Pre Toni - The Doll Before Toni

The Pre Toni came out before the actual Ideal  Toni doll was issued.  Both dolls are made from the same molds.  Ideal issued the so-called Pre Toni about 1945-46.  They are made of hard plastic just like the Toni's except they have mohair wigs and were not called Toni's.  As a matter of fact in all my research I have never seen a name for these dolls. Collectors have called them Pre Toni's. The Pre Toni has a lighter softer almost creamy complexion and is very beautiful.  They are very hard to find and are very expensive.  They come in the same sizes as the Toni's.  I have two Pre-Toni’s in my collection of Toni’s.  One Pre-Toni is seventeen inches, so is a larger doll.  She has beautiful green eyes and an auburn mohair wig. 

The other Pre Toni was on ebay about five years ago.  I did not recognize her as a Pre Toni.  She had a horrible haircut, was naked and dirty. But, something just appealed to me about her.  I put the listing on watch and forgot about her.  Several weeks later I was again on ebay and she had been relisted several times.  I made a minimum bid and to my surprise won her.

I knew as soon as I opened the box I had a Pre Toni.  She is the fourteen inch P-90 size.  She has a dark blonde mohair wig that was given a bad haircut by a previous owner.  I have not replaced the wig as I want her to be as original as possible.  I trimmed her hair to even it up a little.  It is still a bad haircut so she wears a hat.

The dress on the  seventeen inch Pre-Toni is made from one of the Toni Lady patterns with no alterations.  These patters are made in all the Toni Sizes.  The dress on the fourteen inch Pre-Toni is one I crocheted.

When the Gillette Company makers of the Toni Home Permanent approached Ideal about making a doll that could be given a Toni Home Permanent, Morris Mitchtom the owner of Ideal chose the doll I call the pre Toni.  The only change that was made is the skin color was made a little darker and I suspect a different paint was used to better withstand the permanent wave solution that came with the doll. A nylon wig was put on them that could withstand the rigors of being wet and given the Toni Home Permanent.  This is why almost all of the original Toni dolls have had a hair cut. When you went to the beauty shop to get a perm, you were given a hair cut.  So the little girls gave them a haircut.  All of my Toni's are original Toni's and have all been played with dolls and have had to be restored.

This is a picture of some of my Toni's .

ASTOLAT DOLL HOUSE CASTLE What a Doll Houae

As I cruise the internet,  occasionally there is information that immediately grabs my attention.  The information that stopped me immediately was an article stating there had been a nine foot dollhouse castle on display in New York City [December 2015] valued at eight and one half million dollars.  WOW... that is about the value of all the other doll houses I have written about previously.  To be more valuable than Queen Mary's doll house, the Farie Doll House,the fabulous Thorn rooms etc.  [See my previous articles.]  This Castle had to fabulous.  Also, I had never found any mention of it in all my research on dollhouses.  So I began to research.
WOW!!!! What a castle.

Astolat Dollhouse Castle is valued at 8.5 million dollars.  The Castle was built by miniature artist Elaine Diehl who resides in Sedona, Arizona.  It took over a year to do the concept of the castle and over twelve years to build.(from 1974 to 1987)  Ms Diehl enlisted other notable miniaturists to help with the construction of the castle and the many thousand of miniatures to fill it.  The castle was then displayed in Sedona in a shop owned by Ms Diehl until 1991 when she sold it for 1.1 million dollars and it was moved to New York.
The castle stands over nine feet high and weighs between 815 to 890 pounds depending on what is being displayed within the castle.   There are 29 rooms and it takes two days and twelve people to put together and take down the castle.
It was modeled and named after the castle in Tennyson's, Lady of the Shallot.  Since its completion in 1987, it has been continually updated with thousands of additional fine quality miniatures.  When the castle is setup and on display there are thousands more miniatures in storage than can be displayed at any one time.
Astolat Dollhouse Castle was purchased by  Lois Freeman in 1991 from Ms Diehl upon her retirement.  Mrs Freeman felt the castle was the most beautiful miniature structure ever made, in fact, "it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen miniature or not".
Mrs Freeman is an avid collector of dollhouses and has since purchasing Astolat Castle is constantly  upgrading with many unique one of a kind miniatures in addition to the original miniatures already in the castle when she purchased it.  It was put on public display for the first time in November and December of 2015 to raise money for children's charities.
I could continue with much more information, but a picture is worth a thousand words.  All the pictures that I have found appear to be under copy write so you will need to go to;  youtube.com and enter astolat castle view the castle.  Take your time and enjoy as it is truly beautiful.
Below are the links if you wish to type them in;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci7k52LZHVg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVSUPScy85U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgqg9-awJ6c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZBVojQSOxA

Five Year Anniversary

February 3. 2011 was the date I began Doll College/Beautiful Dolls as a blog .  Before I began the blog, I had written a monthly newsletter on Yahoo called Doll College of Doll Knowledge that I began October 11, 2001. The full name of the blog is Doll College/Beautiful Dolls.  The Doll College portion of the name came from the newsletter I wrote for The Savannah Doll Club, that contained doll club announcements and news which was usually about the history of a doll or how to make a craft for a doll.  Beautiful Dolls had been the name of my doll making business. When trying to decide on a name for my blog I combined the names.
Researching dolls has always interested me.  I love history and all dolls have history and a story to tell.
So, today marks five years of Doll College and I hope that the readers have enjoyed the information  about their dolls and will continue to enjoy Doll College. 

A Shawl For Your Doll Using An Antique Doily

Do you have some beautiful doilies that are family keepsakes or are just too beautiful to stay hidden in a box or drawer.   Well lets think a little differently how to use them.  I have many crocheted and embroidered pieces my Grandmother, an excellent needle woman made.  I have used them as rugs for some of my antique dolls to stand on.  placed over the base of a doll stand.  These doilies also make beautiful aprons and head coverings and even hats.  I never cut them as that would destroy them.  Instead fold and hand tack them to the desired shape.  See how easy it is to use a doily to accessorize a doll.

Making a shawl for an antique doll using an old crocheted doily. The shawl is a small crocheted doily that  a dear friend, now deceased gave me several years ago. .  I have included
a picture of the doily.  I simply folded it in half and placed it around my dolls shoulders.
A nice finishing touch and a good use of a sentimental gift from a fellow
doll collecting friend.

Viola!!!  See how beautifully the shawl enhances the doll.  The doily is still in its original condition, and every time I look at my doll, my friend fondly comes to mind.

Bonnet Head Dolls

Large Bonnet Head Doll

As those of you know that follow my blog know I love to gather
information about the dolls in my collection that I love.
Following is some information on Bonnett Head Dolls. 
 All of these dolls are in my doll collection

Bonnet Dolls
Bonnet Dolls are somewhat older than most dolls and are almost
all antique and  are very interesting.
 They are a type of dolls that were made 
with the hat molded on the doll head. There were made of china, wax, 
parian, celluloid, wood, composition, paper mache and straw. They 
usually have painted eyes. 
Many years ago no lady would appear outside her home without a scarf 
or a bonnet covering her head.  These dolls depict that bygone 
era.  Dolls have always represented the fashions of the era they were 
made. Many half or pincushion dolls also fit in this category of 
dolls as they often have a head covering. The bonnet styles can be 
very stylishly beautiful or very whimsical. There is one that I 
love. The doll has a hollyhock flower upside down for her hat. 
Unfirtunately I do not own one.   The 
hats can be a very large style to a small hat or scarf. 
The dolls and half dolls were made in a variety of sizes usually 
sixteen inches tall or less. The larger heads and arms were 
sometimes sold without a body and were to be placed on a cloth body 
and dressed by the owner'€™s Mother. Therefore the clothing styles are 
as varied as the many people that dressed them are. Many examples of 
these dolls although antique can still be found in original clothing at reasonable 
prices, although prices vary by area.


                                                  

          I have several Bonnet Head Dolls that I just love.  They have molded hair

                           and a hat that is also part of the mold.  I have one that is twenty inches tall
                           and is the largest of my Bonnet Head Dolls.  She is made of white porcelain
                           and has painted blue eyes.  She is very old and is considered an anitque.  I have 
                           probably had her in my collection for at least twenty years.  I don;t remembe
                           how I acqired her.  She has a leather body which is a replacement..  She is wearing a 
                                     hankercheif dress that is very pretty.  I have no idea how old the dress is. 

 

                                                       This is a side view of her head

                                             This is a back view of the hat.  The blue bow
                                              is very detailed.

                                             
                                               Notice the blue trim on the lace lining the ruffle
                                               under the front of the bonnet.

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.