A Roddy doll. Then it got complicated......

 I just bought this Roddy 1960s doll to add to my collection from that time. The identification of this girl was easy. The back of her head and shoes are both marked "Roddy".
 Why the 1960's? well That is when I played with dolls the first time around as a child.

This photo was taken at Scalefoot farm near Whitby, Yorkshire . This  is the farm garden which my Grandma Mema tended I think it was my mum that took the photo and Mema who bought me the doll  Probably from Woolworths in Whitby but I can not actually remember. I have an idea that the name of the doll was Rosebud., and she is wearing a dress that  Mema made for the doll. I remember her showing me how to make a dolls dress on her Singer hand crank sewing machine.

 I make and collect Raggy dolls, 1970s Barbies , Monster High , Bratz, Spanish Character dolls some Cabbage patch kids , a few Sindys and a smattering of my Best friend. There are others too but I will not bore you that much.

This doll is a Roddy doll from the 1960s. That was easy. !!

Dolls in the 1960s were made by Pedigree. Roddy, BND,  Palitoy and Rosebud. There were others but these are the main collectables now.... Companies often used the moulds from prewar composition dolls, so early plastic dolls resembled these. Also  they often shared moulds and so all dolls looked similar even if they were from different manufacturers.

Most dolls were marked on the back of the neck or back with the specific shop it was manufacturered for on the box. For example I have a BND doll marked made in England and on the box is that it was manufactured for St Michael ....or Marks and Spencer as it now is. It is only one I have the box for.

Dolls can also be identified by their features......

Roddy dolls were originally made by  D G Todd & Co. Southport . Lancs. old phone number Southport 56188

• 1934 The company started making Roddy dolls, named after its owner. The first dolls produced were of composition and unmarked.

• WWII The production of the dolls ceased during the second world war and was resumed in 1945.

• 1947 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries Fair. Manufacturers of Dolls, Sleeping Dolls, Harmonicas, Musical Toys, Plastic Toys, Miniature Clockwork Cars and Toys, Plastic Power Boats. Toilet Plastic Goods, Combs, Dust Combs, etc., etc. (Olympia, 2nd Floor, Stand No. 2259)

• 1948 The company produced their first dolls made from hard plastic, this continued until the late 1950s when the Roddy company produced their first dolls made from vinyl.

• In the mid 1960s the company was sold. The dolls were then sold under the name of 'Bluebell' dolls though the dolls themselves often had the name 'Roddy' on them as they were cast from the original moulds.

• 1974 Production of Bluebell dolls ceased and the company was then sold to Denys Fisher. 

This girl that I bought from Ebay has Roddy on the back of her neck and shoes. That made my life very easy here.

I also bought this doll which was described as a possible Roddy doll. so I did a little research

This is the discription from the seller.

c1960s american or roddy ? 16" rubber kapok stuffed doll with squeek and dress

.
" it is with a heavy heart I have decided to thin down my beloved collection of dolls, I cant display them all so I have decided to let some go and let someone else love them, here is a c1960s american I think but a fellow doll collector told me she could be a roddy 16" rubber kapok stuffed doll with green eyes and  brown wiry hair with no missing plugs I can see. it is messy from storage :) vinyl is in good condition she has a squeak when pressed. her eyes have all lashes some on the left eye has been shoved in but might be able to be teased out, the outfit is home made and in good condition. white knickers socks and Cinderella shoes. all my dolls for sale have been in storage so could do with a tidy up. I wouldn't sell a doll that I wouldn't be happy to keep myself. all my dolls are pre loved so not for a mint collector. any questions please ask, and thanks for looking . I will be listing several dolls and can offer a discount on postage, but sorry this only applies to the uk and not through the ebay global shipping system. as I live in a rural location miles from the nearest post office I only post by hermes insured with tracking. thank you for looking :)"

My research brings me to the conclusion that she may be "american" .So here is what I have found.

 This one is a bit different. I have photographed her on my kitchen work top......I love her. She now lives on my bed.

a lovely face and painted lashes.

I have very very carefully washed her hair and dress. other than that I am not going to clean her anymore. Part of one finger is broken and the kapok stuffing is visible. The Squeek works too....

I bought her from Ebay from the same seller. It was thought that she was a Roddy too. I have looked on the internet and not really found another like this.

She is made of  soft vinyl with Kapok filling and she squeaks when squeezed. Her face is different to my other dolls too...which is why I wanted her. The number 17 is on the back of her neck

I have come to the conclusion that she is not a Roddy.

I looked for a similar face on doll ID sites and came to this Sayco doll. Which was designed by Irene Szor.
Sayco dolls sold by mail order to wholesalers. Sayco made dolls of wood cloth, laytex, hard plastic and vinyl.
Schoen & Yondorf Company or Sayco. . In 1922 Ignatz Schoen ( formerly Schoen toy manufacturer 1917-1922) and Meyer Yondorf (formerly of Eegee, Goldberger and New toy manufacturer co) formed the partnership which became Sayco and used the brand name on their dolls. In 1950 Irene Szor was employed by Sayco as a clothing and doll designer. In 1957 she left and went to the Paris Doll Corp. Paris doll company traded from 1940s to 1956. They produced composition and hard plastic dolls. Their office was at 203 East 18th Street, New York. In 1957 the Horsman doll company purchased Paris dolls and they kept on Irene Szor.




Here is a Sayco doll . Sayco sold through  Sears catalogue.

Which brings me to ....

Sears, Roebuck and Company.  This is a catalogue company founded in 1886. Sears used the trade name of "Happi time" for their dolls and toys . This is the name found on the boxes. As they are not a manufacturer. the original manufacturer of the doll is marked. Or they were not marked at all.

Quite a lot of the old Sears catalogue adverts do not state who the maker was......
The nearest I could find  is.....

1956 Sears Eegee Cuddle-bun Doll, 18 or 22" tall, one piece cotton stuffed vinyl skin body, jointed at the neck only, molded hair with a ribbon, sleep eyes, coos, closed mouth. Dolls sold atSears and would have come in a Happi Time marked box, doll marked Eegee.  




and this also from the Sears catalogue...

1932-1939 Sears Ducky doll, 11 - 19" tall, composition head, rubber body and limbs, tin sleep eyes (except the littlest size they were painted), open mouth, legs had squeakers, came with a suitcase, diapers, bottle and accessories.  Made by Ideal.


Which lead me to look up Eegee dolls.....

   
I found this face, which is simular to my doll....

Eegee is a family run business . Eegee Goldberger dolls. Eegee, Gold roll or Goldberger dolls founded in 1916 by Mr and Mrs Eugene Goldberger in Brooklyn, New York.

The following I found as Manufactured by Eegee.....

ca. 1950s Eegee Boy doll, 16" tall, one piece stuffed wired posable body, vinyl head with molded painted hair, sleep eyes, closed mouth, jointed only at the neck, limbs have wires so they can bend.  Marked on neck: Eegee.  It's unknown how the boy was clothed or his actual name.
THIS IS THE SAME BODY AS MINE!


1957 Eegee Little Debutante doll, 15, 17",  Ideal Miss Revlon like competitor doll, only jointed at the neck and shoulders, with a one piece body, wired legs for bending, pierced ears, rooted ponytail hair in various colors, sleep eyes and high heel feet, marked on neck Eegee 15 H or Eegee 17 H.

And This Head looks very very similar?


Which Brings me to Irene Szor.

Irene Szor started her career as a doll designer At Eugenia doll company in 1947.Eugenia went bankrupt and she moved to Sayco.
Eugenia started in about 1930 and ran into the 1950s. Eugenia purchased dolls and doll parts from other doll makers which they redressed or remade and sold them as Eugenia dolls. The dolls were unmarked and the clothes had a tag printed with Eugenia.
Irene Szor dolls  for Sayco...

IRENE SZOR

Obituary Guest Book "Sorry for your loss. i won't be able to join you on Sunday..." - Dottie Lewin View Sign More Photos View all 2 photos SZOR--Irene (91) Born February 5, 1924 in Lwow (Poland), died July 13, 2015 in New York, NY. A survivor of the Holocaust, she spent two years in the forests of eastern Poland hiding with a group of partisans. After the war she immigrated to the USA where she led a highly successful career designing dolls for the Horsman Doll Company. Wife of Leopold Szor and later Michael Lewin. She is survived by her son Daniel, daughter-in-law Katia, grandsons Henry and Alex and granddaughter Emily. A service will be held at Frank E. Campbell funeral chapel at 12:00 on Sunday, July 19th followed by a burial at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla. Later in the afternoon there will be a reception for family and friends at Irene's home.

May 09, 2017

Dear Mr. Szor
I am so grateful that you kept this guest book open. Your mother and I were friends for many, many years. I started working with her as a free-lance artist designing doll cartons back in the early 70s. After she retired (the second time-smiles) we even worked in her apartment for a bit. When my daughter was a toddler her favorite thing was to go with me to pick up an assignment from "Miss Szor" because she was guaranteed to come home with a new dolly in her arms.
We always stayed in touch thru the years and repeatedly planned to get together for lunch and never did. It almost became a joke between us. About 4 months ago I was on her old block and it made me resolve to get in touch because we hadn't spoken in a few years. She was a delightful and treasured friend--we both just let time get away from us. But that's OK. We did enjoy what time we did have and it was great being "connected" to her.
Fondly, Sandy Williams Jordan

~ 

Sandy Williams,

New York, New Yo

September 08, 2015

Dear Mr. Szor, I have recently discovered your mother's remarkable life story and her incredibly creative gift for design. I am a fan of all of her beautiful fashions for the Horsman Cindy doll. Her Cindy designs are beautiful examples of the glamorous fashions of the mid-50's.She was a marvelous marketer as well (she probably saved the Horsman Doll Company from an early demise with her approach to marketing). I am truly sorry that I learned of this too late to thank her for her gifts to the world of serious 50's doll collectors. This Thursday I host my doll club with a program highlighting the life of your Mother and her creations. I know you are so proud of her and the many gifts she left to the world. God's blessings on you and on all of her family,
A Fan, Frances W. Waller

~ 

Frances Waller,

Birmingham, Alabama

Horsman sweet memory with sleep eyes 1960.s designed by Irene Szor.



Here is the doll I bought and I took this photo of her . So what do you think she is?
I think she is very likely from Sears catalogue and a Eugenia doll made up from parts they bought in.

Her body is identical to the Eegee boy doll above and the head is very likely designed by Irene Szor possibly . As the face and heads of the Sayco dolls are very similar indeed.       

 I might never know.


And so I leave you with the third doll I bought this time.....A Palitoy doll from the 1960's. This girl has Made in England on her neck.

 Palitoy.

Palitoy was a trading name of Casceloid which was formed in 1919 by Alfred Pallett. Originally the company made household celluloid goods and started producing dolls based on the characters of Mabel Lucy Atwell in 1925.

Mabel Lucy Attwell.(1879-1964) A British illustrator known for cute nostalgic drawings of children.
went to St Martin's school of art and lived in Fowey, Cornwall.








Palitoy dolls from Mabel Lucy Attwell's illustrations......

In 1937, Caselloid became a subsidiary of British Xylonite ltd and acquired a factory at Coalville Leicester.
Palitoy dolls were beautifully designed and of an unbreakable "plastex". They started to use "palitoy" as a trademark taken from Alfred Pallet's surname. By the 1960's the company was producing Tiny tears.
Tiny Tears the most popular doll was launched in 1965 and is still sold today.The early ones are now very desirable. I must definitely get myself one. At the time of Tiny Tears Palitoy was one of Britain's leading toy manufacturers. Tiny was "toy of the year " for three years in a row.



" she's as cute and cuddly as a real baby, she cries tiny tears"