Madame Lenci of Italy designed numerous series of dolls in felt depicting Italian regions and other countries. The Lenci regional doll although beautifully designed is considered more of an art piece than an accurate representation of a particular costume. A plethora of other companies throughout Europe and South America imitated the Lenci art dolls. War leaves countries devastated, and people often displaced and without hope. During these troubled times, missionaries helped displaced refugees support their families by teaching them a trade. The Near Eastern Industries and the Door of Hope Mission are but two such groups that provided a cottage doll industry to refugees. Mail order companies such as Kimport and Elsie Krug imported foreign dolls from the missions. Kimport provided its customers with colorful descriptions of faraway places in their catalogs and newsletters. Researchers will find these materials provide tremendously useful information. During WWII, it had become difficult for import companies to restock dolls. As Europe recovered from the war, many doll factories and home industries were permanently closed. The quality of regional dolls saw a decline as plastic dolls were introduced, though there were exceptions. In America Madame Alexander and Effanbee created a series of vinyl dolls from their collections in the 1960s. They used basic dolls and dressed them in outfits that were representative of a particular country. The dolls themselves were from the same mold sometimes with a variation of color to portray a different skin tone. The Dolls of the World series by Alexander featured the 8-inch vinyl or hard-plastic body from the Wendy-kins mold. The dolls were extremely popular with parents and collectors into the twenty-first century. A French bisque Poupee by Jumeau dressed in costume of Finistère, Brittany. Circa 1880. Courtesy of Theriault from French Dolls in Folklore Costume 1835-1917. This postcard depicts men and women in traditional Swiss costumes. On the back of the card each costume is identified by region. This postcard depicts a young woman in traditional Welsh costume. DOLL NEWS * UFDC.ORG 37http://www.UFDC.ORG