Pocket Dolls

 I was wondering what to post about next and this

little phrase popped into my head,

"Pocket Dolls".

What is a pocket doll?

A wonderful tiny doll that fits inside a pocket!

Yes Sophie, you are in!

At 8" you just made the cut.

I feel that a pocket doll should be no

larger than 8".

More importantly, a pocket doll is small 

enough to sneak into school.

I know none of you EVER did 

such a thing in your life.

But I did.

These were the pocket dolls of my childhood, 

 the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Little Kiddles.  

My favorite Kiddles came in a perfume bottle

and had a flower scent.

These dolls were called Kiddle Kolognes.

My friends and I collected as many as we could! 

Just looking at their pictures I can smell their scent!

We were constantly getting in trouble for 

bringing our Kiddles to school!

How fun having a tiny friend hidden in your book bag

or the pocket of your jacket.

My oldest pocket doll belonged to 

my Grandmother. 

She is a tiny china head doll.

She is just under 6 1/2" tall.

I believe she is from the early 1900s.

Next are these tiny bisque dolls, made in Japan.

Japan filled a void in manufacturing bisque dolls after WWI.

They are from the 1920s.

These inexpensive dolls were used for playing in dollhouses.

These two are both well under 5" tall.

These 2 dolls are fully jointed with wires.

You can see the 'Made in Japan' stamp.

You can also see the wired joints.

Also made in Japan during this same time,

are these two "Flapper Dolls" 

called so because they were made in the 1920s. 

You can see they have flapper hairstyles.

Both these little girls only have jointed arms.

These little bisque dolls were commonly found at fairs

or other similar events and given out as 

prizes at game booths.

At 9" Helena and Beth are just a bit too big

to be considered true pocket dolls.

But their two tiny Raggedy Ann dolls 

(handmade by me)

definitely make it into the club!

At just over 3" they would fit in any pocket.

My next size Raggedy Ann and Andy are 7" tall.

They would make very soft cuddly pocket pals.

These two cloth dolls are makeover dolls.

Cloth Doll Makeover

I found them in thrift stores and gave them

new dresses, new hair and even some new faces.

Both these dolls I made.  The doll on the left was a doll blank.

I embroidered her eyes and stitched on her hair.

The doll on the right I made from scratch.

Styling yarn hair is worth a mention.

There are several techniques for applying yarn hair.

I created all of these yarn hairstyles. 

Here is where these four little girls live.

They are dolls for my Compo girls.

These are 3" Lalaloopsy dolls. 

They are very recent and were popular when my daughter

was very much into the American Girl Dolls.

I particularly liked these little girls for their yarn hair.

They are dolls for our four AG dolls.

See if you can spot them in the AG Doll House.

American Girl Doll House

These are two 6" dolls from Colonial Williamsburg.

On the left is Sarah and on the right is Betsey.

They belong to our AG Doll Molly.

They sit on Molly's bed in the big Doll House.

American Girl Doll House

Last, but definitely not least, is my

Betsy McCall doll, Sophie.

Just under 8" she is an adorable

Pocket Doll.

Here is the whole gang. We hope you enjoyed 

meeting the Pocket Dolls!

Oh wait!

I almost forgot...

 

Remember these two little dolls from my childhood?

They are on their way to my house right now!

They brought back such sweet memories,

I could not resist adding them to 

my pocket doll collection!