|
The Hoseley Party Dolls are from the same doll mold used for the
Mary Hoyer doll and the Richwood Cindy Lou doll and are
made of hard plastic. Both were walker dolls with jointed
hard plastic bodies, sleep eyes and wore a glued on wig. The hip pin walking mechanisms
are often cranky, so Mary Hoyer discontinued the walkers after only a
short time.
Mary Hoyer met with the Richwood family during this
period, and the Richwood Cindy Lou walkers with the Hoyer face mold
and blank Made In USA marking in a circle on her back, began
appearing shortly after that meeting.
The Hoseley dolls appeared at
about the same time and are EXTREMELY RARE! I think Mary Hoyer gave up
whatever rights she had to just the walkers and these dolls were sold by
the manufacturer (whoever THAT was!) to Richwood, Hoseley, and
probably others.
All
photo's are from the private collection of the author, Andrea
"Andy". Thanks so
much for sharing with us! |
Hoseley
Party Doll - April |
|
Hoseley
Party Doll - Debra |
The Hoseley dolls were sold and clothed by a small
cottage industry of women in McGregor, Iowa, in the mid fifties ...
they
bought "blank" dolls (generic mark of MADE IN USA
within a circle on their backs, with the Mary Hoyer head mold) and dressed them in elaborate formals
with lots of gathers and flounces. There are fewer than 50 original
dolls known to exist today.
The only way to identify them for
sure,
is if they have their original clothing with the
Hoseley tag.
Each
doll had a name, but I don't know if they all had different names, or
if they were named according to the outfit worn and there were
multiples of dolls dressed in the same formals. |
|
One of the first
dolls I bid on in an online auction back in 1998, was a Hoseley
Party Doll ... I lost the
bid,. but never forgot the doll . . . or that face. That's how I started collecting Mary
Hoyer's. Five years ago I thought about researching and writing about
the Hoseley dolls for a magazine article. Through a series of phone
calls to the McGregor Chamber of Commerce and the library, I tracked
down one of the women who helped dress the dolls back in the 1950's
and spoke with her on the phone. I made an appointment to go there and
meet her two weeks later, but sadly she died before we could
meet.
Someone at the library there told me
Hoseley was the last name of the woman who headed the cottage industry
group. |
Hoseley
Party Doll - Dee Ann |
|
Hoseley
Party Doll - Sally Ann |
The Hoseley dolls are found listed in Hard Plastic Dolls,
Identification and Price Guide, 3rd Revised Edition, by Pam and
Polly Judd, published in 1985, page 111. No photo's in the book
but it says the dolls were made in McGregor, Iowa, and dressed as
"miniature ladies in 56 different costumes." It continues on
to state "they were made of hard plastic, 15" tall and came
with various pretty hair styles (hard plastic heads with a wig) circa 1954-1955."
I re-measured all three of my Hoseley
dolls, and they only measure 14" tall. I don't think the Judd's
had one of the dolls in hand to measure. This book is the only book or
place I've ever seen the Hoseley dolls listed.
Sincerely, Andrea "Andy"
PS: Well, guess I got my shot at
writing the article, but didn't know the pay was so low ;-)
|
|
