Introduction
Baby dolls are very popular as toys for young children. Methods and material have changed, but the use of dolls as playthings dates back to the ancient civilizations. There has been everything from home-made and crude dolls to finely crafted branded toys. There has been great variety in material as well- cloth, bisque, composition, plastic and modern vinyl have all been used at different places and times.
Composition Dolls
Before the twentieth century, it was common in Europe to make dolls out of bisque and porcelain. However these dolls broke easily. In the beginning of twentieth century, another material called composition was found to be a better alternative. Composition was a material made from wood pulp and glue and did not break easily. Composition was used to make heads, forearms and lower legs of the dolls and cloth stuffing was used to create the body. By and by toymakers started using composition for other toys as well.
Hard Plastic and Vinyl- the New Era
Hard plastic was a thing that changed the nature of baby dolls altogether in the 1950s. With it came new versions like the then popular ‘drink and wet’ doll. The drink and wet dolls were made with a hole in the mouth which could be used to feed water into the doll. There was also provision for the water to leak through the doll’s rear end and so the doll’s diapers had to be changed by its owner. There were also dolls that could make baby-like sounds.
Another material that was in use around this time was ‘magic skin’, a kind of latex that looked and felt like real skin. Dolls made up of this material had head made of hard plastic and body covered with ‘magic skin’ and stuffed with soft material, so that the body felt like a real baby’s. However the stuffing and the latex skin reacted chemically, damaging the latex skin, so these dolls could not survive for long.
The same decade also saw the start of using vinyl for making baby dolls. The early models had hard plastic heads and bodies made of vinyl. However the hard plastic part was replaced later by vinyl and baby dolls made entirely by hard/ soft vinyl became common.
Common Features
Baby dolls are often designed with one-piece legs. The legs are crooked at the knee point. Hair is often molded, that is the head is painted to show hair. There are also higher end models that have wigs with short, soft and curly baby like hair. Newer models also have rooted hair styled in baby-like ways. Baby dolls are designed with batting eyelids, so that the eyes closed when the doll was kept in a lying position.
Baby dolls are commonly viewed as toys and not as collectible like the fashion models, so the clothes of baby dolls are not designed with high fashion in mind. The attire is quite like what babies wear in real life- onesies, nightwear, rompers and so on. There might also be bonnets and bows as part of the attire. Baby doll dresses can nonetheless be extremely beautiful when the makers pay attention to the details.
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