About Anne Hoffmann Expertise As a modest collector of appropriately vintage age, I'm good at identifying American vintage dolls (largely late 1940's-1970's) and have the interest and resources to research particularly challenging identifications. I would hesitate to make specific value estimates, however, as markets fluctuate and I am not a professional appraiser. I can recommend at-home repair methods and resources for particular repair instructions and supplies. I can differentiate repairs that will enhance or devalue the historical significance of your doll.
Experience For one, I am 58 and a life-long doll lover. I played with many of these dolls! I am an adult collector, hampered only by my inability to afford the high-end and rare collectibles. I do some doll identification for sellers on eBay and am in demand for local yard sale and church pricing of doll "finds". I like folks to be able to realize a good return for their offerings by correctly identifying their dolls for collectors. I am highly literate and like people as well as dolls! I was briefy a customer service associate for JC Penney (one of those "filler" jobs) and enjoyed resolving issues to customer satisfaction. I am retired and spend a lot of time studying dolls. On the down side, while having an excellent command of the English language, I am a poor typist.
Education/Credentials None for doll collecting. I was a draftsman and machine programmer for an architectural metal firm.
Question I lost my favorite doll in a move. I'm trying to find a picture at least. I believe the source was mail order, circa 1958. She was tall, at least 15". She had outfits - beautiful burgundy coat, Oriental lounging outfit, was a brunette ballerina with jointed feet and waist. Soft face. Any ideas? Thank you deeply.
Answer Oh, dear! I'm so sorry you lost a favorite old doll! Let's do hope that whoever discovers her appreciates her fully. I know there is no replacement for a personal treasure, but sometimes an item as close as possible to it goes a long way to filling the void. I have few of my childhood 1950's dolls, most also having been lost in moves, and have satisfactorily replaced some of the most important types.
If you want to find one much like her, it may be possible to do so on ebay, which offers many, many dolls of that era at sometimes very affordable prices, if you are willing to do a little reconditioning of these old playdolls. If you can afford a doll in excellent condition, you can frequently find a beautiful example.
But first, you have to identify the doll. You could just keep looking on ebay for a match under a "vintage ballerina doll" search. Or you could look at specific brands on a site like dollreference.com.
There were a number of ballerina dolls made during the 1950's. 18"-20" was a common size for these dolls, although there were some smaller, mostly in the 10 1/2"-11 1/2" range. There were a couple at 15".
The 19" Uneeda Dollikin, a doll with 16 points of articulation, including jointed ankles and high-heel (flexed arch) cast feet, and Ideal's Miss Revlon (in the 18" size only) had a ballerina edition. Valentine made a Dollikins competitor, Mannikin, with 12 points of articulation. She also has jointed ankles and high-heel feet. Valentine made several different ballerina dolls, some with jointed "en pointe" feet, including the Aida Toe Dancing Ballerina; Valentina; Concertina; Doreena, and the Walking Ballerina Holiday doll with wardrobe for the Sears Happi Time line of dolls.
Horsman made a ballerina Cindy doll and the pink-haired René ballerina.
Effanbee made a jointed ballerina doll with a walker mechanism.
And, of course, Madame Alexander made the incomparable Elise ballerina.
These may all be viewed on dollreference.com.
Mail order catalogue companies like Montgomery Ward, Sears and Speigel's, all sold dolls and toys in their Christmas catalogues through out the 1950's. Sometimes catalogues offered a doll with several different costumes as a promotional deal.(In those days of politically insensitive phraseology, the holiday catalogues were advertised as "Christmas" catalogues.) These old issues are in themselves collector's items and often hard to obtain. If you know the company name and the catalogue year, you could try to find a copy on ebay or other online venue.
There is a satin Oriental pants costume called "Lotus Blossom" that was available for the Dollikins doll. Many of the brand-name dolls had nice coats in various shades of red for Christmas.
I hope these suggestions help you find your doll.
