Dolls Of The Past – The Richwood Dolls

In the 1940’s, one of the most popular dolls in the market came from Richwood Enterprises.  It was a family-owned company that was established in Highland, Maryland USA and primarily produced and sold hard plastic dolls.  Some collectors believe that the company purchased the Mary Hoyer doll molds bearing only a generic mark of “Made in U.S.A.  Their dolls were primarily distributed in the East Coast.

The dolls may have been redressed and perhaps painted with more vibrant colors compared to the dolls of Mary Hoyer.  The company’s most popular doll was the Cindy Lou that typically came with a fashion booklet showing Cindy Lou’s wardrobe.

Here are the descriptions of some popular dolls created by Richwood Enterprises:

1)      Sandra Sue (1940’s to 1950’s) –

The typical size for Sandra was from 8 to 9 inches tall.  The doll was made of hard plastic and came with sleep eyes.  The doll was characterized by its slim shape as a walking or regular type doll with either flat or high-heeled feet.  The markings on these dolls were usually found on the legs or under the arms with a mold number.  Several Sandra Sue dolls found on the online are seen with their original elegant gowns and dresses.

2)      Cindy Lou (1950’s) –

Cindy was Richwood’s most popular fashion doll that was known for its wardrobe booklets.  The doll usually measured 14 inches tall and still made of hard plastic.  The doll came unmarked or some only have a circular mark with the words Made in USA.  Collectors will still find a lot of Cindy Lou’s in online auctions and vintage doll shops.  It looks similar to the Mary Hoyer doll and was generally a walker version doll. 

Generally the Cindy doll came with sleep eyes, jointed body, hip-pinned legs, head-turning mechanism; saran wigged head, closed mouth, and dressed in a myriad of clothing styles and outfits.  Her outfits were categorized into school, daytime, evening or nightgown, Sunday, beach outfit, and sports dresses.  The dolls also came with accessories such as lingerie, socks, shoes, itsy bitsy curlers,

3)      Tina Lou (1950’s) –

Tina came with a short painted molded hair and a vinyl head.  Its body was still made of hard plastic and it also came with sleep eyes.  This baby doll had a light blush on its cheeks with a tiny closed mouth painted with vibrant red and thinly painted eyebrows.  Tina measured 8 to 9 inches tall and also came in different outfits.

The Italian Vintage Dolls Of Luigi Furga

The doll factory of Luigi Furga was established in Canneto, Italy in 1872 and originally manufactured waxed papier mache masks.    The company then followed the steps of other doll manufacturers and imported bisque doll heads from Germany.  However, World War I disrupted their importation of bisque heads from Germany that they decided to build their own porcelain factory for their doll manufacturing ventures.  Furga’s dolls rivaled the ones made in Germany and they soon included pressed-felt dolls.

The company also ventured into manufacturing vinyl and hard plastic dolls.  The pressed-felt and the bisque dolls were initially exported to Brazil, South America, and England.   Eventually, it exported their dolls to the United States.  Furga had been doing well with its doll manufacturing business that it produced over 25,000 dolls each day.

Here are some common features of Furga dolls:

Hard Plastic And Vinyl

1)      Babies – Vinyl head and limbs or all-vinyl, doll body made of cloth; jointed at the hip and shoulder; sleeps eyes; rooted hair; closed or open mouth; and generally marked with “Furga/Italy” or “Furga”.

2)      Lady – combination of vinyl and hard plastic or all-hard plastic; wig or rooted hair; open, slightly open or closed mouth; typical markings: “Made in Italy/ Furga” or “Furga”.

3)      Child – vinyl head and limbs or all-vinyl; cloth body; jointed at hip, neck, and shoulder; closed mouth; rooted hair; typically marked with “Furga/Italy” or “Furga”.

Bisque And Composition

1)      Dolly Face or Character Baby – Jointed composition body; wig, sleep eyes; slightly open mouth with teeth showing; bisque socket head; typical markings were a stick figure inside a box, “Furga, Canneto”, “Furga, Italy”, or “J. Oglio B28”.

2)      Character Doll – composition head or pressed-felt mask with mohair wig on, painted facial features, cloth body, typical markings were: “Furga Italy” or with hangtag printed with “Luigi Furga & C., Made in Italy”.

The following are some popular dolls made by Furga:

1)      Cappuccetto Rosso (Red Riding Hood) –  A 17-inch walker doll that had a removable 4 feet walking mechanism  and can walk when pushed. 

2)      Tonia (1964) – It measured 15 inches tall and had rooted hair on its vinyl head.  Its eyelashes were also made of rooted hair and it had sleep eyes, slightly opened mouth with teeth showing, and its jointed body was made of hard plastic.  Markings: “L Furga Made in Italy”

3)      Elisabetta (1960’s) -  This 15-inch doll was made of all vinyl and had rooted hair and open mouth with teeth showing.  It also had real lashes with big sleep blue eyes.  Markings: “Furga, Made in Italy”

The Appeal Of The Bitty Baby Dolls

The cute and cuddly Bitty Baby dolls have an appeal to younger children that fosters them to care and nurture for these infant dolls.  Its purpose is to encourage and treasure good family relationship at a young  age.  The line was launched by the company American Girl and the dolls measure 15 inches with five different skin tones to choose from.  The Bitty Baby dolls have soft bodies and come with difference eye and hair colors.  The dolls were primarily designed for children aged 3 years and above.  For new collectors, they can purchase an individual doll set which also comes with a book.  Alternately, there is also a doll and starter collection kit which includes 13 pieces of accessories such as shoes, a knapsack, overalls, dress, bib, towel, pajamas, a book, and a bonnet.

A collector can also acquire additional set of clothes which comes with accessories and an interactive book.  The Bitty Baby dolls are good starter dolls for younger children in which they can then move on to the advance doll lines like the American Girl dolls or Our Generation dolls.   Fun is always the target for the Bitty Baby dolls as they also come with their own Bitty Bears.  These 5-inch tall plush bears are great addition to the Bitty Baby dolls which also come with their own family albums.  Initially these bears came with their own outfits but these were discontinued.

There were also other Bitty Animals that were added to the dolls accessories like the Bitty Bunny, Bitty Kitty, Bitty Ducky, Bitty Lambie, Bitty Piggy, Bitty Froggy, and the Bitty Doggie.  However, the Bitty Bunch was retired in 2009 and only the Bitty Bear was left in this series.  Bitty Bear even had a tea party set which was released in 2000 but was then retired in 2002.  Nevertheless, the Bitty Baby dolls have furniture sets with price that ranges from $20 to $80.  Some play furniture include baby’s crib and bedding, Bitty mealtime chair, changing table set, and Bitty Baby’s swing.  And if that is not enough, the line came up with the Bitty Twins.

The Bitty Twins series provides the option to choose the gender of the pair along with the option to select the hair color and skin tone.  One can take home a set of twins with a book for $100 and still there is the Bitty Twins Starter Collection with 18 pieces of accessories for $180.  The pair also comes with their own furniture sets and even a twin striped stroller. As their slogan says, Bitty Twins is “fun times two”.