Introduction
Hard plastic is a thing of the twentieth century. Before plastic was invented, dolls and children’s toys were made out of porcelain and bisque which were easy to break. Composition became the norm later by the end of the nineteenth century. Hard plastic dolls made their appearance in the last years of 1940s. Hard plastic was instantly recognized as more suitable for children’s dolls by virtue of its durability. It was also easier to create fine details like dimples using plastic.
The Making
Molds were used to create hard plastic dolls. Each part- the head, torso and limbs- were made in two pieces using the molds. The halves were then glued together and the various body parts strung together using rubber bands or elastic cords that ran through the torso. The body parts were hollow inside. Walker dolls that turned their heads side to side as they walked appeared in the fifties.
Common Features
Pale shade of flesh was the color of the plastic used to make the early models. These dolls were then painted to give a more authentic look and also added was more color in the form of blush on the cheeks, shadow on the eyelashes, red on the lips and even nail polish on the fingers. Some dolls also had sleep eyes- that is glass eyes that could open and close.
Baby dolls mostly had molded hair, meaning hair was painted on the doll. However models with glued wigs also came into the market around this time. Mohair was used for the first wigs, which later got replaced with saran. Saran is a kind of plastic hair that lent itself to easy washing, brushing and curling. When vinyl started being used, some manufacturers used this material to create ‘skull caps’ that had rooted hair and were glued to the doll’s head like a wig. Dolls with vinyl heads and hard plastic bodies formed another trend.
Hard plastic dolls came in different sizes. While 14, 17 and 20 inch dolls were very common, hard plastic was also used to make eight-inch toddler dolls. Some manufacturers of fashion dolls in the late 1950s also used hard plastic.
Hard plastic dolls usually consisted of eight pieces- limbs, head and torso- strung together by elastic thread or rubber bands.
Hard Plastic Dolls Today
Hard plastic is no longer in use for making dolls and the item has become a collectible for consumers of today. Owing to the durability of the material it is easier to find hard plastic dolls in good condition, than dolls made of composition or china.
However hard plastic dolls do have some problems like the tendency to separate at the seams of the joint-together pieces. This is because of the pressure exerted by the thread on the seams, especially if the parts are too tightly bound. Walker dolls may show separations at the joints of the torso and legs. Further, hard plastic dolls may crack or break on fall. That said, hard plastic dolls are far easier to preserve than dolls made of material like china and bisque.
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