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The Knickerbocker Toy Co., founded in 1927, is undoubtedly best known for its Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, which it produced from the early 1960s through the 1980s. The company made many other cloth dolls during its long history, including Disney characters such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, cartoon characters such as Little Lulu, Little Orphan Annie and the Flintstones, and girl dolls with molded faces similar to the ones produced by Georgene and Mollye. The company also produced some wonderful composition dolls including the characters from the comic strip Blondie, Disney's Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Holly Hobbie was a big seller for Knickerbocker in the 1970s, in both cloth and vinyl versions. Knickerbocker was bought out by Hasbro in 1983, but they continued to produce dolls under the Knickerbocker name, including the wonderful line of Magic Attic vinyl play dolls designed by Robert Tonner in the 1990s. In 2001, Marie Osmond and her husband purchased Knickerbocker and changed its name to Marian LLC. That company later became part of Charisma Brands.
Sources for this page include:
- "Cloth Dolls 1920s and 1930s" by Polly Judd
- "The Collector's Encyclopedia of Cloth Dolls" by Johana Gast Anderton
- "Collector's Encyclopedia of American Composition Dolls 1900-1950" by Ursula R. Mertz
- "Composition & Wood Dolls and Toys" by Michele Karl
- "Collector's Guide to Dolls of the 1960s and 1970s" by Cindy Sabulis
Copyright 2006 by Zendelle Bouchard.
