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Hoseley Party Dolls
1954-1955
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 walker dolls and they 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 |
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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. |
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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 1950s 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 |
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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 ;-)
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