Doll News Summer 2019 - 67

This "Old Woman in a Shoe" set piece is accompanied by
two 3-inch tuck comb dolls "very much like the little ones
Queen Victoria enjoyed in her girlhood." The two little
tuck combs were dressed by Helen. The shoe is 7-inches
long; the 'Old Woman' is 6-inches tall; and the smallest
baby just 1-inch. Author's collection,
gifted by the Laughon family

APOLLO KNOT GIRL: Illustrations showing Millinerstype dolls appear in a number of marked pages in
Laughon's books. Either the antique doll herself, or their
researches, inspired the family to experiment with textured
hair, rather than their usual painted or flax-wig treatments.
I do not know how they achieved these effects. They may
have used carved wood or papier-mâché.
They produced a peg wooden with simply textured
hair, but the all-singing, all-dancing version belongs to
the Laughon's "Apollo Knot Girl." Illustration 109, in the
Collector's Book of Doll Clothes, D S, E A and E J Coleman,
has a tick next to her, and the page is bookmarked with
ribbon. The dress and hair of the doll in illustration 109
shows a marked resemblance to the Laughon's version and to "Miss Unity," the symbol of the United Federation
of Doll Clubs. Given the Laughon's long association with
our organization it seems likely that this was deliberate,
although the "Apollo Knot Girl's" up-do is not quite as
elevated. This doll does not seem to have been produced
in large quantities, possibly because of that complicated
topknot. I only know the whereabouts of this specific
example, so I welcome news about others. This doll and a
15-inch Queen Anne were both costumed by Helen in the
same candy-striped fabric.

TOVI-LISSI 1" - 1': Since Fred mentions this scale in
connection with his granddaughters, Tovi and Lissi,
perhaps making one-twelfth scale pieces for them
inspired him to move into the classic doll house scale.
The family said that the girls had a doll house, a replica
of "Cheswick," the Laughon family home. Although
Fred did not make the doll house, dolls or most of the
furniture, he did make miniature replicas of full-size
originals that he had made for Tom's home. The 1990
price list describes a 5-½-inch peg wooden doll as a
"perfect size for a 1"-1' doll house."
Illustration 32 in Mary Hillier's Pageant of Toys shows
three of the small Grodnertals, circa 1830, that Queen
Victoria and her governess dressed. The Laughon's 1990
Price List says their 3-inch, jointed tuck comb doll is, "very
much like the little ones Queen Victoria enjoyed in her
girlhood. Magnification is required to make and paint
her." There were two in the glass cabinet, costumed by
Helen in dresses with large sleeves, just like those shown
in the illustration. Their varnish has yellowed with age.
A marked page in Pageant of Toys (ibid) shows a
photograph of traditional "Old Woman in a Shoe" doll set.
In the Laughon's version the 'Old Woman' is a 6-inch tuck
comb doll with unusual 'elderly' features; the smallest

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Doll News Summer 2019

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