Jeannie Dibble Rag Dolls

Rag dolls are dolls traditionally home-made from spare scraps of cloth and other materials. The faces are usually painted or sewn on. According to Wikipedia, they are one of the oldest children's toys in existence. 

I recently came across these two charmers left by the side of the road in Oklahoma City on Big Trash Day. Although I do own a couple of rag dolls, I don't really collect them, but I couldn't abandon these two cuties there, so I rescued them.

One is a fanciful Halloween doll with straw hair, and the other is a festive Christmas doll with wool hair, clutching her own small doll in one hand.

Once I got the girls home, I discovered they were signed and tagged. The dolls were signed in 1995 and 1996 by Jeannie Dibble. One tag is Dibble's own tag and the other is from a store in Stillwater called Kottage Shoppe which sold country crafts made in Oklahoma. 

I couldn't find any more info on Dibble Dolls online, but I did find a reference to Barbara Murat of Fleece and Unicorn from 1985 here. According to the Dibble Dolls tag, Fleece and Unicorn made the hair for some of these dolls, including my Christmas doll’s red locks, from hand-spun wool.

If any readers know more about these Dibble Dolls, I would enjoy reading your comments and learning more. They are a lovely tribute to the art of sewing, spinning wool, and crafting and will be treasure  souvenirs of my time in Oklahoma.