Susie Sunshine

Susie Sunshine

Effanbee often made dolls clothed as majorettes, starting with their composition dolls. This 1961-1981 all vinyl 18 in. majorette has sleep eyes and freckles. She was also sold as Susie Sunshine.

Magic Hair Crissy 1977

 Magic Hair Crissy, 18 in., 1977

This is Magic Hair Crissy, 18 in., 1977 by Ideal. She no longer was made with the the growing hair feature but came with five hairpieces instead. Her figure was changed to that of an adult fashion model.

Sasha Morgenthaler

Swiss artist Sasha Morgenthaler

This unmarked 16 in. rigid vinyl doll is in a class by itself. Known as Sasha dolls, they were designed by Swiss artist Sasha Morgenthaler from the 1940s until her death in 1975. After first making dolls in her studio in limited numbers, mass production was started in the 1960s by Gotz in Germany and Frido (later Trendon) in England. Morgenthaler wanted the dolls to represent an image of universal childhood, so from the beginning of mass production, the vinyl was coffee-colored so the dolls would not appear to belong to any particular ethnic group. In the early 1970s, black dolls were introduced, first in an extremely dark complexion, then later in a lighter complexion. Caucasian boy dolls were known as Gregor, black girl dolls as Cora, and black boy dolls as Caleb. The one shown was found at a flea market with the hair cut off. With a blonde wig and Tyrolean outfit added, it’s now just called Sasha.

Santa and Mrs. Claus

Mr. and Mrs. Claus

These smaller 8.5 in. Mr. and Mrs. Claus were also created by the Annalee Mobilitee Co. and have similar features. I made the elves living in the toadstool house and also the girl in the center with her sister.

008_570

 

German Angel

German Angel

The face and hands of the traditional 10 in. German angel are made of wax. Her gown is arranged over a paper cone so that she can stand atop the Christmas tree. The manger scene was made of straw in Poland with Mary and Joseph fashioned from corn husks. You can just see the back of baby Jesus’ head.