Fancy Ruffled Bonnet Head

A .beautiful small Bonnet Head Doll.  She is all porcelain and has painted socks and shoes. 

                    

Her bonnet is very detailed.  There is a pink

ruffle lining the under brim and a blue ruffle

making up the brim of the bonnet.

A side view of the bonnet.  Notice the ruffling 

of the wide brim.

There is a pink bow at the top of the blue ruffle.

Small .Bonnet Head

A small Bonnet Head as most were originally sold.  This head
is made of white porcelain and is very old.  I also have the hands
and I will one day pur her together and dress her,  

Snow Babies Are Also Bonnet Head Dolls

I had to include Snow Babies in my information on Bonnet Head Dolls.  Snow Babies are small figurines that are collected alsong with dolls.  They were originally made in the 1880;s in Germany.  They were primarily made as cake toppers.  The snow babb is small, all porcelain, and is dressed in a
white snow suit that looks as though it is covered in snowflakes.  The face has very delicately painted features.  In a short time after being made in Germany Japan began reproducing them in a much lower quality than the original German made Snow baby.  Snow babies have remained a popular collectable still in modern times.  In recent years Department 52 bagen to produce them in Taiwan and is still making them today.  I have quite a few Snow Babies and I am including some pictures of one of them.

Small Bonnet Head Dolls

There are two small bonnet heads in my collection that are small all porcelain dolls with painted eyes and theur shoes and socks are also painted on. This small one is an antique.  Therefore I dressed her in a crocheted dress. Her shoes and socks are painted on.












  

The cute doll in the red dress 
is a small doll that I purchased at a doll show many years ago  from a lady that 
had made her.  I love these dolls because they are unusual and add much interest to my collection.  This doll is not an antique, but a nice reproduction.

  

Little Women Dolls

 Last month Was my Birthday.  I usually do not make much of birthdays, but this one was a milestone.  My 75th birthday.  My husband and several of my grandchildren that live nearby were taking me out for dinner, which is a usual birthday treat.  Every one had asked my what I wanted for my birthday.  I have been very blessed to have my needs and a lot of my wants met.  The wants I still have could cost a lot of money to fill.(New car, remodel kitchen, trip to St Croix etc)
After I took my shower in preparation to go to dinner, I had some time to kill before getting dressed, so I turned on my computer and went to ebay to look at the dolls listed.  I was not going to buy any more dolls as I have been blessed with too many and have been giving them away and selling a few.  I just like to look at pictures of dolls, so as I am going through the pictures a listing came up with two of Wendy Lawton's "Little Women"  dolls, Beth and Jo.  This immediately caught my eye.  I have wanted this set of dolls since they were first released in the early 1990's.  The set I wanted consisted of all five dolls and they were very expensive.  I could not have bought even one of them, much less all five.  I usually do ot care for the newer porcelain dolls as the quality is poor, but these dolls were an exception.  Wendy Lawton is a very fine scurptor and doll designer and Ashton Drake dolls are of good quality.
The auction had only a few minutes left. So I bid on them and won the auction.  Several days later I purchased Amy.  Meg was going to be easy to find, but Marme was not,  It seemed she was available only with the set of five dolls.

                                      Amy, Beth and Meg

                                        Marme and Jo

So, I made the decision to buy the five doll set.  This was my gift to me for my 75th birthday.  When the large box arrived , the dolls were all neatly boxed,  they were just like new.  I immediatly unboxed them and put them on a newly installed shelf in my bedroom so I could love and enjoy them.  How can you love a doll in a box in the closet?

I have been enjoying them each and every day since they arrived.
I am still disposing of many dolls, but this set was worth the addition as I had wanted them so long.  The rock bottom price drop in doll prices has hurt all collectors, but the up side is the fact there are some dolls we can now afford that we have always wanted.

Mary Hartline

Mary Hartline. Another doll of the golden era of dolls using the P-
90, 91, 92 and 94 body by the Ideal Doll Company. Considered one of 
the early celebrity dolls, following Shirley Temple, Deanna Durban, 
Judy Garland, etc.
In Chicago is 1949, a television show debuted call "Super Circus". 
It was a variety show that included many circus acts. I can remember 
watching the show on Saturday mornings. The Hostess of the show was a 
beautiful blonde called Mary Hartline. She introduced the acts on 
the show. Mary was dressed in a red and white majorette outfit. Her 
wholesome good looks made her an instant celebrity.
Super Circus became an instant success and in 1952 moved to New York 
City. Jerry Colona joined the cast as host. There were many 
imitation shows that followed. One such show had a Hostess named 
Sally Starr. Sally Starr was also made into a doll, but did not 
enjoy the success of the Mary Hartline doll made by the Ideal doll 
company.
In those days in the fifties most actress were washed up by the time 
they reached the ripe old age of thirty-five. By age thirty-five 
Mary Hartline had also become a victim. Mary chose to graciously 
retire and marry millionaire Woolworth Donahue and moved to Palm 
Beach, Florida. She wanted nothing to do with her past celebrity and 
not wanting at a much older age to be compared with her youthful 
image. It is not known what she did in her later years as the lived 
a completely private life.
The Mary Hartline doll Manufactured by the Ideal Doll Company was 
dressed in majorette style dresses with long sleeves and written in 
white a band of musical bars and notes across the bottom of the 
skirt. Above this is written "Mary Hartline". Across the front 
bodice is a heart that has "Mary" written on it. She wore white 
majorette boots. The majorette dresses came in red (the most 
common), green, and navy blue with white writing. The dresses were 
also less commonly made in white with the above colors used for the 
writing. They were made of both cotton and satin. Still today, the 
Mary Hartline dolls are considered beautiful and quite collectable. 
A nice addition to anyone's doll collection. I have posted a small 
black and white photo of Mary Hartline in the Doll College photo 
album.

If you have a Mary Hartline and her boots are yellowed or dirty, 
polish them with a good grade shoe polish as you would your own shoes.

Mildred Seeley;s World Doll Day Proclamation

The First World Doll Day was established on June 14th, 1986 with a letter by Mildred Seeley. It was created to spread the universal message of happiness and love.

The day is not owned by any company, club or person and no fees, permission or obligations are required.

Many have celebrated the day by giving a doll to someone--a child or adult, but freedom of expression and celebration are left up to the individual. In the past, the day has been observed with exhibits, sales, seminars, doll shows and other doll related activities. Why not plan a special celebration in your community?

The logo was created by artist Boots Tyner and represents a child with a German bisque doll--her gift. The logo was designed for free use to promote this special day and may be reproduced..

Join in this wonderful celebration and time of sharing!

On this 28th year since, World Doll Day
 is actually on it's original date of June 14th, 2014.

Following is a copy of the   proclamation creating

World Doll Day.

Mildred Seeley;s World Doll Day Proclamation

So, you haven't heard of World Doll Day? This is not surprising. As of an hour ago, I hadn't conceived the idea. Bob Isbell, who does my printing, says when I ask for something to be done by tomorrow, "I'll make it hap­pen," This is what l would like to do with World Doll Day - make it hap­pen. I need only one thing - COOPERATION! I need cooperation of every doll collector, every magazine editor, doll newsletter, doll shop, library, dollmaker, mother, grand­mother, father, grandfather, and all the stray aunts and uncles. The first World Doll Day is the Second Saturday of June 1986. I am getting a doll ready to give. If you don't have a child to give a doll to - find one. There are many children with no dolls. Give a doll to a grownup child in the family or just a friend. 

Think of it this way, and ship a doll to another country. I have always felt that the common doll could be an instrument of world understanding. From the time I first started writing books on dollmaking, I had the hope that dolls would help make friends all over the world and develop a little love among all.
World Doll Day will also be a day for doll exhibits. It is my hope that all libraries will have a special doll exhibit; museums will publicize their doll exhibits and have special exhibits at this time. Magazines will put out special editions. Doll stores will put on selling campaigns weeks ahead. Dollmakers will make special dolls for World Doll Day. There will be doll competitions with World Doll Day awards, plaques and trophies.
The logo is made from artist Boots Tyner's doll representing a child. The child carries a German bisque doll to represent this doll col­lector's gift. Feel free to copy the logo or have more made.
Everyone can join the fun, as there are no fees, no permission needed, no obligations, nobody owns the day, no club, no company. It's a free-for-all. Take up the day, its ideas and fly with it. Let's do it now - World Doll Day.
If you think World Doll Day is a good idea, then appoint yourself a committee of one to do something about it - only then can it become a reality. Would you tell five people, ask them to tell five people and each of them tell five more and so on. World Doll Day's birthday is June 14, 1986.
Sincerely, Mil and Vernon Seeley
P.S. This letter may be copied, and copied, again and again, until the world knows about World Doll Day.