A World Of Dolls

Thursday, July 5, 2012

The Melitta Dolls Of Edmund Edelmann

Established in Sonneburg, Germany in 1921, Edmund Edelmann’s doll company was known as a supplier for doll hospitals and most especially the Melitta doll. The company was, however, short-lived which only lasted in 1933. Edelmann acquired its doll heads from famous doll makers like Schoenau & Hoffmeister and Armand Marseille. The Melitta doll was still Edelmann’s famous creation which was distinguished by its five-part composition toddler body frame and baby facial features.

According to Marion Kaulitz in his historical documentation about the Art Doll Movement, Edelmann was credited to have a hand in revolutionizing the doll manufacturing industry in the early 20^th century. Although it lacked some details and concrete evidence, Edelmann was nevertheless popular for the finely made Melitta dolls.

Here are Edelmann’s dolls common features:

1) Bisque Character Baby – This doll was a 5-piece body frame made of composition, was jointed at the shoulder, hip, and neck, had a mohair wig, bisque socket head, sleep eyes with real eyelashes, open mouth with teeth showing, pierced nostrils, and generally marked with the label: “Melitta A. Germany M” or “Melitta”.

2) Composition Character Baby – This was made of all composition body and socket head, its baby body had bent limbs, painted and molded hair or with wig, open mouth with teeth showing, sleep eyes, some may had pierced nostrils, these were typically marked with the label: “A.M.”, “Melitta Germany”, “Mine”, or “SPBH Mona”.

At present, a good condition Edmund Edelmann doll dressed in its original outfit can cost around $1,000 to as much as $1,800. An additional $500 is also added to the pricing for an Edelmann doll with a jointed toddler body. Of course, the bisque made dolls would cost much higher than the compositions ones. The typical sizes of an Edelmann doll are 16 inches, 20 inches, and 24 inches tall. Prices for the dolls may also naturally decrease but not as much if the damage is caused by slight normal wear and tear and slight damaged parts that were well-repaired.

However, the price could go down as much as half if the damage was on a bisque body part even if it was repaired. Nevertheless, collectors still find it acceptable if the doll’s finger is missing, or have been mended properly. Damage on the doll’s body that had been repaired properly is also still acceptable to most collectors and may not tremendously decrease its pricing. The other collectible quality why most collectors would look for Edelmann’s dolls is that there were only few of these dolls made as attributed to its short-lived small business.

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The Monica Doll Studio Of Mrs. Hansi Share

Mrs. Hansi Share established the Monica Doll Studio in Hollywood California in 1941. Mrs. Share wanted to create dolls that have rooted hair so that children can easily play with them without worrying of breaking it. So she produced a rooted hair doll using human hair onto a cement composite doll head. She never liked the glued on wig on the doll head. The first doll she created was named Monica, thus Mrs. Share was the only one to have manufactured a hard plastic or composition doll with rooted hair.

She patterned the doll’s facial features after the Hollywood actors of their era. The dolls had pouty closed lips and feather eyebrows. The doll’s body were also leaner and longer compared to the other dolls made by doll manufacturers of that time. Soon enough, other doll characters followed such as Veronica, Joan, and Rosalind. The first batch of these dolls with cloth bodies measured 21 and 24 inches tall.

Later, other sizes were offered such as the 11-inch, 17-inch, and 21-inch tall dolls with a new composition doll body. The composition doll bodies were created from 1941 to 1948. The doll’s head and body were usually unmarked but the markings could be found on their original packaging. A paper hang tag was also included with these dolls which had a print “Monica Doll Hollywood”.

Most of these dolls were sold in upper class department stores such as the Nieman Marcus and F.A.O Schwarz. The all composition Monica dolls was fully jointed with its scalp rooted with human hair. Thus, children can have fun brushing the Monica doll heads without detaching it from its head. The dolls also had painted eyes, closed mouth, and painted facial features. These dolls were also dressed in elaborate outfits usually with styles fitting for that era. Some dolls also had a widow’s peak hairstyle and some came with bows on their hair.

Another doll was also introduced in 1949 and her name was Marion. The Marion doll had the same design as the rest of the Monica doll lines and she was already made of all hard plastic with sleep eyes. Nevertheless, she still had that rooted hair design patent with painted facial features and sleep eyes. At present, collectors will have to scour the internet and doll conventions for these rare doll pieces. Since the Monica dolls were already considered expensive when these were first launched, the value of these dolls could really soar over time especially due to its rarity.

The Mystery Books For The Adventurous Young Girls

The American Girl Doll Company has been known not only for their dolls but also for the books that accompany their character dolls. Most of the books depict the back story of the character so that children will know their dolls better as well as learning the values that are embedded in the stories. For the historical doll characters, their books introduce children to the rich American History and the different adventures and tribulations each character has to go through during those times.

On the other hand, the Girl of the Year doll characters’ stories are set in modern day America. The modern girl dolls’ fictional stories are creatively done by different authors. Each story carefully touches on modern day issues concerning children and their families as well as the many problems in our modern society. However, the American Girl bookstore also has a collection of mystery books which is a great alternative to the classic Nancy Drew books.

Here are some of the mystery books from the American Girl dolls:

1) The Silver Guitar: A Julie Mystery – This follows the story of Julie and her friend TJ. Julie is set to discover TJ’s secret while in the midst of lending a hand for the sea birds of San Francisco during an oil spill that affected their habitat.

2) The Light in the Cellar: A molly Mystery – This book is written by Sarah Masters Buckey who is a two-time Agatha Award nominee. The story leads to the discovery of something mysterious that is happening in Oak Knoll Hospital which is the establishment that Molly and Emily is volunteering as magazine delivery girls during World War II.

3) A Spy on the Home Front – The story follows Molly’s search for clues about the trouble her aunt unknowingly brought to their home front in the time of war. There is also a “Looking Back” section at the end of the story that has some interesting historical facts during the era.

4) A Thief in the Theater: A Kit Mystery – This book is also written by Sarah Masters Buckey and it uncovers the mystery about the behind the scenes drama of some famous stars while Kit and Stirling are doing volunteer work at a local theater company.

5) Secrets of Camp Nokomis: A Rebecca Mystery – The story follows Rebecca’s discovery of a mystery at a summer camp. Rebecca soon finds out what her bunkmate is hiding as a girl goes missing in the camp.

The New Online Destination For Young Girls

There is a new place online where young girls will surely find fun and entertainment along with their favorite American Girl dolls. The Innerstar University is where you can enroll your kids and explore this virtual world which is accessible upon purchasing a new “My American Girl” doll. Young girls can create their own dolls and enroll in the university to learn new things and discover fun activities at the comfort of their homes. The Innerstar University is a virtual campus where children can join games and rewarding activities which will teach them several useful values in life such as self confidence and proper ethics.

The company promises parents that their kids’ registration in the university does not collect and share important information about its young members. Communication is also done through pre-scripted email correspondence. The registration for the virtual university is open for girls 8 years of age and above. Parents and children who are interested about joining the online community of playful kids can check the “Frequently Asked Questions” section of the website to fully get a grasp of how this facility works.

Each child that is enrolled in the university has her own student number. All you need to do to sign up is get hold of your doll’s star code which allows you full access to the site. There is also a preview access where you can initially tour the place and check for its features. Some of the university’s activities are games, projects, awards and recognition, making friends, room decoration, and many others. Children can participate in projects and check out its activities and schedule to complete a certain assignment.

For those who also want to expand their doll collection, there are sections in the virtual community where kids can purchase their favorite dolls and accessories with parents’ guidance. Remember to check the rules and the FAQ section before establishing an account. One reminder is that you cannot delete and start over your doll account once you have completed the enrollment. Should you wish not to play with it anymore, you can just simply not login into the account and go back to it whenever you choose.

Once you are enrolled with a start code, the member will have full access to the facilities. There are other access rights such as the preview access and the visitor access. The visitor access is done with a code distributed through marketing campaigns for young girls to play in the online doll university but only for a limited time.

The Second Girl Of The Year Doll

The Girl of the Year series may have a rough start with the Lindsey Bergman doll. Nevertheless, the release of the second Girl of the Year doll in 2003 led to better sales. Kailey Hopkins was only introduced two years after the Lindsey doll was launched. Kailey’s character is a beach loving who does body surfing in her spare time. Her hometown is in California where she and her father frequent a local restaurant by the beach. She wears a braided long blonde hair with brown highlights. The story line in her book was focused on saving the local community’s tide pools when a new development was rumored to be built.

On her books, Kailey is described as an athletic girl who wears an aqua colored sundress and a pair of beach sandals. The Kailey Hopkins doll’s face mold is a classic mold and its skin color is Caucasian. She also has a pair of brown eyes and comes with her own accessory set which include necklace, bracelet, anklet, faux seashells and starfish, Frisbee, paperback book, and a bag. The Kailey accessory and outfit collection was available for purchase at that time. These items were also separately sold:

1) Kailey’s Snorkel Set – The set comes with an underwater camera with sticker film, mask, fins, and a snorkel.

2) Boogie Board – It comes with a purple board sleeves, boogie board with wrist leash, and a lip balm contained in a board wax jar.

3) Paperback story book – This was written by Amy Goldman Koss.

4) Kailey’s Beach Towel

5) Sandy the Dog

6) Wet Suit and Bikini

Kailey and her collections were only available for a year from summer of 2003 until July 2004. Today, her collection has been archived. All of her accessories, clothing, and doll sets are no longer available except for her story books although there is still the secondary market for those who want to add Kailey’s items in their collections.

The Kailey doll collection does not contain a lot of items compared to the more recent Girl of The Year dolls. However, American Girl doll collectors are searching for these hard to find retired items. There are around a third of a quarter retired items of the American Girl doll products which include the dolls, the outfits, furniture pieces, and doll accessories. The only venues where doll collectors and enthusiasts would find the archived items are in eBay and other gift shops online.