Sunday, May 28, 2023

All the Patsy Dolls!

 I was looking up information recently about
the  Effanbee Patsy Doll line.
There is a lot of incorrect labeling 
of  Patsy Dolls. I've seen Patsy Ann labeled 
as Patsy Joan.  I've seen Patsy Ann labeled
Patsy Mae.  You see where this is going.

The Patsy Doll line came in various sizes.
This sweet group belongs to Donna L.
Patsyette 9", Patsy 14" and Wee Patsy 6".

With the help of my online doll club friends 
and their dolls, I wanted to assemble 
a record of correctly labeled photos
of the Patsy line of Effanbee dolls.

Composition Doll Collectors Club

Fleischacker and Baum, or F&B,
FandB, and eventually Effanbee,
 began making dolls
in New York City around 1910.
They created a realistically proportioned
child doll named Patsy who
was 14" tall. She became very
popular and even had a fan club!

PATSY

The Patsy Doll line was made 
by Effanbee  from  1926 - 1946 
and grew to include many 
variations in size.

I will start with the smallest Patsy's 
and finish with the largest.

Effanbee Wee Patsy is smallest  of
the Patsy dolls at 6" tall

Effanbee Baby Tinyette at 7" tall

Effanbee Tinyette Toddlers, 8" tall.

This is an Effanbee Babyette at 9" tall.
Baby Brook belongs to my friend Janet P.

This is a wigged Effanbee Babyette at 9" tall.
She belongs to Sylvia W.

All original pristine Patsyette 9" tall.
Thank you again Sylvia W.

These are my two 9" Patsyettes,
Helena and Elizabeth.

This is my Effanbee 10" Patsy Baby, Janie.
These babies are also called Babykins.

The composition Patsy dolls came 
with this metal heart hang tag.
They are now hard to find and
highly sought by collectors.

Patsy Jr. or Patsykins are 11" tall.
These two now live with 
my friend Sina Ann

Patsy 14" and Patsy Jr. 11" together
with their original outfits and tags.
So adorable Teri P.

This is a wigged 14" Patsy, and a first prize winner!
I believe these wigged versions were
sometimes called Patricia
Thank you for sharing Susan K.

Another adorable Patsy 14" doll
who belongs to Sherry S.

This is my friend Janet P's Patsy Joan
She is the first version made in the 1930s.
She is 16" tall.

Janet has named her Patsy Joan "Francine"
Janet made both Francine's outfits.
So adorable!

In the 1940s Effanbee released these new 
version  Patsy Joan dolls.
All composition they are actually 16.5" tall.
On the left is Charlotte and the right is Joan.

Charlotte's dress is original and I 
made a pattern from it to share.

My friend Karen K. made this 
version of the pattern.

My friend Jane G. adjusted
the pattern for her Patsy Ann.

This is my composition Joan next to 
my reproduction 2004 Joan.
As you can see the repro dolls are slightly smaller.

The reproduction dolls are vinyl and come 
with this cardstock hang tag. 
I frequently see people trying to pass these
reproductions off as composition!

Next is a gorgeous Effanbee Patsy Ann, 19" tall.
This sweet girl, is in all original condition,
 This Ann belongs to Donna L.
Lovely!

Another beautiful Patsy Ann wearing an
adorable dress and hat made by Susan K.

It was common for these dolls
to have matching
undergarments.
Thanks again Susan K.

Patsy Ann had a picture book.
This is my copy.

In the book, Patsy Ann is
photographed doing normal daily tasks
like getting dressed....

And giving baby a bath.

These last three dolls are the largest of the 
Patsy dolls and are much harder to find.

Two beautiful 22" Patsy Lou dolls
these two belong to Naida Lynn HW.
I love a doll on skates!

Another view of Patsy Lou.
This lovely girl belongs to 
Naida Lynn HW.

A visual comparison of the 3 largest dolls.
The tallest Patsy is Patsy Mae at 30" tall.
Effanbee Patsy Ruth is 27" tall,
And Effanbee Patsy Lou is 22" tall.

The most interesting thing I found out while
creating this blog post is that my 19"
doll, that I assumed was a Patsy Ann, is actually
an American Character Sally doll!

Donna L's Patsy Ann on the left, and my AC Sally on the right.
With the two photos side by side you can
definitely see the difference. 
The hair line is slightly different as well as
shape of the face and the set of the eyes and mouth.

In my defense, Sally Ann was one of my first 
composition dolls. She was listed as a 
Patsy Ann and I never questioned
her identity until very recently, but
I still adore her!

So, I now call my doll Sally Ann.
I have called her Ann for so long I couldn't
just change it completely!

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Portrait of a Doll Collector

 This week I would like to introduce my
Doll friend, Anna.

Anna lives in New Zealand, in a small town near Auckland.
Anna says, "We have the best of all the worlds 
here; near the beach, the city and the countryside." 

Anna, similar to myself, started collecting dolls
through her daughter's dolls.
When her daughter started to outgrow dolls, 
Anna was in the process of selling 
them, including her own childhood, 
"Mary Quant Daisy Doll" 
when she realized she liked these 
dolls and why was she selling them?

I have never heard of the Daisy doll before,
so here is a photo of a Mary Quant Daisy Doll.

Anna says she is about the same size 
as a Skipper doll, originally released 
in the 1970s. I can definitely see why
Anna would want to keep her
Daisy doll!

Anna and I are both members of the 
Little Miss Revlon Doll Club

Little Miss Revlon and Friends doll club.

These are Anna's 10" fashion dolls.
Back: Vogue Jan, Vogue Jill, American Character Toni, 
Miss Nancy Ann and Miss Ginger.
Front: Two Madame Alexander Cissettes.
Anna made all these beautiful gowns!

Anna's two Madame Alexander Cissettes
wearing outfits she made.
I love Anna's backgrounds!

Miss Ginger, Vogue Jill and Vogue Jan.

American Character Toni and Miss Nancy Ann.
What an adorable tea set!

This precious composition baby is a
Pedigree baby doll from the 1930s.

Pedigree Toys is a company started in 
Exeter, England. 
Known mostly for dolls and plush animals.
Overtime the company spread to Ireland, 
New Zealand, Australia and 
South Africa.

This is what the doll looked like when Anna 
found her, poor baby!
Anna restrung her, reglued her wig,
fixed her hair, replaced eyelashes
and refreshed her face paint.

Look at her now! Isn't she beautiful?
Well done Anna!

Anna enjoys restoring and remaking,
not just dolls, but quilts and
doll clothes. She loves sewing, gardening,
shopping in thrift stores, 
scrapbooking and walking.
She hates cooking. Me too Anna!

These are pieces of a larger quilt that was
made by Anna's Mum.  Anna remade
the pieces into this doll-size quilt. What a great
way to save some sweet memories.

Anna created this lovely small quilt
from the center flower that her Mum had
 painted. Her Mum was going to throw it away!

This is Anna's Patsy Joan and Patsy Ann.
They are both reproduction dolls.
They are wearing dresses Anna made
for them.

This is my Patsy Joan, Charlotte, 
wearing her restored vintage dress.
Another doll friend asked if I would 
make a pattern from this dress?

Anna used the pattern I made from
Charlotte's dress to make these
adorable matching dresses!

How cute are they!?!

Anna and I both enjoy shopping thrift stores,
or "Recycle or OP stores" as they are called in 
New Zealand.
She too has made some adorable finds, like
this tiny doll bed with a lovely 
miniature quilt!

These next two dolls are from the 
late 1950s or early1960s.
This sad little girl is a Pedigree Cuddles.
Anna replaced her eye lashes and
bleached her cloth body.

Look at her now!!
Anna styled her hair and made
this adorable dress for her.

This doll is marked SADI, which Anna 
believes is a South African Doll Company.
She was very dirty, but seemed to 
be wearing her original dress.
Always a great find!

Here she is all clean and refreshed.
Just beautiful.

This last doll also came from a thrift store,
or recycle store.
Anna saw this baby doll and walked past her.
Anna walked all around the store, but
came back and looked at her a second time.

Anna decided to take her home!

Can you believe this is the same doll?
She is a Thumbelina Snoozie from 1964
made by Ideal.

Anna made her outfit from an online
 image of her vintage outfit, so talented!

What an adorable doll.

Here are some before and after shots.

Ideal Thumbelina Snoozie before and after.

Pedigree Cuddles before and after.

SADI Before and After.

And my absolute favorite!
Pedigree composition baby, before and after.

Thank you Anna for sharing a
little about yourself, your home and your dolls.
I loved seeing your dolls and all the outfits
and quilts you have sewn. 
I especially enjoyed doing a little research and 
learning about dolls from other parts of the world.
Thanks again Anna!!