1800's WOODEN JOEL ELLIS DOLL

Vermont Novelty Co. made wooden jointed dolls, and stopped making dolls in 1873. The hands and feet were cast lead; the arms and legs were turned rock maple. The mortise and tenon joints fit tightly so she could pose. The head was pressure formed and painted. Usually the head is in poor condition, for any moisture would cause paint to pop off due to swelling.

MD. ALEXANDER DOLLS

The 1st photo shows vinyl Cleopatra, 2 1930's compo Wendy Ann's with swivel waists, and vintage compo Snow White (only Md. Alexander with no cheek coloring - "face white as snow"). The 2nd photo is a 6" compo. Double click on photo to enlarge.

MD. ALEXANDER CLOTH DOLLS - VINTAGE

Jill gave an interesting and informative program on vintage Md. Alexander cloth dolls. The first 2 photos are Md. Alexanders, and the 3rd is not. You can tell an "imposter" by looking at many dolls and noticing the molding detail and the way the face paint is applied. The clothing is marked, but the dolls are not. The vintage Md. Alexander cloth dolls are sought-after, and bring high prices on ebay, though they are continuing to make them.

DEBORAH JENKINES AND HER DOLLS

Here is Region 9 Director Deborah, ready to give her program "German Dolls for the French Trade". The second photo shows her holding her favorite of the group, a Cote Boehm (French? - someone tell me), dressed in a linen coat dress with soutache braid. The third photo is a German doll that looks French, and the fourth is a French doll, the famous Nursing Bru or Bebe Teteur with original clothing and silver and rubber pacifier (note open mouth). This doll's clothing is all original. Deborah made many of the outfits herself from old fabrics and laces. These 3 dolls were made in the late 1800's.

GERMAN DOLLS FOR THE FRENCH TRADE BY DEBORAH JENKINES (Double click to enlarge)

Here is Deborah's handout from her program of the same name.

GERMAN DOLLS FOR THE FRENCH TRADE,May Joint Meeting

Here are our UFDC (United Federation of Doll Clubs) Region 9 Director Deborah Jenkines' French and German dolls she brought as examples for her talk "German Dolls Made for the French Trade" for our May 16 joint meeting with all 4 Birmingham dolls clubs in attendance. We had 29 at the Homewood Library meeting to hear Deborah's interesting and informative talk about the German porcelain factories copying the beautiful French dolls and selling them as French. This occurred during the late 1800's and early 1900's. Most of these dolls were unmarked; the French marks were erased. There were no copyright laws at that time.

We appreciate Deborah's visit from Georgia. Many volunteers in the 4 Birmingham, AL doll clubs helped make this meeting a success; i.e.,Birmingham Doll Club of Alabama, Magic City Doll Club, Doll Study Club of Alabama, and Kollectors' Choice.

RARE BLISS DOLL HOUSE

Thank you, JoAnn, for sharing your wonderful and rare lithographed wooden Bliss dollhouse with us. Bliss is printed on the door. Remember to double click on the photos to enlarge. Bliss made wooden products for 100 years, and began making wooden toys in the 1870's. Click on this URL to find out more about these houses:

http://www.cynthiahoweminiatures.com/bliss.htm

B'HAM DOLL CLUB OF AL ANNUAL DOLL SALE

On April 17 the Birmingham Doll Club of Alabama held our Annual Doll Sale. We had good weather, good comraderie, and met some new doll collectors, as well as greeting more advanced collectors. We raised funds for breast cancer research with sales from our charity table.

2 CARVED HITTY DOLLS

These are carved by Sharon. The big one, 10.5", is not quite finished. She was started when Sharon was carving in the Ozarcs. The small one, Hitty Flossie, has had everything done to her - like Joan Rivers, as Sharon says. Beautiful carving, Sharon.

TWO HITTY DOLLS ENJOYING BIRMINGHAM SNOW

Here are 2 Hitty dolls that Sharon carved enjoying the recent Birmingham snow. Girls, where are your coats? Nice carving job, Sharon!

Go to http://www.hitty.org

to find out about the original Hitty doll and the book that was written about her.

PHOTOS FROM HUNTSVILLE LEEANN LUNCHEON

Here are Billye, Lydia, and Martha arriving.

Here is Martha with Leeann and her Valentine dress, across from a nice lady who moved from New Orleans after Katrina. She and her daughter (2 down) make porcelain dolls. Leeann creator, Denis Bastien, is seated next to her.

Wilma is trying to decide what to buy next - Leeann clothes, shoes, or earrings.

HUNTSVILLE ROAD TRIP - LEE ANN EVENT

Bastien doll clothes for sale

I think Wilma likes her doll and outfit!

Special valentine dress for LeeAnn

Denis Bastien, LeeAnn creator, happily signs dolls for purchaser after his interesting and informative presentation about how he got started with his doll company Affordable Designs. An interesting aspect of his business is working with the Chinese factories that make and dress his dolls.

HUNTSVILLE DOLL CLUB LUNCHEON

Here are photos from our road trip to Huntsville for the Valentine's Day LeeAnn Event. The luncheon was
enjoyable, the hat-making workshop fun, and there were sales displays of items for LeeAnn, Denis Bastien's doll that was our favor. The photos show some of Mr. Bastien's dolls for sale, 2 of our members enjoying the day, a table of delighted girls from a private girls' school, and one special find (valentine dress for LeeAnn). The 68 dolls offered today are one-of-a-kind, and Mr. Bastien kindly signed our dolls on their fannies. LOL His dolls are offered for sale at the Paris Doll Museum, and were featured there in an exhibit, with dolls posed in the windows. I have seen this important museum, and am quite impressed that they sell his dolls.

MINTY EBAY FINDS

Here is a 16.5" hard plastic 1950's walker with "160" on her neck. She may be LuAnn Simms by Roberta Doll Co. LuAnn was a singer, and one of her recordings is "Little Rag Doll." The 1915-1922 compo on the right is 15" Effanbee's "Baby Dainty," all original,complete with skates. Her body is cloth. They are both all original and in wonderful condition; dolls like this hold their value.