Children of Japan

Children of Japan
Courtesy, R. John Wright

Hinges and Hearts

Hinges and Hearts
An Exhibit of our Metal Dolls

Tuxedo and Bangles

Tuxedo and Bangles

A History of Metal Dolls

A History of Metal Dolls
Now on Alibris.com and In Print! The First Book of its Kind

Alice, Commemorative Edition

Alice, Commemorative Edition
Courtesy, R. John Wright

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Emma, aka, La Contessa Bathory

Emma, aka, La Contessa Bathory
Her Grace wishes us all a Merry Christmas!

Annabelle

Annabelle

Emma Emmeline

Emma Emmeline
Our New Addition/fond of stuffed toys

Cloth Clown

Cloth Clown

Native American Art

Native American Art

the triplets

the triplets

c. 1969 Greek Plastic Mini Baby

c. 1969 Greek Plastic Mini Baby
Bought Athens on the street

Iron Maiden; Middle Ages

Iron Maiden; Middle Ages

Sand Baby Swirls!

Sand Baby Swirls!
By Glenda Rolle, courtesy, the Artist

Glenda's Logo

Glenda's Logo
Also, a link to her site

Sand Baby Castaway

Sand Baby Castaway
By Glenda Rolle, Courtesy the Artist

A French Friend

A French Friend

Mickey

Mickey
From our friends at The Fennimore Museum

2000+ year old Roman Rag Doll

2000+ year old Roman Rag Doll
British Museum, Child's Tomb

Ancient Egypt Paddle Doll

Ancient Egypt Paddle Doll
Among first "Toys?"

ushabti

ushabti
Egyptian Tomb Doll 18th Dynasty

Ann Parker Doll of Anne Boleyn

Ann Parker Doll of Anne Boleyn

Popular Posts

Tin Head Brother and Sister, a Recent Purchase

Tin Head Brother and Sister, a Recent Purchase
Courtesy, Antique Daughter

Judge Peep

Judge Peep

Hakata Doll Artist at Work

Hakata Doll Artist at Work
From the Museum Collection

Japanese Costume Barbies

Japanese Costume Barbies
Samurai Ken

Etienne

Etienne
A Little Girl

Happy Heart Day

Happy Heart Day

From "Dolls"

From "Dolls"
A Favorite Doll Book

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Jenny Wren

Jenny Wren
Ultimate Doll Restorer

Our Friends at The Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum

Our Friends at The Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum

Baby Boo 1960s

Baby Boo 1960s
Reclaimed and Restored as a childhood Sabrina the Witch with Meow Meow

Dr. E's on Display with sign

Dr. E's on Display with sign

Dolls Restored ad New to the Museum

Dolls Restored ad New to the Museum
L to R: K*R /celluloid head, all bisque Artist Googly, 14 in. vinyl inuit sixties, early celluloid Skookum type.

Two More Rescued Dolls

Two More Rescued Dolls
Late Sixties Vinyl: L to R: Probably Horseman, all vinyl, jointed. New wig. R: Effanbee, probably Muffy, mid sixties. New wig and new clothing on both. About 12 inches high.

Restored Italian Baby Doll

Restored Italian Baby Doll
One of Dr. E's Rescued Residents

Dolls on Display

Dolls on Display
L to R: Nutcrackers, Danish Troll, HItty and her book, Patent Washable, Mechanical Minstrel, Creche figure, M. Alexander Swiss. Center is a German mechanical bear on the piano. Background is a bisque German costume doll.

A Few Friends

A Few Friends
These dolls are Old German and Nutcrackers from Dr. E's Museum. They are on loan to another local museum for the holidays.

Vintage Collage

Vintage Collage
Public Domain Art

The Merry Wanderer

The Merry Wanderer
Courtesy R. John Wright, The Hummel Collection

The Fennimore Doll Museum

The Fennimore Doll Museum

Robert

Robert
A Haunted Doll with a Story

Halloween Dolls Displayed in a Local Library

Halloween Dolls Displayed in a Local Library

The Cody Jumeau

The Cody Jumeau
Long-faced or Jumeau Triste

German Princesses

German Princesses
GAHC 2005

A Little PowerRanger

A Little PowerRanger
Halloween 2004

The Island of the Dolls

The Island of the Dolls
Shrine to Dolls in Mexico

Based on the Nutshell Series of Death

Based on the Nutshell Series of Death
Doll House murder

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A lovely dress

A lovely dress

Raggedy Ann

Raggedy Ann
A few friends in cloth!

Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum, WI

Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum, WI
Pixar Animator's Collection

Little PM sisters

Little PM sisters
Recent eBay finds

Dressed Mexican Fleas

Dressed Mexican Fleas

Really old Dolls!

Really old Dolls!

Monday, May 20, 2019

Great Big, Beautiful Dolls


Great Big, Beautiful Dolls

Dolls, no matter their height, are the companions of childhood. Nothing less, certainly.  I have dolls that are microscopic, smaller than a grain of rice, and others that are life-sized, five, six, even 8 feet high. A great article in the May/June Doll Castle News on Patti Playpal dolls and friends piqued my interest in “big dolls” yet again.  The article is “Playroom Companions, Patti Playpal and Friends” by Mary Berry.

An assortment of large bisque dolls and plush

Patti Playpal

Large Quincenera Doll an AT artist Replica, each about 27 inches

My Size Barbie and Friends illustrate how big dolls can fit in a corner


A few years ago, I wrote an article on Patti Playpal for About.com Doll collecting.  I wrote in response to a reader’s request.  She shared lovely photos of Patti and friends gathered around their own Christmas tree, glowing in the light of the twinkling ornaments. 

Big dolls have inspired their own books and have a certain allure.  Restaurants in California often had a big antique doll posed in their window.  The Canal House, an old restaurant in Sterling, IL, had a large A&E companion doll  that was dressed and posed for different seasons. In similar fashion, the local Bishop’s Buffet dressed a Mrs. Claus mechanical doll, over two feet tall, in holiday outfits.

My first grade teacher, Mrs. Evelyn McCallister, had four big dolls that represented Dick, Jane, and Sally.  There were two Sallys, and one was an A&E companion doll with platinum curls.  Dick, Jane, and the other Sally were cloth, soft sculpted dolls, life-sized with embroidered features and yarn hair.  I got to take Jane home for the summer.  The other dolls visited me at home, too.  I was thrilled one night after open house when my parents came home holding the vinyl Sally; she got to have a slumber party with me that lasted the weekend.  I wish I knew where these dolls were now!


My Size Barbie Ready for a Run
Great Bisque Head Artist Doll, about the size of a two yera old
36 inch Buddha


Grants had a huge assortment of dolls, including a large group of the A&E dolls.  I got my wish when I turned six and my Uncle Tom brought me one with red curls.  To this day, she wears my dresses and some that my grandmother made.  In Home Ec, I sewed her a companion, a life sized cloth Betsy McCall; she helped me get an A+ on my report card.  Later, I found a large Amish doll of the same size.

When I was nine and we went to Europe, my godmother gave me an Italian hard plastic doll with an organdy dress that had lights all over it.  My parents bought me a newer version at the airport on the way home.   In a doll shop near the Trevi Fountain, there were 36 inch Furga Dolls; I was entranced.  From Spain came a 1904 Bullfighter that walks.  From Germany came a large Minerva, celluloid head Scots boy, nearly three feet high and very rare.









Renaissance cage doll, nearly three feet high.

My Bru lady mannequin artists doll was once in the festival of trees.  She graced the sleigh at the German American Heritage Center one Christmas with a large Mrs. Claus.  Her bisque head comes off; I had to remove it to bring her home.  She sat headless in the passenger seat of my car.  Lucky no one stopped me!  I also have a life-sized Harold Gale Santa, posed to peak around the door.

Antique dolls were often made in large sizes to serve as mannequins; Bru, FG, and Kathe Kruse all created life-sized dolls. King Tut had his own mannequin, featured in the traveling exhibition of his treasure and in Mary Hillier’s Dolls and Doll Makers.

Life Sized European Baby Doll modeling a Kilt, Celtic Games, 2016

Very large vrown eyed china head with corkscrew curls

Companion doll at Skellington Manor

1920s Comp baby with her Jar Jar Binks toy

Sasha Morgenthaler made big dolls for exhibitions as have other artists.

French and German doll makers made gorgeous 31 inch and bigger play examples, and there are Play Pal Shirley Temples, remade by other companies during the early 2000s.  One lovely pink tint Rohmer is the grand dame of her doll family at 29, all original inches.

Shirley Temple had a five foot Japanese doll in her collection that arrived by coffin!  I was lucky enough to have Uncle Tom take my photo next to that doll.  It sold in January 2014 for over $13,000 at the Shirley Temple Auction by Theriault’s.


Large dolls preside at Thanksgiving 2016

About 29 inches tall, this cloth doll wears real accessories and is part of a set of dolls in various outfits made in Galva, IL,
over forty years ago.  She and her five companions were found at Spoon River Scenic Drive.

German bisque big girl, Bussey Museum, photo by author

Two large brides, German bisque and hard plastic. Bussey Collection, photo by author

This large inflatable Santa and his friends are taller than the house they decorate during Christmas

Life sized guard, MacNider Museum, Mason City, by the late Duane Hanson.

Shirley Temple's Japanese Doll with the Author.  Photo by Tom Fanakos.

Gigantic Wooden Bunny, jointed like a doll.  I rescued him from a bonfire

Many large companion dolls appear at our friends Terror at Skellington Manor.  They also feature great animatronics and figures that are life-sized.


Artists Lay Figure, Public Domain

Madame Tarnowska, an animated doll customized by the girls
at Abernathy's


Four foot Nutcracker Prince and Friends

Ophelia, our Skeleton Bride sings "Fright Wedding" to the tune of "White Wedding."  She loves her holiday sweaters and guards our downstairs.


Three foot papier mache doll from Mexico; traditional folk doll in a rare size

Magnificent, all original 29 Inch Rohmer

Scarecrow at Spoon River Days

Tiffany

Large bisque doll tops a Xmas tree at The Festival of Trees

Zelda, six foot witch by Gathered Traditions.  She guards the upstairs of our doll house

You can always find room for a big doll in the corner; Barbie  the size of a three year old child fits well in any vignette, as do the large Frozen dolls, Darth Vaders,  John Cena’s, Giant Plush and other big dolls and friends.  Our 48 inch Nutcracker Prince is a hit wherever he goes, and our three foot mechanical skeleton Ophelia has traveled to various programs and exhibits along with her automaton friends from Marshall Fields.

There was a magnificent doll museum in Marengo, IL many years ago, I think called the Time Was Museum, that featured big antique dolls dressed in lavish costumes by their owner.  The gowns were to die for beaded silks and velvets/

So, enjoy the pictures, and make room for that dolly in the corner, big and beautiful as she might be!




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