Dare I start a doll thread?

[cherry lips]

Oh dear, I think I'm in love!

The first is Jill

 

[Lady Day]

Im sure this has been posted before (well, not really) but while doing a search for vintage football uniforms of all things, I came across this.

They make vintage reproduction Barbies and clothing.

May be worth a look

LD

 

[CherryRed]

Oh and I almost forgot!

<3

Love your dolls! I don't have a Jill yet, but I have a few of her little sister Ginny.
I think your teen doll maybe Candy.

 

[Mojito]

I've been looking for the "right" boudoir doll for a while - I wanted a silk faced French doll rather than a composition (although I love some of them). I'd already fall for this one, and when she came on sale I bought her at once. She has china hands and feet, and the shipping padding is still on her feet in one of this shots, but I just love her entire character - absolute 20s soignee!

Love her Chinese lounging pjs as well - I need to find a pair myself.

 

[CherryRed]

Wow! She is really nice Mojito! Congrats.

 

[Laura Chase]

Mojito, that is just the most perfect doll I've ever seen! Is this type of doll called something specific?

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Im sure this has been posted before (well, not really) but while doing a search for vintage football uniforms of all things, I came across this.

They make vintage reproduction Barbies and clothing.

May be worth a look

LD

They don't actually make them, of course, Mattel does. It's a cute store that sells dolls, about 45 minutes' drive from my house. They have a lot of dolls in stock that customers can't buy from the Barbie online site anymore.
My latest doll, from Target:

About 10 bucks, but I had a gift card I earned from filling out quick surveys so it was free.

 

[Mojito]

Glad you like her, Cherryred and Laura. She's known as a "Silk Faced Boudoir Doll", Laura - probably made in France. They were also called "Bed Dolls", as they were intended on sit on beds. Not meant for children. They pre-date the 20s, but were extremely popular in that era through to the 1940s.

I wasn't too fussed about getting one with original clothing - I'm not a real collector, and would have been quite happy to have a set of pjs made up for one, but fortunately this one does have her original outfit. I particularly love her smokey eyes!

Beginthebeguine, is it wrong to be jealous of a doll's handbag? That one in the photo is lovely!

 

[Laura Chase]

Mojito, her face is so lovely, those cheeks and the lips, she's perfect. Why's it called a silk faced doll? Edit: I see now that the face is covered in silk, correct? Is the dolly soft?

I might also show my newest dolly here, she's a 1930's lamp-doll or doll-lamp, whichever one prefers:

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Laura Chase, nor at all! It's even cuter in person.
Oh, I love that doll-lamp! Look at the mirror!

 

[RedHotRidinHood]

Mojito-your lovely bed doll reminded me of mine, and I had to show a picture of her. She is not near as gorgeous as yours, but I got her from my auntie when I was about 8. Auntie found her in the attic of an old house she was living in at the time. I love that she has white hair! I had to redress her myself, as she came to me in the buff. The jewels she has on are vintage, and I just kind of wrapped fabric around her. She is pretty precious to me! She shares space with my mother's Toni, her storybook dolls, some of the dimestore dolls she got as a child in the 50s. Also are some of the McDonald's Alexander dolls I picked up just for fun.

And I was in the china cabinet anyway, so I thought I would just show them all. Hope this isn't too much!

The two 1920s style flapper dolls were Christmas gifts in the 80s-they came from the Lillian Vernon catalog! (They aren't actually from the 20s. I named them Odette and Belle.)

From left to right- Sweet Sue (mom's), a pink haired girl that I have never been able to find out about (mom's), big Terri Lee (mom's), Effanbee Honey done up as Lucinda Wyman from Roller Skates (mom's-her favorite!), repro American Girl doll (gift a few years back), Little Terri Lee (mom's). There is also mom's Ginny from the 50s and my Ginny from the 70s. That is my own teddy bear. About half of the small china things were my mom's in the 40s/50s as well, including the Occupied Japan tea set. I love vintage Made in Japan stuff; I pick it up here and there and never pay much for it.

Mint in box Ginny from the 70s and a frozen charlotte-type doll. Other type old things I have picked up. The John Lennon books were mom's in the mid 60s and she gave them to me for my birthday last year. The white shoes came from my grandmother, and apparently an old female relative was married in them in the 1910s.

Not exactly dolls, but we're going with the estrogen, so why not? I collect Weil Ware girls and other California Pottery girl figurines. The big one on the left in the back is homemade; the one on the right is Ynez.

These are my treasured Jean Manley figurines...they are hard to find and I just love them. Manley did not make things for very long. (Another California Pottery maker.) I love finding them at sales-I have never bought any off eBay-it kills the fun for me!

Hope this wasn't too much! lol

 

[Laura Chase]

Great display! I'm spotting some real cuties there, I especially liked Big Terri Lee, Little Terri Lee, the "frozen charlotte-type doll", and the shoes, of course!

Mojito, I've now been googling a lot about french boudoir dolls and I agree that the silk-faced ones are much lovelier than the composition ones, I love the sheen their "skin" gets, and somehow, it's extra special and nice when their hands and feet are made of a different material, like yours, they are so delicate.

 

[Mojito]

Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier, Laura - your answer on the material covering the face is the correct one! She is very soft bodied and can be easily doubled over. Although she's quite large (28" - still not quite as long as a lot of the composition dolls) and has china limbs, including long legs, she's as light as a feather. Someone touched her hair the other day and exclaimed in surprise at how soft it was - they'd expected it to be hard and set.

RedHotRidinHood, I love your display! I think I've seen that type of silkfaced doll referred to as an "egg head", which seems insulting to something so pretty. Your's looks like it has a particularly lovely painted face, and I adore these dolls when they have slightly unusual hair colouring. The 80s dutchdoll bobbed flappers are gorgeous as well - who ever designed them did a great job on those faces - they have that real hooded, smokey eye thing and beestung lips thing going on. So many other interesting things as well...I was drawn to the Edwardian shoes before reading the caption.

 

[tuppence]

I've been looking for the "right" boudoir doll for a while - I wanted a silk faced French doll rather than a composition (although I love some of them). I'd already fall for this one, and when she came on sale I bought her at once. She has china hands and feet, and the shipping padding is still on her feet in one of this shots, but I just love her entire character - absolute 20s soignee!

Love her Chinese lounging pjs as well - I need to find a pair myself.

Hey I have that doll, Same face,(a cousin in Melbourne) unfortunately my doll isn't assembled she's in her original kit form original box.
Also for the Mark Ryden fans and art lovers he's immortalized Giggles in a book and short film
http://www.markryden.com/

 

[Laura Chase]

tuppence, then you might know who the manufacturer is? Being in the original box, unassembled, she's worth more, but it's too bad that you can't enjoy her, she's so beautiful.

 

[Mojito]

I'd *love* to see photos of an original unassembled one, particularly with original packaging, Tuppence! From the little research I've done, there are a few known manufacturers of both the silk faced and the composition dolls - Gerling, Bucilla, Unique Novelty Dolls, Poupées Gerb’s etc - and I'd like to know who made this model. Does anyone have one of the Boudoir Doll books?

 

[tuppence]

Boudoir dolls

Well I can say pretty much for certain that Ridinhoods doll is from the Unique Novelty Doll Company.
I have the "Dolls of the art deco era" book by Susanna Oroyan. Its a good book, not as much info as I would have liked on the doll identification, but it's fun to read and theres some do it yourself bits which are good.
Mojito I think possibly our dolls are made by Poupee Gerb. I know my doll comes in a silver box with a red, white and blue stripe(French Flag?) across it and unfortunately only has a number 36585 on it.
I promise as soon as I can find some brain energy, I will start a photobucket account and post pictures.
I think I could whip my doll together in a half hour, but I have been putting it off because I can't decide if it would be wrong to do.
So I would be interested in peoples opinion.Please

 

[Laura Chase]

Well I can say pretty much for certain that Ridinhoods doll is from the Unique Novelty Doll Company.
I have the "Dolls of the art deco era" book by Susanna Oroyan. Its a good book, not as much info as I would have liked on the doll identification, but it's fun to read and theres some do it yourself bits which are good.
Mojito I think possibly our dolls are made by Poupee Gerb. I know my doll comes in a silver box with a red, white and blue stripe(French Flag?) across it and unfortunately only has a number 36585 on it.
I promise as soon as I can find some brain energy, I will start a photobucket account and post pictures.
I think I could whip my doll together in a half hour, but I have been putting it off because I can't decide if it would be wrong to do.
So I would be interested in peoples opinion.Please

When I try to think of it objectively, I don't think you should do it, it would be better to sell her to a collector (if this is a collectors doll?) and buy an already unpacked and assembled doll (like Mojitos) to enjoy.

Of course, personally, I wouldn't be able to leave her unpacked, I would love to experience unwrapping her the way someone would have done 80-90 years ago, it would be something like a time travel, like opening King Tut's grave or something.

But on the other hand I would think about the collectors and whether my enjoyment would outweigh the euphoria a collector would experience upon finding a mint doll in its original box.

So it depends on what your reason for collecting is and how rare this doll in fact is...

 

[RedHotRidinHood]

Well I can say pretty much for certain that Ridinhoods doll is from the Unique Novelty Doll Company.
I have the "Dolls of the art deco era" book by Susanna Oroyan. Its a good book, not as much info as I would have liked on the doll identification, but it's fun to read and theres some do it yourself bits which are good.
Mojito I think possibly our dolls are made by Poupee Gerb. I know my doll comes in a silver box with a red, white and blue stripe(French Flag?) across it and unfortunately only has a number 36585 on it.
I promise as soon as I can find some brain energy, I will start a photobucket account and post pictures.
I think I could whip my doll together in a half hour, but I have been putting it off because I can't decide if it would be wrong to do.
So I would be interested in peoples opinion.Please

Hey, thanks for finding that out! I have always wondered about her. Can you tell me about what time period she was made?

 

[Laura Chase]

Now that the auction is finished, I can post it here. I really fell in love with this doll, but I couldn't afford her right now, even though I think she was worth every penny.