I have been an avid collector of dolls for more than 25 years, gaining a fair bit of knowledge along the way.
My main passion is for Kammer and Reinhardt / Simon and Halbig bisque headed girls, though it is difficult to have favourites when there are so many beautiful dolls.
The German doll manufacturer Armand Marseille produced a vast amount of bisque head dollies, some of which are, of a fine quality and extremely pretty, his Dream Babies are forever popular.
Googly eyed dolls by such makers as Demalcol (British), Kestner, Hertel Schwab, Bahr & Proschild to name but a few are another favourite of mine, they never fail to enchant.
Ernst Heubach of Kopplesdorf produced many attractive character dolls on toddler bodies. He is not to be confused with Gebruder (the brothers) Heubach, who's fine quality dolls are much sought after.
The French doll market was fierce competition for Germany, the fabulous Jumeau and Bru dolls are hard to find today and command very high prices. More affordable French Dolls are the Lanternier / Limoges and the later SFBJ Babes.
During the 1940s / 50s lots of hard plastic dolls were on sale, mostly made in England by Pedigree, Roddy and Rosebud. Pedigree went on to produce the 1960s Sindy doll, she was competition for America's Barbie and still has a huge following.
Teenage dolls were very popular in the late 50s / 60s, Tressy, with the hair that grows, is a collectors item today, along with Little Miss Vogue (Pedigree), Skipper, Toots and tiny Pippa.
The history of British dolls is fascinating from the early wooden, cloth and wax to the Doll Pottery Co girls and boys who were made in the Staffordshire Potteries during the first world war, when importing dolls from Europe became impossible.
Doll collecting has brought into my life some wonderful, funny and eccentric people, often generous with their knowledge, I can recommend it to anyone.
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