Everyone Loves Holly Hobbie Dolls--a Piece of Americana
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| Annabelle the cat and Jack the dog are intrigued by the colorful little rag dolls. |
Holly Hobbie Dolls--a Quaint Piece of Americana
Launched in 1975, the Holly Hobbie doll celebrated her 45th birthday in 2020, but her story is much older than that. She may have been licensed by Knickerbocker in 1974 for a line of rag dolls, but Holly Hobbie's roots dig far deeper into our country's past.
The old-fashioned rag doll caught on with the last of the hippie generation who were wearing peasant skirts and Gunne Sax prairie dresses in the 1970s.
See The Intriguing History of Holly Hobbie Dolls.
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| A variety of Holly Hobby dolls in various locations |
With her whimsical bonnet, calico patchwork dress and apron, Holly Hobbie harkens back to the pioneer days Lauran Ingalls Wilder wrote about in the "Little House on the Prairie" books. Since I had a trip planned to Oklahoma, I packed Holly and her friends up for a road trip to photograph the dolls on the prairie.
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| Hollie Hobby and friends on the prairie in Oklahoma City |
Holly Hobbie and her friends look right at home next to this creek on the flat prairie land of central Oklahoma. Note the iron red shale and the white iron reduction circles in front of the dolls below.
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| It may not be Walnut Creek but the Holly Hobbie dolls are enjoying looking at the iron reduction spots in the red shale beside this Oklahoma creek |
Holly Hobbie Dolls Through the Years
The year following Holly Hobbie's 1975 launch was the US Bicentennial year, so Knickerbocker released a Bicentennial Holly Hobby Doll in 1976. Wearing a white bonnet, blue top, red skirt, white apron and red shoes, the Bicentennial doll is sitting next to Robby Hobbie on the right in the photo above, and is far left in the photo below..
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| Holiday Holly Hobbie Dolls: Bicentennial, Holiday and Kelly Girl |
Also in or around the 1970s, Knickerbocker made the 12" Kelly Girl Rag doll dressed in kelly green (pictured above). According to some ebay sellers, she is a part of the Holly Hobbie line as another holiday doll, joining the the Bicentennial Holly Hobbie and the Christmas Holly Hobbie dolls to represent St. Patrick's Day. However, a seller on Etsy, TheCopperDaisy states the doll was issued in the 1970s as a promotion for Kelly Girl Services. Whatever the case may be, she displays well with the Holly Hobbie girls and is clearly a close relation.
The Christmas Holly Hobbie doll was released later. It wasn't until 1988 that the Holiday Holly Hobbie Collectors Edition Exclusive with her red bonnet and red and green dress (pictured above) was released as a special edition by Those Characters from Cleveland for the Zayre retail chain. She came with a clear ornament and was Hollyberry scented! Many of these Christmas dolls were tucked away in closets, still in their boxes.
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| 25th Anniversary Collectors Edition Holly Hobby Doll |
Other Holly Hobby rag dolls have shown up through the years such as the Learning Curve Christmas Holly Hobbie in 2005, dressed in red velvet, and the 25th Anniversary Collectors Edition Holly Hobbie with a box date of 1993 made by Meritus Industries (pictured above).
In four more years we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Holly Hobbie doll. Surely someone will pay tribute to this American classic with another anniversary doll for collectors to enjoy.
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