Ruby Lane Past Times Newsletter for July 2004

Past Times
The monthly newsletter from Ruby Lane Antiques, Collectibles,
Fine Art, and Artisans
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Welcome to Past Times!

IN THIS ISSUE:
o Collecting Dollhouse Dolls By Lynne Wright of Glzrbug Dolls
o Share Past Times with A Friend

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COLLECTING DOLLHOUSE DOLLS BY LYNNE WRIGHT OF
GLZRBUG DOLLS

I just can't seem to get enough of these little cloth dolls.
Just imagine the travels they made in a pocket, purse, or small
hand: it's amazing that they survived. With the soaring
popularity of the small cloth storybook dolls and antique
miniatures in general, these little dolls are being scooped up
by miniature and doll collectors alike. Among my favorites are
the modern cloth dollhouse dolls made by Grecon, Tomac,
Caho/Caco and Erna Meyer.

Telling the dolls apart takes a little practice, but even a
novice can quickly learn the differences by studying marked
examples. Grecon dolls made by Margarete Cohn of England have
rounded, stuffed button-like faces, wool wrapped arms and legs,
and metal shoes. Their faces are simply painted or stenciled
with a line smile and round rosy cheeks. Tomac of Scotland dolls
also have button-like faces, but they are flatter and their
metal shoes have a seam running down the middle, and the wool on
the Tomac dolls is coarser and wider, too. Grecon and Tomac
dolls were scaled for Barton Model Home dollhouses, and are
popular among my U.K. customers.

Then there are the molded head German dollhouse dolls by
Caho/Caco and Erna Meyer. Caho dolls have metal hands and shoes
with rubber/composition heads that have a tendency to craze. As
the dolls evolved after the mid 1960's, the company became known
as Caco and the hands and feet became plastic. The newer head
material is also more durable.

Erna/Erma Meyer dolls of Germany do not have metal feet. The
older dolls have cardboard soles and the newer dolls have molded
plastic feet/shoes. Faces are stocking net over a hard material
base, and limbs are wrapped with stocking net. The stocking net
of the later dolls is synthetic. They were imported into the
U.S. by companies such as the Enchanted Dollhouse. The quality
of these dolls is very good and they were fairly expensive when
new. Erna/Erma Meyer dolls are often mistaken for those made by
Kathe Kruse.

With the exception of Tomac, these commercial dollhouse dolls
were made for decades and are fairly plentiful. Most of these
dolls retail for under $30, making them affordable for most
collectors. Another benefit is their small size; a drawer can
hold a small collection, and a bookcase can house several
hundred of these tiny dolls.

Even though commercially made, there is a lot of hand work in
these dolls. The range of characters is amazing-you'll find
hundreds of variations! Most of these dolls had paper tags
which usually didn't survive, though occasionally, you may find
a tagged or boxed example. There are many other companies that
made similar dolls, which only makes the hunt more fun.

Happy Collecting!

We invite you to visit Lynne's shop at Glzrbug Dolls .