The Doll Convention

I attended my first local doll convention last Saturday, held at a museum, and I had a great time!! The sales area was incredible for a local show. It was far more than I expected. I saw so many beautiful dolls that I had only read about. I felt the prices were quite reasonable considering the quality, but I didn't spend much. I won a raffle for the Chase doll and was I ever excited!! I also won a door prize. Each attendee received a souvenir doll at the conclusion of the conference and we were all gifted with UFDC magazines and a Doll Castle News as well as a necklace for our dolly. The programs were given by a former President of the UFDC (Composition Dolls and Tonner Dolls) and a regional director (china dolls). We were also able to view the doll museum, housed in the buildings. I took some photos before the start of registration as I was there early with some of the helpers. The curator of the doll museum drew the winners of the raffle. Here's my Martha Chase company doll. It is made of painted cloth. A wooden ball and stick are covered with tightly stuffed stockinet and the cloth is covered with paste and paint. Production of these dolls began in the late 1800's and they were also made as teaching tools for hospitals. This doll is possibly from the 1950s. I need to do more research. Also, I bought an Effanbee French Pierrot. I found it appealing. Maybe because of a daughter in France. :-) The Minerva tin head came from a free box in the sales area. .

A mini lesson in Ginger

The Cosmopolitan Doll and Toy Corporation first manufactured the 8" Ginger in 1954 in Jackson Heights, NY. It's believed that the company was founded by Kathryn "Kitty" Kay, who had been a saleswoman for the incredibly popular Vogue Ginny dolls. Ginger was also sold in Sweden and was used by several other doll companies who used the purchased Ginger bodies for their own promotions. Gingers were not marked and are most easily identified by the arm hooks. They also have circular mold marks at the wrist and the head seam goes through the middle of the ears. They came with either small, medium, or large eyes. Their clothes I have always found very stylish and the first Ginger booklet credits "Simone", a celebrated designer, for Ginger's clothing. The doll itself and her furniture were supposedly designed by Belle Kogan. Here I have a big eyed Ginger who is near mint, with beautiful coloring, wearing a dress which I have seen in an ad for Fab detergent. If you sent in a boxtop and $1 you received a doll or an outfit. The outfit looks exactly like the pink dress with blue trim and the pink hat in the ad. The seated doll in brown taffeta I believe to be a small eyed Ginger. She needs a new wig. Her dress is one that a Little Miss Ginger (8" teen doll) was wearing but I have seen it on a Ginger in photos. The Ginger in pink I am less certain about. She has the same look and is approximately the same size. She looks shorter because of the other doll's stand and shoes. She has the same mold marks on her wrists and the arm hooks are those of a Ginger. Her legs have the walking mechanism but the walking post either broke and was removed or was never inserted. Her hair is glued on mohair. Also, her feet were painted with white "shoes" although she has toes! Just not the same quality, but I had to rescue her and was curious about her feet. She was wearing the red dress but it was pulled across and pinned in the skirt. The dress is very narrow in the waist. I'm including the photo of the Ideal Shirley Temple in the Dimples coat and hat outfit because I got it at the same flea market as the Ginger (?) in pink.

May Doll News

I've acquired a few new dolls and other fun collectibles at auctions, flea markets, and yard sales. So, here we go:

At a local thrift shop I bought this unmarked dime store doll in an Eskimo costume that I thought was cute. The Chinese doll is all tightly stuffed cloth, even the separate fingers. It has a small ribbon shaped sticker that says Award, Made in Taiwan, Republic of China. I got her at a yard sale along with the Navajo doll with the handwoven shawl. I spent $3! The light weight plastic doll (possibly celluloid?) in the ethnic costume was purchased at a flea market.

The Nancy Ann Story Book doll at far left was so dirty that I felt she was a bad buy at $3 but I wanted to try and rescue her. Her face was so dirty that I rubbed it gently with a Magic Eraser. I have since sadly discovered how easy it is to wipe off the eyebrows and eyelashes on these dolls, even if you think you're not rubbing hard. I'm not sure if she had eyebrows to begin with she was so dirty. I thought that her dress was hopelessly faded. However, the fabric is irridescent taffeta, woven with raspberry and gold and it changes color more dramatically than any such I've seen. Lovely! It did have one round hole which is covered by a fold of the dress. Soooo worth the price. Next is a Deluxe Reading doll. Is this a little sister to Penny Brite? Her face is pale. These were purchased at a yard sale at an old antique shop. The Duchess brand Shamrock doll was bought at a thrift shop. She is in better shape than any other I've seen. The Precious Moments is from a yard sale.

A cousin purchased this doll for me at a yard sale. She was quite dirty and was having a nightmare hair day. Now she's looking really cute. I'm still trying to find info on these dolls. I see them sometimes on ebay but can't find out any dates for them.

I couldn't pass up this baby buggy with the Coronet hubcaps and crown logo. I got a great buy at a flea market.