Fashion Dolls 101

  Knickerbocker Sleepy Head Dolls While a number of dolls have been called sleepyhead dolls, Knickerbocker Toy Company made the official Sleepy Head dolls from the 1940s through the 1960s. Made of soft, plush terry cloth, these dolls were an early plush toy descended from  rag dolls  and perhaps somewhat influenced by Steiff stuffed toys. Instead of sewn or drawn faces, the first Sleepy Head dolls featured hard plastic faces that later changed to rubber when it was discovered the plastic faces cracked off and became choking hazards. While it isn't hard to find a Sleepy Head doll with a rubber face, the hard plastic ones are much more difficult to find, because the thin plastic broke so easily.  (The very-much-loved 70-year-old Sleepy Head doll on the left above lost its hard plastic face man yeas ago and is now truly a "rag" doll.!} Some Sleepy Head dolls had pockets in the back. Others had music boxes. Still others had plain backs. Knickerbocker Toy Company Sle...

Historic, Colorful & Quaint Rag Dolls & Cloth Dolls Are Fun to Collect & Display An old and historic toy, rag dolls have been around for a long time. Made of cloth and stuffed with leftover fabric or other materials,  they are one of the oldest children's toys in existence.   Dolls made of cloth date back to antiquity.   The  British Museum  is home to a  Roman  rag doll , found in a child's grave in Egypt, dating from the 1st-5th century AD.  A collection of various rag dolls Rag dolls are still very popular today.  One only has to do a search on   Ebay  to see the myriad varieties of rag dolls, cloth dolls and plush dolls available to purchase online. Colorful rag and cloth dolls enjoy a sunny day There are rag dolls with painted faces and embroidered faces. Some cloth dolls have painted faces or eyes, noses and lips sewn on out of cloth or even paper. Hybrid soft-sculpted dolls have cloth bodies with faces m...