Horsman Doll Company Dolls Identified 1904+ USA
Edward Imeson Horsman (E. I. H.) opened a toy company in New York City in 1865 and became a leader in the toy industry. In the early years Horsman imported dolls from outside the United States, starting in 1904 they distributed “Babyland Rag” cloth dolls created and made by Albert Bruckner. In 1909 Horsman began using the new formula of composition from the Aetna company called “Can’t break Em” to make doll heads like the Billiken and a variety of Mama and Baby dolls, a response to the European bisque head dolls that dominated the market place at this time. Horsman and Aetna Doll & Toy merged between 1919-1925.
By 1930 Horsman acquired the Amberg doll company their competitor and continued to produce some of Amberg’s dolls, notably the Vanta Baby and Peggy dolls. In October 1933 Horsman became a subsidiary of the Regal Doll Company USA, in 1986 the Horsman name was sold to the Asian company Gata – Gatabox LTD. of Hong Hong, which produced dolls under the name Horsman LTD.
Antique Horsman Dolls Identified 1904-1919
1904-1928 Horsman Babyland Rag dolls, 13-28″ tall, white or black, all cloth with a simple flat with little detail painted mask face, mitt like hands, some have mohair sewn to top of head, clothing is removable, marked: Genuine Babyland trademark or unmarked. Some dolls may have the copyright date printed on the lower edge of the head plate, PAT’D JULY 8th 1901, these were made by Albert Brückner or marked Genuine Babyland trademark or unmarked.
1907+ Horsman Babyland Rag Dolls now have lithographed printed faces, these dolls seem to be mostly unmarked, they also made a Topsy Turvy doll, that has both a white and black doll face when turned over.
1910-1911 14″ tall, Babyland Baby, Babyland Rag, Babyland Topsy, Babyland Topsy Baby, Topsy Turvy, Babyland Fancy, and Babyland Boy. 16 1/2″ Babyland Beauty, 20″ Babyland Dinah or Babyland Lady, Babyland Big Baby, 30″ Babyland Dorothy, Baby and Jackie Robinson. 1911-1912 American Kids in Toyland dolls.
1909 Horsman Billiken doll, 12 or 15″ tall, “Can’t Break Em” adtocolite or composition character head on plush body, marked with a cloth label or stamped on foot. It’s believed that 200,000 of these dolls were sold in the first six months of production and was a major success for Horsman. In 1910 Sister Billiken was 12 or 15″ tall, same as her brother except she wore a mohair wig and wore a kimono. In 1995 Gata, Gatabox LTD of Hong Kong reproduced the Billiken dolls in a limited addition.

1910+ Horsman Baby Bumps black doll, 14″
1910-1912 Horsman Baby Bumps doll, 9-18″ tall,character doll, black doll or white doll, “Can’t Break Em” composition head, painted facial features, head modeled after Kämmer & Reinhardt’s doll mold 100), hard cloth stuffed body and limbs, doll marked: E.I.H. 1911, Genuine Baby Bumps Trademark. The Horsman Baby Bumps Jr doll 9″ the smallest size, looks similar to Kestner’s bisque doll mold 211, Big Baby Bumps is the largest size at 18″. In 1916 Sandy Bumps and Mandy Bumps dolls came with a shovel & pail.
1910-1928 Horsman Campbell Kid doll, 9 1/2-16″ tall, based on artist Grace Gebbie Wiederseim Drayton illustrations, sculpted and designed by Helen Trowbridge. Early dolls have a composition head, cloth stuffed with cork body, jointed at arms and hips, most have side glancing black painted eyes shaped like a heart on it’s side, dolls are unmarked.
After 1928 Horsman lost the licensing for the Campbell kid dolls to the American Character doll company. Around 1948 Horsman again re-acquired the rights to produce the authorized Campbell Kid dolls, with an all composition jointed body, molded painted hair, side glancing painted eyes, painted on shoes and socks, dolls are unmarked.
1910 Horsman Little Nemo doll, 15″ tall, composition head & short arms, cloth stuffed body with inside disks for limb joints, molded painted hair, painted eyes, closed mouth, doll mark E.I.H. © 1910. Little Nemo is a comic character created by Windsor McCay for the New York Herald on October 15, 1905.
1911 Horsman Cotton Joe doll, character dolls, 10 or 14″ tall, “Can’t Break Em” composition brown head with painted features, hard stuffed cloth tan body, olive cloth legs, doll marked: E.I.H. 1911. Came wearing a red or striped shirt with brown or khaki suspender pants, some may have had a straw hat. He was one of the original American Kids in Toyland series. Other Can’t Break Em dolls are 1919 Little Mary Mix-Up doll 15″ or 18″ and 1917 Uncle Sam’s Kids; Miss Sam doll, Master Sam doll, 15-15 1/2″ tall.
1914-1930 Horsman Peterkin doll, 11 – 14″ tall, all adtocolite or later all composition, girls or boys, cherubic painted faces, some use the Campbell Kid head mold shown, eyes look slightly to the left or right, smiling closed mouth, molded hair, some dolls have wigs, one piece body and head with jointed arms. The early Peterkin dolls are unmarked, later dolls have a composition head and limbs with a cloth body, doll marked EIH, Inc. Came with a variety of different outfits. Designed by Helen Trowbridge; Baby Peterkin doll of the Nature Babies dolls, Betsy Peterkin doll, Dimples doll, Fifi a super grade Peterkin doll, Little Peterkin doll, Tommy Peterkin doll and Willie Peterkin doll. Fulper Pottery made an all bisque Peterkin doll in 1919.
1911 Horsman Sailor Girl,doll, 14 tall, flared composition head and short arms, molded blonde painted bobbed hair style, blue painted eyes, cheek dimples and closed smiling mouth, cloth stuffed body jointed with inside disks, Girl doll has pin jointed knees, doll mark EIH 1911. This same head mold was used by Horsman to make 1911 Campfire Girl, Gretel doll of Hans and Gretel and if wigged with side glance eyes the doll is Sunbonnet Sal doll.
1911 Horsman Jap Rose Kid boy or girl dolls, 12 or 14″ tall, same doll as above with black painted hair, black painted eyes, wearing a kimono doll mark E.I.H. © 1911 and had a label sewn to sleeve The Jap Rose Kid, TradeMark, Process Pat. Nov. 1911, LIC’D by Jas. S. Kirk & Company, Copyright E.I. Horsman Co. Advertising dolls for the James S. Kirk Soap Company makers of Jap Rose soap.
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1915-1918 Horsman Gege Carr Kids character dolls, 14″ tall, comic characters based on Gene Carr’s New York World comic strip, “Lady Bountiful”. Dolls were designed by Bernard Lipfert and have round faces and exaggerated features; all 14″ tall; other Horsman Gene Carr Kids; Jane or Lizzy girl dolls, Blink, Mike and Skinny boy dolls. Snowball doll and Smoke black boy dolls. Not sure which Gene Carr character doll is shown.
Blink and Mike also came dressed as Carnival Kids in Pierrot type clown outfits. Blink wore a orange and black clown outfit and Mike came in a blue and white one.
1913-1914 Horsman Baby Butterfly doll, 13″ tall, a Japanese Asian baby doll, composition “can’t break em” flared head and composition lower arms, black painted molded hair, brown painted eyes painted upper eyelashes, single stroke painted eyebrows, closed mouth, olive skinned, cloth stuffed body upper arms and legs. Baby Butterfly came wearing a colorful Kimono, based on the Madame Butterfly opera, doll was designed for Horsman by a Japanese artist, doll is unmarked (and rare).
1915 Pussy Precious doll with a cat head, 12″ tall, Frisky’s companion designed by Grace G. Drayton, doll mark probably same as Frisky Fido.
1915 Horsman Frisky Fido doll with a dog head 12″ tall, composition flange dog head, cloth body and limbs with inside disk joints, painted eyes round, chubby cheeks with deep indents around a closed mouth and a painted tongue sticking out, doll mark E.I.H. © 1915.
1919-1921 Horsman Bisque Socket head dolls, heads were made for Horsman first by Fulper Pottery (1919-1920), then a Japan unknown doll maker Horsman Nippon (1920-1921). Composition ball jointed body usually with the Horsman marking: E. I. H Co. on the back. Heads are marked with the manufacturer’s marking, some plus a Horsman mark, too. Johann Martin Stangl’s (MS) initials are sometimes above the Fulper vertical marking + Made in USA., some mold numbers used are: H 1, H 4, 2 B and others. The Nippon bisque head dolls are marked: Horsman, B 6, B 7, B 9 or No. 1, 2, 3,4 Nippon.
1919-1924 Horsman Little Mary Mix-Up doll 15 or 18″ tall, cartoon character by R. M. Brinkerhoff, composition shoulder head and lower arms, cloth body, upper arms and legs with inside disk joints, molded painted hair with a ribbon pinhole, painted blue eyes, tiny closed mouth, doll is unmarked, she has a cloth label sewn on the sleeve of her dress, as shown at right Little Mary Mix-up Trademark by permission New York Evening Herald Mfg’d. by E.I. Horsman & Aetna Doll Co.
Additional Horsman Dolls 1910s not shown
1911-1914 Horsman American Kids in Toyland dolls, made with can’t break em composition heads and sateen covered bodies, 100 doll models. 1911-1914 Horsman Annette doll, Fairy doll, Nancy Lee doll and Polly Pru doll 12-13″ tall, all used the same composition head mold with molded bobbed hair, large single curl on forehead, painted eyes, closed mouth, cloth body. Each doll wore different clothing, designed by Helen Trowbridge, dolls marked E.I.H. © 1911.
1913 Horsman Baby Blossom doll, 10-13″ tall, composition shoulder head and lower arms, cloth stuffed body, upper arms & legs with inside disk joints, lightly painted molded hair, painted eyes, open mouth, doll marked E.I.H. © 1913.
1915 Horsman Boy doll, 15″ tall, copy of K & R bisque head doll mold 115 with a pouty mouth (boy or girl), which is also similar to Käthe Kruse‘s 1912 Fiamingo head mold, flared composition head and short arms, cloth stuffed body, upper arms and straight legs with inside disks at hip joints, molded painted hair, painted brown eyes, closed mouth, doll is unmarked. See also Effanbee’s Billy Boy Doll 1912-1915, with a similar Fiamingo head mold, with blue painted eyes.
1915 Horsman Fifi doll, 11 1/2″ tall, a super grade Peterkin doll with mohair wig, composition turned shoulder head, arms lower torso and legs, jointed only at the shoulders, stationary glass eyes, painted upper and lower eyelashes, closed mouth, mohair wigged, cloth stuffed body, doll is unmarked. The Horsman Fifi doll appears to be a copy of the Gebrüder Heubach doll mold 10490, a little bisque girl turned shoulder head, looking to the left and side glancing eyes.
1915 Horsman Frisky Fido doll, with a dog head, 12″ tall, composition flange dog head, cloth body and limbs with inside disk joints, painted eyes round, chubby cheeks with ) deep indents ( around a closed mouth with a painted tongue sticking out. Doll mark E.I.H. © 1915. Designed by Grace G. Drayton. Frisky’s companion was Pussy Precious doll a white cat head doll.
Horsman dolls < 1904+ > | 1920s | 1930s+ | 1950s | 1960s+