Companies D-G » Vintage Doll Collector

Honey doll by Effanbee (1949-57)

Jan 212013

Effanbee’s hard plastic Honey doll in one of her many day dresses.
Photo courtesy of eBay seller luving_dolls

Honey was Effanbee’s flagship doll during the brief hard plastic era. She was sold in many variations, under a few different names and in numerous outfits. Honey is one of the classic dolls of the 1950s.

Beginning in 1949, Honey was offered in 13.5,” 16″ and 18″ sizes. She was sometimes called Honey Girl during this early period. These dolls are all hard plastic, jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips. They have sleep eyes with brush lashes, and mohair wigs.

Effanbee’s Honey as a Majorette.
Scan from the 1950 Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog.

In 1950, a 21″ size composition (not hard plastic) Honey was sold with flirty eyes and a human hair wig.

This is the 21″ all composition version of Honey. She has flirty eyes and a human hair wig.
Scan from the 1950 Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog.

In 1951, the Tintair Doll was introduced. This is Honey with platinum blonde Dynel hair meant to be “tinted” with special redhead and brunette hair coloring. The smallest size doll was now 14″ tall. All Honey dolls had synthetic hair after this point. The Saran Yarns Company used Honey in their ads promoting the many uses of their Saran fiber.

There was also a special series of 18″ Honey dolls in 1951 with couture outfits by the famous Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli.

In 1952, the Honey Walker doll was introduced. She has a walking mechanism which also turns her head, but is otherwise identical to the regular Honey. Both versions were produced through 1957.

In 1952, Honey portrayed both Cinderella and Prince Charming. He is the only male doll made using the Honey mold.

14″ Honey as Prince Charming, the companion to Cinderella.
Photo courtesy of eBay seller luving_dolls

In 1954, 15″ Honey was offered in a carrying case or steamer trunk with extra outfits.

Honey got jointed knees and ankles in 1956. This doll is 20″ tall. The harder to find 15″ doll has jointed ankles, but not knees. She could wear high heels or ballerina shoes in addition to her regular flat Mary Janes and majorette boots. Honey sold in high heels was called Junior Miss, a Doll with Glamour.

In the last year of Honey’s production, 1957, she was offered as Honey Ballerina. She has vinyl arms which may or may not be jointed at the elbows.

Effanbee’s hard plastic Honey doll was sold in a variety of long gowns. Her hat may not be original.

Dolls by Ralph A. Freundlich, Inc.

Celebrity, Character, Composition, Freundlich No Responses »

Oct 252012

Ralph Freundlich started in the doll business in New York City during the 1920′s and in 1934 relocated his manufacturing operations to Clinton, MA. The company made composition dolls including mama dolls, celebrity dolls, storybook characters and military dolls. Their products were mostly cheaper quality but have personality. Most of their dolls are unmarked. After a fire destroyed the factory, the company filed for bankruptcy in 1945 and their assets were sold.

“Doll Collectors Manual 1967″ published by the Doll Collectors of America, Inc., has a wonderful collection of photos of manufacturing operations taken by Richard Merrill at the Clinton plant in 1938. Anyone interested in how composition dolls were made would appreciate seeing them. This book out of print but often available from online sources.

Note: these dolls are all unmarked, with the exception of Baby Sandy. Click on a small photo to see a larger version.

Baby Dolls
Several different models made, with painted hair and eyes, including 12″ Baby Bunting in oval box, 8″ or 12″ Nursing Doll in trunk, 9.5″ baby with basket, bedding and scale.

14" Little Orphan Annie doll by Freundlich

Little Orphan Annie was made in at least three different sizes by Freundlich. The 14″ version pictured at left looks a bit different than the smaller dolls. Go to the Little Orphan Annie page to learn more. Photo courtesy of Withington Auction, Inc.

Feather Weight Doll
28″ tall, composition head, forearms and lower legs, stuffed cloth body, sold in assorted dresses with matching bonnets and panties.

Baby Sandy
This doll is the easiest Freundlich doll to identify, marked “BABY SANDY” on the back of the head. Made in 8″, 12″ and 16″ sizes, it is an all-composition portrait doll of the ’30s child star Sandra Henville. Made with either sleep eyes or painted eyes, molded hair. Baby Sandy is usually a toddler doll, but there was also a bent-leg baby version. Right photo courtesy of Withington Auction, Inc.

Goldy-Locks
Composition head with big blue side-glancing eyes, blonde mohair wig in ringlet curls, pink plush body.

Trixbe
11″ Patsy type girl doll, all composition, has bent right arm and straight left arm, third and fourth fingers molded together, molded short bob hairstyle, unmarked. Both white and black versions were sold.

General Douglas MacArthur doll by Freundlich

General Douglas MacArthur
18″ portrait doll of the World War II hero has a molded hat, military uniform, right arm bent to salute. Photos courtesy of Withington Auction, Inc.

Military dolls
15″ All composition dolls with molded hair and hats, dressed as Soldier, Sailor, WAAC and WAVE. All came with shield-shaped paper tags pinned to the clothing.

Animal dolls
Including 12″ rabbit, 9.5″ cat dressed as Puss in Boots, Monkey, and probably others, with human-type bodies (e.g. hands instead of paws).

Pinocchio
16″ doll with compo head and body, wooden limbs, brightly painted with red hair, blue eyes, pointy nose. Wears orange pants, green jacket with orange collar and cuffs.

Red Riding Hood set of dolls by Freundlich

Red Riding Hood set
Each 9.5″ tall, simple cotton clothing, no shoes, sold in a lithographed schoolhouse box.

Three Little Pigs set
10″ pigs (each identical except for the colors of their plaid dresses), 9.5″ wolf has a different head mold than the Riding Hood wolf, with shorter snout. Sold in a boxed set.

Goo-Goo Eye Dolls
14″, 19″ and 27″ dolls with composition heads and stuffed cloth bodies. Flat celluloid eyes with moving pupils. Hair ribbon or hat stapled to head, printed fabric body. Available in white and black versions.
15″ Topsy and Eva Goo-Goo dolls were more elaborate with flesh-colored bodies, separate outfits and wigs.

Ventriloquist dolls and marionettes
A variety of ventriloquist dolls were made, including 14″ Dummy Clown and 20″ Dummy Dan, with composition heads and arms, cloth body and legs, large painted side-glancing eyes, moving jaws. 12″ Charlie McCarthy-type is all compo, jointed only at the jaw. 17″ Marionettes have compo head, hands and feet, wooden dowels for legs and moving jaws.

Dummy Don
All composition, 10″ tall, similar to Dummy Dan but without the jointed jaw.

Learn More:
Composition & Wood Dolls and Toys by Michele Karl More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay.	Collector’s Encyclopedia of American Composition Dolls 1900-1950 by Ursula R. Mertz More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay.	Collector’s Encyclopedia of American Composition Dolls 1900-1950, Volume II by Ursula R. Mertz More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay.

Dolls by Dee an Cee (Canada)

Dee an Cee, Vinyl 8 Responses »

Oct 152012

Dee an Cee’s 17″ Cindy was sold in the late 1950s in a variety of outfits, including a bridal gown.

Dee an Cee was a Canadian doll manufacturer from 1938 to 1964. The name was derived from the first letters of the last names of the two founders, Max Diamond and Morris Cone. The company motto was “Quality above all”.

Through the 1940s, the company made composition dolls, mostly babies, including Snuggles, Sweetums and Little Darling. They briefly experimented with rubber dolls before switching over to vinyl beginning in 1949.

Many of the their products were licensed from U.S. companies and made from the original molds. They held the Canadian licenses to produce Mattel’s Chatty Cathy and Alexander’s Marybel. Sometimes the dolls names were changed; American Character’s Baby Dear was sold by Dee an Cee as Dream Baby, while Mattel’s Scooba-Doo became Kookie in Canada.
The company produced their own original dolls too. Mandy and Dusty, designed by Morris Cone, were black brother and sister dolls with realistic features and molded hair, first produced in 1956.

Dee an Cee was the first Canadian doll company to advertise on television. After the firm was sold to Mattel in 1962, manufacturing in Canada was gradually discontinued. The name was no longer used after 1964.

Dee an Cee dolls show a variety of markings, including D&C, Dee an Cee, Dee and Cee, and DEE & CEE.

More Dee an Cee dolls:

Learn More:

Dolls of Canada
by Evelyn Robson Strahlendorf
More info from Amazon
or
Find it on eBay.

Effanbee Composition Dolls

Composition, Effanbee 2 Responses »

Oct 052012

In the early to mid-twentieth century, Effanbee made some of the world’s best and most popular composition dolls, including Grumpy, Bubbles, the Patsy family and Little Lady.

The company was started in 1910 by two businessmen who operated neighboring shops on Atlantic City’s boardwalk. Bernard Fleischaker and Hugo Baum began by selling toys and dolls; within a couple of years they were having doll heads made especially for them, and by the 1920s were making their own composition parts. Although the company was officially called Fleischaker and Baum, they began using the trademark EFFanBee (from the first letters of their last names) by 1915, and eventually that became the name of the company.

Read about rubber, hard plastic, and vinyl dolls by Effanbee here.

Click on a photo to view a larger version.

In the teens and early twenties, many Effanbee dolls were composition copies of popular German bisque head dolls, like Grumpy, who was produced in several sizes and variations. The doll at left is Baby Grumpy.

Coquette is another copy of a German bisque doll. The same doll was also sold as Naughty Marietta.

The kid bodied doll has a composition shoulder head, arms and lower legs. She dates from 1920. This is the type of doll that had been imported from Germany, and became unavailable during World War I.

Bubbles was a huge success for Effanbee beginning in 1926. Bubbles has an interesting composition shoulder plate that extends down under her arms. She was sold as a bent leg baby as well as a straight leg toddler. As with many early Effanbee dolls, a lot of variations exist. Bubbles was sculpted by Bernard Lipfert, who also designed Shirley Temple for Ideal, the Dionne Quintuplets for Madame Alexander, and Effanbee’s Patsy.

In 1928, Effanbee came out with a doll that was so original she would vault them to the forefront of the business. The doll was 14″ Patsy, and she was a sensation. Patsy was so popular that Effanbee introduced several other “family members” – similar dolls in different sizes, including 19″ Patsy Ann, pictured far left, and 22″ Patsy Lou, pictured near left. Patsy was extensively copied by other manufacturers. She also has a place in history as the first modern fashion doll, for whom extra outfits were sold.Photos courtesy of Withington Auction, Inc.

Skippy, a comic strip character created by Percy L. Crosby, was advertised as Patsy’s boy friend. At first he was made using Patsy’s body, but later versions have a cloth torso. Skippy was often sold in uniform, including as an aviator, baseball player, soldier and sailor.

9″ Patsyette (far left) & 6″ Wee Patsy are two of the smaller members of Patsy’s extended family. They were produced mostly as girls, but occasionally as boy-and-girl sets.

Photos courtesy of Withington Auction, Inc.

Patsy Babykin was the first all-composition baby in the Patsy line, in 1932. Prior to her introduction, there had been a cloth-bodied Patsy Baby available briefly. The all-compo version is marked Patsy Baby but was advertised and sold as Patsy Babykin.

Photos courtesy of Nancy McKee and Withington Auction, Inc.

Patsy Babyette (far left) and Patsy Tinyette are the other babies in the Patsy family. Patsy Tinyette is marked Baby Tinyette but was never sold under that name by Effanbee. She was sold initially as a bent-leg baby, and later as a straight-leg toddler.

Tinyette photo courtesy of Lisa Hanson. Check out Lisa’s eBay listings.

Patricia, introduced in late 1934, was advertised as Patsy’s older sister. She is 15″ tall and has a different face from the other Patsy family girls. There were also dolls sold with Patsy marked heads and Patricia marked bodies; these are known as Patsy-Patricias by collectors.

Clippo the Clown (1937) is one of a series of marionettes designed by Virginia Austin. The others in the series are Emily Ann, Liza Lee and Lucifer. They have composition heads, hands and feet, with wooden body parts connected by cloth tape.

The Historical Series of dolls are 14″ tall and represent different periods in American history. Pictured at left is the New York Settlement, 1625 doll. They were produced in 1939.

Photos courtesy of Withington Auction, Inc.

14″ Suzanne (pictured) and 12″ Suzette are all-composition girl dolls made by Effanbee in the early 1940s. Suzette can have either painted eyes or sleep eyes. The same doll was also used for Effanbee’s Portrait Series.

Brother and his companion, Sister, were wartime dolls that had composition heads with cotton floss wigs and cloth bodies. A larger girl doll was made with the same construction as well.

Butin-Nose, sometimes called Betty Butin-nose, is an 8″ all composition doll with molded hair. She was sold in various outfits as well as international costumes, and was sometimes sold in pairs as a boy and girl.

Photos courtesy of Withington Auction, Inc.

Candy Kid from 1946 is a 14″ all-composition molded hair toddler, who may be dressed as a boy or girl. A black version was made as well. Candy Kids were also made in vinyl in the ’50s.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Hanson. Check out Lisa’s eBay listings.

Mickey had a composition head and hands, and a cloth body. Some dolls had compo legs as well. Mickey was made in various sizes and often had flirty eyes. The same doll was also sold under the names Tommy Tucker and Baby Bright Eyes. Mickey had a twin sister too, sometimes called Katie and sometimes Janie, who wore a matching outfit. In the ’60s Effanbee sold a vinyl Mickey, who was a completely different doll.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Hanson. Check out Lisa’s eBay listings.

In 1935, the company entered into a contract with independent doll artist Dewees Cochran to design the American Children series of dolls. These dolls had hard rubber arms with separated fingers, with the rest of the doll made of composition. Effanbee continued this construction with their Little Lady (pictured left) dolls that sold through WWII.

Read about rubber, hard plastic, and vinyl dolls by Effanbee here.

Sources for this page include:
Effanbee Dolls The Formative Years 1910-1929 by Patricia N. Schoonmaker More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay.	Collector’s Encyclopedia of American Composition Dolls 1900-1950 by Ursula R. Mertz More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay.	Collector’s Encyclopedia of American Composition Dolls 1900-1950, Volume II by Ursula R. Mertz More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay.

Half Pint doll by Effanbee 1966-1980s

Effanbee, Vinyl No Responses »

Sep 222012

Half Pint is a sweet vinyl toddler doll who was a mainstay of Effanbee’s line for many years.

Half Pint #6228, circa 1970. Notice the spelling of her name on the tag.

Body Construction
Half Pint is an all-vinyl doll jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips. She has rooted hair in various shades and an adorable closed mouth smile. Her most notable feature is her black pupilless side-glancing sleep eyes. The first year only white girl dolls were offered. Beginning in 1967, both boys and girls were sold in white and black versions, all made from the same head mold. Half Pint is usually seen as a girl doll.

Half Pint #6252 ballerina from 1975.

Clothing
Half Pint was sold in a few different outfits each year, mostly simple play clothes, party dresses and sleepwear. In 1970 she was offered in a gift set with extra clothes and accessories. Beginning in 1971, she was often part of Effanbee’s theme groupings, which featured several different dolls in their line wearing matching outfits.

Effanbee Half Pint doll

Packaging
For the first few years, Half Pint’s wrist tag spelled her name “Baby 1/2 Pint,” although the catalog always listed her as “Half Pint.” Her window box has changed over the years with the rest of Effanbee’s line. Initially she was sold in a pink box. For much of the ’70s, she had a box with a blue lid with pink and blue on the bottom. Later she was sold in a white box with a mustard-colored lid.

Learn More:

Effanbee: A Collector’s Encyclopedia, 1949 thru 1983
by John Axe
More info from Amazon
or
Find it on eBay.

Older Entries

Learn More:
Dolls & Accessories of the 1950s by Dian Zillner More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay.	Effanbee: A Collector’s Encyclopedia, 1949 thru 1983 by John Axe More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay.	Hard Plastic Dolls by Polly and Pam Judd More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay.

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