Doll News Fall 2020 - 145

This photo is from "The
Royal Cissys, The Anatomy
of a Queen"- by Debbie
Foster, 2013 (a free
downloadable article).
Royal Cissys began to
be produced in 1955,
three years after Queen
Elizabeth II 's coronation.

With this rich prolific time of human ingenuity, what best way can we pay
homage to the time? Through dolls, of course! Early on children had baby dolls and
rag dolls, but fashion dolls were paper dolls! Paper dolls were in sewing catalogs like
McCall's magazine, to be cut out or traced and copied. It was not until the later 1950s
that children had fashion dolls in 3D that they could hold and sew for. Dolls such
as Madame Alexander's Cissy doll (1955), and Revlon dolls (1956) started as early
fashion dolls but retained their baby doll facial sculpt origins. Certainly Horsman dolls
and various German and French dolls were fashion dolls in their own right, but the
accessibility and dressing of Madame Alexander dolls are what made them popular in
the 1950s. Cissy had hundreds of fashions created between 1955-1963. An example
preserving icons through dolls is the Madame Alexander (USA) created 20-inch hard plastic
Cissy as Queen Elizabeth from "A Child's Dream Come True" Series, dated 1955. Other
Royal Cissys would be produced to 1963.
The introduction of Barbie in 1959 by Ruth Handler, Mattel, Inc. was the first
"adult" fashion doll. Barbie continued to celebrate the 1950s and future trends to be
celebrated while looking forward to the dreams of what every child could be.
Robert Tonner has visited this time period. After all he grew up as a "Baby Boomer"
and has stated time and again, where he was influenced as a child to draw and create
fashions. Some of his doll lines specific to this time period are The Deanna Denton
Collection series (2008 and 2012) and Marilyn Monroe Collection series (2012). One
of the last Tonner Doll Company representations is from a current time and
space series, "Outlander" that recreates 1950's fashion aesthetic in the 1740s
(what a mind bender!)
Integrity Toys currently has a line of dolls from the "East 59th Street," with a
backstory of high fashion models, and living paper dolls.
We are never far from our icons whether it be Fashion or Popular culture, doll
manufactures have visited the nostalgia of this time period and many others through
their interpretations of fashions and moments in time with their dolls. Mattel, Madame
Alexander, Robert Tonner dolls, Integrity dolls and Mel Odom's Gene dolls are just
some of the manufacturers that have paid homage to yesteryear times. I can't think of a
better way to see our world than through dolls. Can you?
References:
Robert Tonner Inspirations, Robert Tonner, ISBN-10 1932485384, May 2006
1950's American Fashion (Shire Library USA), Jonathan Walford, ISBN-10: 0747811644, October 2012
Fifty Fashion Looks that Changed the 1950s, Paula Reed, ISBN-10: 1840916036, October 2012
Fashion in the 1950s (Shire Library) Daniel Milford-Cottam ISBN-10: 0747812241 May 2017
50s Fashion:Vintage Fashion and Beauty Ads, Jim Heimann, ISBN-10: 3822849332 July 2007
The Royal Cissys,The Anatomy of a Queen by Debbie Foster, 2013

Robert Tonner Marilyn Monroe
collection "Roberta Moves In"
2012 (Stock Photo)

Peggy Harcourt in "Short and
Sassy," Robert Tonner Deanna
Denton Collection (2012)

145

Doll News Fall 2020

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