-inch hard plastic doll had a fully-jointed body with a soft vinyl head.  Its hair was rooted and it has sleep eyes, painted brows and other facial features, and a closed mouth.

4)      Fashion Dolls (1960’s) – These fashion dolls’ vary in sizes such as 15, 18, 21, 24, and 28 inches.  These were patterned after a Revlon type doll and were made of hard plastic adult type jointed body.  The doll head was made of vinyl with rooted hair.  The doll also had sleep eyes, high-heeled feet, and real eyelashes.  The doll’s body was marked with KT and Made by Allied Doll Co. or marked with AE 2005 or AE 2006.

5)      Bonnie Miss (1960’s) – This doll was made of hard plastic with a vinyl doll head rooted with hair.  It measured 18 inches tall and had pierced ears, high-heeled fee, and closed mouth.  Its marking on the back was R 20010.

6)      Hello Dolly (1960 to 1961) – The doll had a jointed plastic body, vinyl head, blonde rooted hair, painted facial features, and stood11.5 inches tall.

7)      Shirley Temple Facial Features Doll (1960’s) – The doll measured 19 inches tall made of hard plastic body and rooted hair on its vinyl doll head.  It had sleep eyes, opened smiling mouth with dimples on the cheeks, and was marked AE on its neck.

The Monica Doll Studio Of Mrs. Hansi Share

Mrs. Hansi Share established the Monica Doll Studio in Hollywood California in 1941.  Mrs. Share wanted to create dolls that have rooted hair so that children can easily play with them without worrying of breaking it.  So she produced a rooted hair doll using human hair onto a cement composite doll head.  She never liked the glued on wig on the doll head.  The first doll she created was named Monica, thus Mrs. Share was the only one to have manufactured a hard plastic or composition doll with rooted hair.

She patterned the doll’s facial features after the Hollywood actors of their era.  The dolls had pouty closed lips and feather eyebrows.  The doll’s body were also leaner and longer compared to the other dolls made by doll manufacturers of that time.  Soon enough, other doll characters followed such as Veronica, Joan, and Rosalind.  The first batch of these dolls with cloth bodies measured 21 and 24 inches tall.  

Later, other sizes were offered such as the 11-inch, 17-inch, and 21-inch tall dolls with a new composition doll body.  The composition doll bodies were created from 1941 to 1948.  The doll’s head and body were usually unmarked but the markings could be found on their original packaging.  A paper hang tag was also included with these dolls which had a print “Monica Doll Hollywood”. 

Most of these dolls were sold in upper class department stores such as the Nieman Marcus and F.A.O Schwarz.  The all composition Monica dolls was fully jointed with its scalp rooted with human hair.  Thus, children can have fun brushing the Monica doll heads without detaching it from its head.  The dolls also had painted eyes, closed mouth, and painted facial features.  These dolls were also dressed in elaborate outfits usually with styles fitting for that era.  Some dolls also had a widow’s peak hairstyle and some came with bows on their hair.

Another doll was also introduced in 1949 and her name was Marion.  The Marion doll had the same design as the rest of the Monica doll lines and she was already made of all hard plastic with sleep eyes.  Nevertheless, she still had that rooted hair design patent with painted facial features and sleep eyes.  At present, collectors will have to scour the internet and doll conventions for these rare doll pieces.  Since the Monica dolls were already considered expensive when these were first launched, the value of these dolls could really soar over time especially due to its rarity.

The Cloth Body Dolls – Lolly Dolly And Cholly Dolly

The washable cloth dolls named Lolly Dolly and Cholly Dolly were introduced in 1975 by the Fisher Price Company.  The Lolly Dolly was made of pink gingham with pink mop cap lined with white lace and a romper for its outfit.  Its hair was made of yellow orange yarn peeking from the middle of its mop cap.  Its eyes were made of blue leather buttons while its nose and mouth were embroidered with simple stitches.

On the other hand, the Cholly Dolly was made of blue gingham.  He was created as Lolly’s brother and the doll wore a blue vest with white collar.  This was created by Fisher Price in support of the idea of providing dolls for young boys as recommended by psychologists in that era.  Cholly’ yellow orange hair still peeped from its blue baseball cap.  Cholly’s eyes and other facial stitching were still similar to Lolly’s.

Both dolls were popular with young children especially for babies since the dolls have a rattle inside its body.  Babies were also fond of biting the dolls and eventually these were more of a teething object for them.  Yet the good thing about these dolls is that it can easily be washed and cleaned.  The dolls measured 12 inches tall and had different tags on them.  Lolly had the markings #420 1975 while Cholly had #419 1977.  The production of these dolls were still continued until the 1980’s and were popularly known as infant dolls due to its soft body texture and its reputation as a teething object.

The soft and comforting doll body of the Lolly Doll made it perfect for babies and toddlers to cuddle during bedtime.  However, the production of these dolls were ceased but there was no exact year as to when Fisher Price really stopped its manufacture for the cloth dolls.  Doll experts would assume that these were manufactured for approximately a decade.  Nonetheless, a lot of children have grown to love the cuddly soft cloth dolls.  People who have grown up to have these dolls still carry the memories of their beloved Lolly Dolly and Cholly Dolly.

At present, auction sites like eBay have these dolls on their sites and their prices range from $20 to $30.  These are still significantly affordable and some still look like they have never been used.  Several collectors think that if these dolls were to be reintroduced by Fisher Price, it will surely have a strong base of old and new generation fans.

The History Of The Betsy McCall Doll

The Betsy McCall doll started out as a paper doll in a popular fashion and home arts magazine called the McCall’s.  They included a paper doll in their publication in 1904 as a marketing strategy that mothers would be more inclined to purchase the magazine if they have a nice giveaway toy for their daughters.  Over 50 years the magazine included several paper doll designs.  In 1951, the magazine introduced a paper doll character named Betsy McCall.  Betsy had brown eyes, a pug nose, and a brown bob cut hair.  They then introduced the other members of the McCall including Betsy’s parents, brothers, sisters, and cousins.

The character was such a hit that McCall’s contracted with Ideal Toy Company to create a doll for them in 1952.  The Betsy doll measured 14 inches, rooted saran brunette hair, brown sleep eyes, real upper lashes, pointed lower lashes, pug-type nose, and smiling lips.  Its head was marked with McCall Corporation while its back was marked with Ideal Doll P90.  By 1957, the production of the Betsy doll was done by American Character Doll Company.  The doll now measured 8 inches tall and had a posable body with bendable knees.  

Soon enough, American Character Doll created other doll sizes for Betsy which were 14”, 20”, 22”, 29”.  Other McCall characters were then introduced like Linda and Sandy who were Betsy’s cousins.  The Betsy McCall paper dolls were still continued to be produced and were included still in magazines and now for mail order sales.  In 1955, a mail order Betsy paper doll set which included her outfits cost 10 cents.  There was also costume set of 18 dresses cost 25 cents.  Yet in 1978, the paper doll set’s price had already increased to $ 1.00.  

The doll manufactured by American Character was made of hard plastic vinyl, fully jointed at the shoulders, neck, waist, hips, wrists, and thighs.  Betsy also had blonde rooted hair, sleep eyes, and marked on its head with McCall/ year of copyright/ COPP.  The cousins of Betsy were also made into dolls like the Patti, Linda, and Sandy dolls.  Uneeda Doll Company was also contracted to produce an 11.5-inch Betsy doll and then in 1970, Horsman was also tasked to continue the production of the Betsy McCall dolls.  Horsman made the Betsy McCall Beauty Box doll which measured 13 inches and had a non-toxic make up kit with hair accessories.

In 1974, an 8-inch and 12-inch Betsy was created and it was not produced by the Rothschild Doll Company.  Around 1986, the production was then transferred to Tomy Doll Company and then to Laramie Doll Corporation.  In 2000, the Tonner Doll Company reintroduced Betsy and is still produced until today.