Early dolls of this era come in many shapes and sizes.  Materials include carton, wax, and wood covered in gesso. Some of the so called Queen Anne dolls of wood covered over in gesso with cloth joints are really Georgian dolls from the early 19th century. There were also dolls of cloth, and various native materials like leather and cornhusks.There were Native American dolls of many kinds, and these are well represented in works by Carl Fox ["The Doll"] and Max Von Boehn, ["Dolls and Puppets"].

There were marionettes and puppets of many kinds from all over the world. A great site to study these isJean Lotz Wooden Doll website. Also, a reread of Laura Starr’s "The Doll Book" would be instructive at this point. It is on Google books and elsewhere for free download.

Early accounts of the Brontë children indicate that they had as toys wooden soldiers and dolls of wax. The famous stories the children wrote in miniature were based on the adventures of a group of wooden soldiers purchased for them as a gift. For allegedly impoverished children of the clergy, these were relatively luxurious toys, while paper dolls in Europe became the rage in the late 18th century and the vogue continued with sets like "The History of Little Fanny" and "The History of Little Henry." Milliner’s models with their elaborate coiffures and legends of being used as hat models or hat stands began to make their way into toy catalogs around 1820. China heads will be discussed in another posting, but china figures began to be made in large quantities after The Industrial Revolution and many became dolls and doll heads in no time.

Small china and bisque dolls became very popular with little girls.  Those molded all in one piece are, of course, called Frozen Charlottes, after the ballad sung by William Lorenzo Carter.  Currently, singer Natalie Merchant has a song "Frozen Charlotte" on her album, "Ophelia."

There are many gesso covered and ivory Crèche figures and Santos from this time as well in Hispanic countries and colonies, and other countries in Europe and North and South America. Queen Victoria's doll collection of 132 dolls she and her governess dressed, are also legendary. These were tiny jointed wooden dolls with tuck combs in their laquered hair. There is a great YouTube video about them.

Folk Dolls:

As writings by writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries show, collecting folk dolls and making them was a popular hobby for men and women. Some of these collectors also wrote about their doll adventures. These authors include G.Stanley Hall, 1897 A Study of Dolls, Laura Starr, The Doll Book, 1908, and Emily Jackson, Toys of Other Days, 1908. All can still be purchased, and they should be free on Google Books. These authors talk of dolls and doll making in countries that no longer exist on the world map. Loretta Holz's How To Book of International Dollshas great information about making folk dolls, but also the history of international dolls around the world. Wendy Lavitt's American Folk Dolls is a great source, as are also The Collector's Encyclopedia of Dolls, Volumes I and II. Helen Young's The Complete Book of Doll Making and Collecting and Mary Hillier's Dolls and Dollmakershave great chapters on folk and foreign dolls. My book, A Bibliography of Dolls and Toy Sources has many entries on them, too. You can still get this book from me, or from Amazon. My book on metal dolls, With Love from Tin Lizzie, addresses folk dolls made of metal. That book is available from me or Alibris.com. My friend, artist Jeanne O'Melia is well known for her dolls and figures made of found objects, both old and new. Godey's and other magazines of the era include ideas for paper dolls, paper dolls themselves, doll dress patterns, and doll patterns. Worsted or knitted dolls were popular at this time, and dolls made of shells for Brittany and elsewhere were popular souvenirs from about 1830 on. We have one in the museum from this era; it is of papier mache, and is covered with tiny shells of brown and white. The doll has black, inset glass eyes that do not move and stands about 9 inches. I also have a shell doll from Delphi, and many dolls from Florida and California. made of shells. Our doll house has a chaise lounge decorated in shells that was probably a Sailor's Valentine pin cushion. Sailor's Valentines are small objects often decorated with shells and bits of marine flora/fauna made on long voyages for loved ones. Scrimshaw is another example. Dried apple dolls date to the 19th century and early. We have already discussed the ancient origins of bread and gingerbread dolls on this blog and on Dr. E's Doll Museum. Dr. E's Greening Tips for the Common Person has articles on Corn Dollies from England and Europe, and other pieces and photos of folk dolls. Cornhusk and corncob dolls date from the 19th century and earlier and originated with Native American Culture. The Little House Books feature Susan the corncob doll and discuss dolls of husks and tiny twigs made of acorns. Dolls from Africa an dry climates are often made of grasses or even banana leaves. Rushes, all kinds of paper, plants and dried flowers like Holly Hocks were made into dolls and still are. Pansies look like dolls all by themselves. Small clay dolls have been made around the world for centuries, including ancient terracotta and faience dolls of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Latin America. They also existed in Ancient China and Japan. Laura Ingalls Wilder also writes about rag dolls, and paper dolls, all home made. Lois Lenski wrote stories about a little girl who made dolls of gourds. Our local gourd festival boasts examples made as large, jointed dolls, all made of gourds. Old bowling pins show up at craft and doll shows, too. Louisa May Alcott, like the fictional Dickensian Jenny Wren, dressed dolls for a living at one point. Alcott collected chicken feathers to use in dolls hats. The Edinburgh Museum of Childhood boasts a doll made of an old shoe. Lobster and crab claw dolls have been made as souvenirs since the 19th century, too. Our museum has hundreds of folk dolls made of Kleenex, plants and flowers, pine cones, seeds, found objects, old tins and cans, broken doll parts, wooden blocks, bricks, shells,leather/furs, dried fruit, rolled up newspapers, old magazines, old bottles, blocks of wood, paper towel holders, soap, wax, gourds, pumpkins, fake snowmen, wood, cloth, woven materials, mixed media, paper, clay and mud, elephant excrement made into paper, dried nuts, pasta, candy and sugar, salt dough, dried fish, paper clay, play dough, corncobs, cornhusk, rushes and grasses, raffia, canvas, old rags, animal bones and other fossilized materials, pecan resin, coal, metal, lobster claws, buttons, knitted material, crocheted material, tatting, and much more. Many are now over 100 years old. One of our favorites is a dried apple doll laid out in a coffin, created to explain death to a family of children born nearly a century ago