No history of vintage dolls could be written without Horsman. A native of New York City, E. I. Horsman began retailing toys and novelties imported from Germany in the mid-1800s. As the new century dawned, his company began producing its own cloth and composition dolls.
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The Babyland Rag series of dolls ranged from 11″ to 30″ tall. They have hand painted faces and mitten style hands. Most of them, like this black doll called Topsy, are 14″ tall. They first appeared in Horsman’s 1893 catalog and were produced for over 30 years. |
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The Babyland Rag Topsy-Turvy doll has two heads – a white doll called Betty, and the black doll, Topsy. The long skirt hides the head on the opposite end. |
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In 1907, Horsman began offering Babyland Rag dolls with lifelike lithographed faces. Another style with a three-dimensional molded face was outsourced to Albert Bruckner, a New Jersey dollmaker. Photos courtesy of Withington Auction, Inc. |
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The composition Campbell Kid dolls, adapted from illustrations by Grace Drayton, were a huge seller for Horsman. The black doll is the earlier version from the 1910′s and ’20s with cloth body and compo hands. The white doll is the 1940s all-compo version. Photos courtesy of Withington Auction, Inc. |
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Jackie Coogan was a child actor of the 1920s who starred in the film “The Kid” with Charlie Chaplin. Horsman made two different versions of him in composition. This version has Jackie’s well known pageboy hair style, the other one has just a standard head that was also used for other dolls. |
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Baby Dimples was a big seller for Horsman starting in 1927. She is a bent-leg baby with a composition head and limbs, and cloth body. There was also a version with a celluloid head imported from Germany. A straight-leg all composition toddler version called simply Dimples. |
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Dolly Rosebud, introduced in 1928, has a composition shoulder head and limbs, with a cloth torso and a human hair wig. She was made in multiple sizes from 14″ to 24″. This doll’s dress is tagged “HORSMAN DOLL MF’D in U.S.A.” |
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Babies have always been a huge part of Horsman’s lineup. This flirty-eyed baby, advertised in the 1942 Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog, has eyes that move from side to side as well as open and close. |
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These babies, advertised in the 1950 Montgomery Ward catalog, have hard plastic heads and softer vinyl bodies. |
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Horsman used the name Gold Medal multiple times over the years. This Gold Medal Boy, also called Fairy Skin Boy was sold in the 1950s. He has a one piece body jointed only at the neck. There was a corresponding girl doll as well. |
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High-heeled Cindy was a major part of Horsman’s lineup in the late fifties. She was available as a 15″ or 18″ doll with a stuffed vinyl body, jointed only at the neck and shoulders, with ball-jointed elbows; and as a 21″ doll with a rigid vinyl body, jointed at the hips as well. She was sold in various costumes, including as a bride and as a ballerina. She was also sold under other names including Bright Star. See also: |
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There was a 10″ version of Cindy as well, similar to Ideal’s Little Miss Revlon doll. She was available in a variety of outfits and trunk sets. |
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Horsman’s Family Trio Set includes a glamorous mother doll with two children. Read more about them on the Family Trio page. |
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Horsman’s Jackie was sold in the early ’60s to capitalize on the popularity of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Go to the Horsman Jackie page to learn more about her. Photo courtesy of John Medeiros. |
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This doll in the 1963 Sears Toy book is unnamed, but she appears to be Horsman’s Peggy Ann, a vinyl sub-teen girl doll with a sweet smile. She was sold for several years, often in sets like this with extra outfits. |
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This is Miss Top Knot from 1964. Read more about her here. Photo courtesy of Charlene Blank. |
One of Horsman’s most popular vinyl dolls is Poor Pitiful Pearl, a homely doll who wears a floral dress with a bright red patch on the front, and a matching red head scarf. Originally produced by the Brookglad Corp. in the ’50s, Horsman began making Pearl in late 1963 in 18″ and later 11″ size, and brought her back again in the 1970s.
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This Action Bed toy was a tie-in to the Disney film “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” released in 1972. It includes a 6.5″ doll representing the character played by Angela Lansbury in the movie. A hard to find item, it is also sought after by Disney collectors. Photos courtesy of Lisa Hanson. Check out Lisa’s eBay listings. |
Horsman began making ventriloquist dolls in the 1970s, and continued with its successful lines of play dolls. In the 1980s, the company struggled, but eventually found renewed success by focusing on niche markets and adding collector dolls to its lineup. Several of Horsman’s early composition dolls were reissued in vinyl versions. The new millennium brough new challenges, and today, the company now known as Horsman Ltd., manufactures fashion dolls for collectors exclusively.
Learn More: |
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 Horsman Dolls the Vinyl Era 1950 to Present by Don Jensen More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay. |
 Horsman Dolls the Vinyl Era 1950 to Present by Don Jensen More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay. |
 Horsman Dolls by Patikii Gibbs More info from Amazon or Find it on eBay. |
Copyright 2012 by Zendelle Bouchard
You have done a wonderful job with this web site, congratulations. Keep up to wonderful work…..
Thank you!
I have a Horsman bride doll with id # 82 on back of her head noone can tell me what she is worth can u help?
It is impossible to give a value without seeing the doll, because condition is everything. And Horsman used the 82 mark on more than one doll. But generally, unless she is in mint condition in her original box, she will be worth $30 or less. Brides are not valued as highly as dolls in other outfits, because there are so many of them. Thanks for writing.
I recently purchased a G.G. Drayton composition 13″ black girl doll. She has a cloth body with plastic head and arms. She has molden hair and 5 pigtails of black cloth hair with white bows. Her face has the dsmr campbell soup kids look with the eyes off to the side with a pug noise and red lips in a smile. Do you have any information on date and value of this doll? I can send pictures if you would like. Not sure if the dress and booties are original as there are no tags. The dress is blue and white check with a white collar, white apron and white booties. Thank you in advance for any assistance. Joan
Joan, check your email and attach photos to your reply. I need to see the doll to figure out who she is. Thanks for writing!
I have a Horsman Softee Strutter. She has green eyes. I am trying to find
out when she was made. The box has no date on it and I don’t want to
remove her from the box.
Thank you
Softee Strutter was made from 1968 to 1975. Thanks for visiting!
I was not raised in US and learning about American dolls. I like small dolls . i just rescued a 8 1/2 Horsman light vinyl doll with rooted hair-lots of them. The also has painted eyes and side seeing. it says something like Horsman GG on her neck. She id sooo cute and reminds Tammy. Any ideas who she is?
She might be Jane, one of the children that goes along with their Mary Poppins doll. Jane looks just like Tammy’s little sister Pepper. I’m not sure what her markings are. Another small doll Horsman made with painted, side-glancing eyes is Angie Dickinson from the American TV show “Police Woman.” Thanks for writing!
I have a Horseman marked “17 Horsman” on her back. She has a young girls body with flat feet and one leg slightly shorter than the other. She will stand by herself with one foot slightly in front of the other. She has a hard plastic body and a soft vinyl face. She has rooted, short reddish hair with a side curl over her right eye, open and close eyes and a sweet red- lipsticked mouth, not pouty. I can find nothing on her. She was given to me one Christmas as a child between 1957-1963-65. I think she might have been a bride doll but I am not sure. Can you tell me anything about her?
Anna, your doll is called Peggy Ann. She was sold in various sizes, hair colors, hair styles and outfits from 1959 until the mid-sixties. There was a black version of Peggy Ann too.
I have a baby doll marked H. with a C in a circle and C. She has a compo head, hands, and legs with a cloth body with crier. She has an open mouth and brown glass sleep eyes. She is 16″ long with pink organdie dress and hat with white cotton slip and diaper with pink trim. I think she was made by Horsman, but can’t find any info on her. She looks to be all original. Comp in great shape. Many thanks for your help.
Ann, check your email and attach pics to your reply. Thanks.
I have a Horsman doll the has a string in her back to pull to play music and looks like she also can be fed and wets.
Horsman made a pull-string Musical Softee Baby in 1981. There’s no photo in the book so I’m not sure what she looks like, or if she has a drink and wet feature. Does the date sound right?
That sounds right ..I found her up in one of my closets this past week( I was just now putting up Christmas boxes… shame on me…) so i wanted to fix her up. Crochet her and another doll new outfits. I guess she was my granddaughters’ as she lived with me a while when she was litle. Thank you. God bless you.
I’m sure your granddaughter would love to see her doll again, all fixed up!
I cannot find anything on this doll. She COULD be a Horseman Doll – but ???. But I can’t find one like her at all. She is 13 inches tall, and in BEAUTIFUL condition! Her ‘magic skin’ is in wonderful condition – no deterioration! She has a squeaker or cryer that WORKS. Her body is rubberized vinyl (?) and stuufed with something, so that it feels like a real baby! In other words, she is NOT hollow, but squeezable with cotton batting filling or something inside her body. “Regular” vinyl head. NO wires inside.
She is marked on her BACK, 37 V-4 and an A near her little bottom. Beautiful golden/hazel ‘glass’ eyes that do not sleep. She does NOT sit. You can stand her and lay her down, but I would not force her legs to sit – I’d hate to damage her skin. Cute baby-fat dimples on her legs and arms, elbows & knees. She weighs 11 ounces. 13 inches long.
I don’t know if she came originally looking like a ragamuffin with her Saran hair all chopped, but that is how I found her.
I have pictures read to send!
Celiene,
or Google until you find one like yours that has her original tag or box to identify her. Sorry I can’t be more help but there are still several manufacturers whose dolls are largely undocumented. Please do write back if you find out who she is.
the A mark on lower hip was used by Arrow, Deluxe Reading and Allied. Deluxe Reading’s stuffed vinyl dolls were generally much larger than yours, so we can probably eliminate them as a possibility. There is very little information out there on Arrow and Allied. Your best bet would be to search eBay
We have several vintage Horsman dolls, most are still in their original boxes, that we would like to find the value of. Please advise how this can be accomplished.
Thank you!
When somebody asks me what the value of their doll is, I search on eBay, then look at the completed listings to see what dolls have actually sold for. You can easily do the same since you know the dolls’ names. Click here
to go to the Horsman category in the Dolls section. Just enter the doll’s name in the Search field at the top, and when the results come up, click on “Completed Listings.”