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Bobleheads A doll for the Sports guy or the person to remember.
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Greetings!
This newsletter will continue our look at the roll that dolls have played over the years. We will look first at the Boblehead and this strang newcommer to the doll industry. A real departure of the little girls choice for a baby or sweet faced doll to play with, we have a collection of baseball players, football players and other athletes and even politians. Then we will take a look at some of the dolls through history in coments by Dorothy DiGiacomo. More on Dorothy at the bottom of this newsletter. Diane & Dave Trumbauer
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The Bobblehead
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 The bobblehead doll is a type of doll with its head (which is often oversized in comparison to its body) connected to its body by a spring, so that tapping the doll will cause the head to wobble. This type of doll is also known as a 'bobbing head doll', 'wobbler', or 'nodder'. These dolls date back to ancient Japan and China, where they were made with flexible bamboo strips instead of springs. Today's dolls are more directly descended from German 'nodders' dating from the late 18th century, which were made from ceramic or bisque, and ranged in height from about 6 to 8 inches. These dolls were popular in America until around 1930, when interest in them started to fade.
Modern bobblehead dolls first appeared in the 1950s, and were initially made of papier-mache, and then from ceramic. Although the ceramic dolls were popular, they were fairly expensive, and were considered mainly collectors' items. Eventually, however, manufacturers started making the dolls from plastic, allowing for a cheaper manufacturing process, which made the dolls more affordable.
Early dolls were made to resemble animals and popular cultural characters, and were often used as advertising icons and automobile accessories (one very popular such doll was that of the dashboard 'hula girl'). Around 1960 Japanese-made papier-mache 'baseball' bobbleheads began to be imported into America. These early pieces were generic figures representing teams and their mascots, rather than individual players.Typically, the dolls for all teams would look the same, except that they would be wearing the uniform for the particular team being depicted. During this time there were a few dolls made up to represent some of the more famous players of the day, but they differed from their respective team dolls only by the uniforms they wore. Unfortunately, few of these papier-mache dolls have survived without some sort of damage (usually cracking or chipping), although those that have survived in good condition are now valuable collectors' items.
 In the 1970s, bobbleheads were made of ceramic materials, and became popular for other sports, as well as for popular cultural and cartoon characters. However, by the mid-1970s, interest in the dolls had again died out, and very few new dolls were made for nearly two decades, when they became popular again.
In the 1990s, the dolls began to be made from plastic, which greatly reduced their cost, and facilitated the making of many variations of dolls to represent specific cultural figures and other notable people. After 2000, many different variations of the dolls began to appear, and a number of companies started to offer dolls that could be customized to the buyers' specifications. Modern dolls that represent specific individuals closely resemble those individuals, even including such things as headbands, scars, tattoos, and hair styles.
The greater diversity of the dolls, and their decreased cost, have, once again, made them a very popular item, and have rekindled interest in collecting them. Today bobblehead dolls have become an integral part of our culture. They have truly become one of the world's most recognizable cultural icons.
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Source: Free Articles
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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| Look Back at the History of Dolls | |
A final look at dolls and collecting through the years.
In the pastr few newsletters we have looked at some of the developments and creations of dollmakers at various points in history. One of our readers, who has written about this history has consented into putting together a look back, to include some that we missed.
DOLLS IN GENERAL - The word doll was first used about 1750. There was no such word in earlier days. In the American colonies they were called puppets, babes or babies, and little ladies. Dolls at that time was made to look like girls or women. No one is sure just who made the first doll. They were believed to bring good luck to their owners. No child was aloud to touch them, because they were thought to have magical powers.
FOREIGN DOLLS - In ancient language of India, the only word for dolls meant "little daughters." Greek & Roman girls played with dolls until shortly before marriage. The Greek girl would leave them shortly before marriage. The Greek girl would leave them on the altar of Artemis, the godess of unmarried girls. The Roman girl played took them to the altar of Diana. The girls did this to show they were no longer interested in play things. Best Roman dolls were made of clay. Strips of carved wood would serve as arms & legs.
DOLLS BEGIN TO CRY! - In 1825 the mechanism doll was invented by Johann Mallzel of Germany. It was used until 1900. Beginning in 1900, dolls were made like babies and cried "Ma Ma." The best dolls were made in Nuremberg and Sonneberg between 1870 and 1914. Kathe Kruse was one of the first to make dolls look like children. Madame Lenci became famous for her felt dolls, many dressed in gay costumes. France and England also made good dolls.
GOOD LUCK DOLLS - Were thought to make people well or bring food or rain.
PADDLE DOLLS - They were the oldest and they were made by the Egyptians 3000 years ago. They can be seen in British Museums in London. They were made from pieces of wood shaped like a canoe paddle. When an important person died in Egypt, a doll was buried with him. They looked like barbers, bakers, and etc. They were supposed to be friends and servants for the dead person.
DOLL SIZE FIGURES - These were found among old Roman and Greek tombs. Most of these are believed to be funeral figures. They were usually made of wood and clay. The oldest Greek play doll was a clay rattle in the form of a woman.
FASHION DOLLS - Were first used in France 600 years ago. These were large dolls dressed in latest fashions. These "fashion babies" were sent to other lands to show what fine clothes the French made. They took the place of fashion magazines.
HANDMADE BY CHILDREN*
Swedish girls - make rolled up birchbark dolls.
Hungarian children - make rag dolls and poppy dolls
Russian girls - make painted woodsmen cut from wood
Bermuda girls - make dolls from banana stalks for body & large round nuts for heads
South Africans - make corn cob dolls
England and many other lands - dolls are baked from bread dough
Mexicans - make rag or wooden dolls
Chile and Brazil - wrap yarn around wire to make dolls
Peru girls- make dolls from woven woolen
Eskimos -- make dolls from skins of animals
* The above printed from the World Book Encyclopedia by Field Enterprises-Educational Enterprises.
I wrote these for inclusion in the convention book as far back as 1976 & there is more to it. Its under my name of
I hope you can use it in you newsletter. There are additional articles, HAND MADE DOLLS by CHILDREN.........DOLLS IN GENERAL.........FAMOUS COLLECTORS & UNUSUAL DOLLS & more.
Happy Dolling...............Dorothy Di Giacomo
To all your readers, I also have my dolls for sale. And I have Doll TRIMS for trees including Effanbee Doll trims.
If you would like to contact Dorothy, you can eMail her at ...
DottyMacch2u@aol.com Dorothy Di Giacomo |
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| A Doll Story from one of our readers,,, |
We will pay COLD cash for your "Doll" Story?This doll story as well as the feature story in several of our past newsletter were sent to us by one of our customers. We find in almost every case, the story behind the story is usually the best or most interesting story. If you have a story about a doll or a Teddy Bear that has been in your family, write it up and send it to us. If we decide to use it in a future newsletter, we will pay you cash for your story. If you have ever wanted to be a writer or a blogger. Here is your chance. Just put doll story in our eMail and we will take it from there. the email address to use is...
Click here to compose an email about your doll story. If you have a digital picture in .jpg format, attach it to your email.
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We are located in Homosassa, FL, but we are a mail order doll hospital. Our shop is located in our home, which is great for commuting to work, but it is hard on the drive up business. Deed restrictions restrict us to work that comes to us via UPS and the Post Office. With the price of gas these days, it is likely less expensive to mail or ship it anyway. Enclose your phone number and we will contact you just as soon as your doll arrives. Average turn around time is two to three weeks.. Sincerely,
David Trumbauer
Dolls by Diane |
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