Doll Collecting Glossary English Abbreviations, Terminology, Words, Phrases Explained

Labrador Doll – wood handmade dolls from Arctic areas
Lady Doll – adult female doll
Letitia Penn Doll – wooden Georgian type, a gift of a doll handed from person to person over a long period of time, it now resides at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Lilliput – teeny tiny miniature dolls under 6″ tall
L@@K – on-line marketing ruse to get a worthless item sold
Luster Trim – metallic or pink color over glazed porcelain
Lyxhayr – chemically treated nonflammable vegetable fiber
MC – Mint Complete abbreviation, out of original packaging
MIB – Mint In Box abbreviation (in original box)
MLW – Molded Lash Walker (eyelash) abbreviation
Mama Doll – 1920s + cloth & composition, crying voice box
Magic Skin – thin rubbery doll material that darkens with age
Mask Face – stiff cover for the front only of dolls face
Milliner’s Model – paper mache head, cloth, kid & wood body doll used as a mannikin for displaying clothing fashions
Modern Doll – a doll made in the last 25 years or so
Mohair – fine goats hair used for glued on doll wigs
Mold Number – impressed, incised number of a dolls design
Molded Hair – hair styled into the head mold, often painted
Mourning Doll – a one of a kind doll created to memorialize a child or adult, Victorians made a wax doll image of a child that passed
Multi-Face Doll – doll has two or more faces that rotate
NM – Near Mint doll abbreviation
NRFB – Never Removed From Box abbreviation
Nankeen, Nankin, Nanking – commercially made cloth cotton body doll, made in France, Germany and USA
Ne Plus Ultra – riveted or swivel kid body joints 1883+
OOAK Doll – One Of A Kind doll, only one was made
OM, Open Mouth – cut open mouth usually with inset teeth
O/CM, Open Closed Mouth – open uncut mouth without teeth
Odorette Sachet Dolls – scented dolls 1940s+
Oriental Dolls – dolls with Asian characteristics
Ozocertie, Ozokertie – wax made from petroleum 1884+
PE – Painted Eyes abbreviation
PL – Painted eye Lashes abbreviation
PLW – Painted eye Lash Walker abbreviation
Painted Bisque – paint is not baked into object, can rub off
Paperweight Eyes – blown glass eyes with depth, look real
Papier Mâché – paper pulp, glue, sizing, clay, flour mixture
Parian – unglazed China shoulder head doll
Paste head – another name for a composition head
Pate – cardboard, cork, plaster covering of the head open crown
Patina – mellow sign of aging
Peddler Dolls – dressed as a tradesman; Costmonger sells fruits or vegetables, Colporter or Colporteur peddled religious goods, Nanny notions, Tinker sells metal wares etc.
Peppering – tiny black flecks in antique bisque dolls
Phonograph Dolls – early talking dolls
Pierced Ears – hole in ear lobe for earrings
Pierced In Ears – hole in ear lobe and straight into the head
Plangonologist – a person who collects Dolls
Poppet, puppet, pup -old English of a doll, from Latin word pupa
Poppets – wooden handcrafted Kentucky mountain doll
Porcelain Doll – usually refers to a modern collector doll
Porcelainette – Beck Mfg Co non-breakable doll head material
Portrait Doll – doll modeled after a real person
Pouty Mouth – closed petulant mouth
Pug Nose – small slight upturned button nose
Pupiless Eye – fixed doll eye made of all one solid color
Rare – over used adjective in on-line doll auction descriptions
Repo – repossession, not a good thing, see next item
Repro – reproduction of an earlier doll mold or model
Resilles – hair net for Spanish comb
Rub – spot where color has worn away
SLW – Straight Leg Walker doll abbreviation
Santos doll figures – Holy Saints doll figures Spanish
Shoulder Head – head and shoulder all one piece|
Shoulder Plate – shoulder portion with socket for head
Sleep Eyes – eyes that open and close when laid down
Slip – liquid clay and water to make porcelain
Socket Head – head with neck that fits shoulder plate or body
Solid Dome – doll head without a crown opening
Starfish Hands – after 1910, fingers splayed, like on Kewpies
Stockinet, Stockinette – soft loosely knitted cloth stretchable fabric
Swivel Head – bisque shoulder head that turns in its socket
Tin Eyes – metal eyeball with detailed lithographed pupil & iris
Toddler Body – chubby child’s body doll
Topsy Turvy Doll – two dolls in one when turned over
Treble tongue – a tongue that moves
Tuck Comb – wooden doll with a carved hair comb decoration
Turned Head – bisque shoulder head turned slightly Left or Right
Universal Joint – replaced ne plus ultra riveted joints 1896+
VHTF – Very Hard To Find abbreviation
Vinyl Doll – doll material used after 1950
WPA – Works Progress Administration, artists cloth dolls
Walker Body – head moves side to side when doll walks
Watermelon Mouth – closed smiling mouth in a single line
Wax Over – wax applied over composition, paper mache head
Weighted Eyes – sleep eyes with a metal weight attached
Yama, YamaYama – doll dressed as a clown
Xylonite – floatable plastic like material used by Butler Bros.