Effanbee F & B Dolls 1930s USA

1938 Effanbee Betty Butin-Nose Oriental doll, 8" tall

"dolls that touch your heart"

Founded around 1910 in New York City, Effanbee stands for Fleischaker & Baum - F & B - who were the company founders. They became well known for being the first to produce a realistically proportioned child doll named Patsy, they then created companion dolls, a large clothing wardrobe and Patsy's own fan club, reportedly with 275,000 members.  F & B also created the first hard rubber, drink and wet doll named DyDee Baby.  The Effanbee Company produced composition, hard rubber, cloth, hard plastic and vinyl dolls.

1930 & 1946 Effanbee Patsy Joan doll, 16" tall, all composition, sleep eyes with lashes, closed mouth, sleep blue or brown eyes, came with molded hair or with a wig.  Part of the Patsy Family.

1946 they added a black Patsy Joan doll, 17" tall with brown sleep eyes, molded or wigged hair.

Photo courtesy of Flozdolz, pristine and all original.

1946 F & B Patsy Joan doll, 16"

1930-1935 Effanbee Mary Lee doll, 21" tall, composition shoulder head and limbs, cloth child body, wigged, sleep eyes, open smiling mouth with teeth, marked faintly on back of head:  Mary Lee, marked on back of shoulder plate:  Effanbee Doll, Walk, Talk, Sleep.

1932 Effanbee Mary Lee doll, came in 14-15, 16, or 17" tall, used the all composition Patsy Joan doll body or composition head and limbs with a cloth body.

1932 F & B Mary Lee doll, 16"

1931 Effanbee Patsy Babyette doll, 8-9" tall, all composition, molded hair, sleep eyes, dolls were dressed as either a girl or boy.  Patsyette was the same doll with a mohair wig.  Part of the Patsy Family.

1931 F & B Patsy Babyette doll, 8-9"

1931 Effanbee Lambkin doll, 16" tall, composition flange head with molded hair and composition limbs, sleep eyes, open mouth, cloth body, doll mark Lambkins.

1931 F & B Lambkin doll, 16"

1932-1933 Effanbee Patricia doll, 14, 16 or 19" tall, all composition, came in a black or white version, blue, brown or green sleep eyes, brown or auburn wig in braids with bangs, closed mouth, several different outfits, doll shown appears to be in her original outfit.  Doll mark Effanbee Patricia or unmarked.  Part of the Patsy Family.  Also used as an Anne Shirley doll.

Patricia Kin is 11" tall, was also used as the Anne Shirley doll, is usually marked Effanbee Patricia Kin.

1932-1933 F & B Patricia doll, 14"

1933-1950s Effanbee Dy-Dee Baby doll, 9-24" tall, earliest dolls are made with a hard rubber head, later dolls were made of hard plastic, blue, brown or green sleep eyes, real upper lashes, single stroke brows, painted lower lashes, open mouth, applied soft rubber ears, molded painted hair, soft rubber body jointed at the neck, arms and hips, First drink and wet baby doll, came dressed in cotton flannel diaper, doll marked on back  DyDee Baby U.S. Pat. 1-857-485 England-880-060 France-723-980 Germany-585-647 Other Pat. Pending.

1933+ F & B Dy-Dee Baby doll 11"

1933 Effanbee Little Girl doll, 9 1/2" tall, all composition jointed five piece body, molded painted hair, painted slight side glancing eyes, painted rosebud tiny mouth, wears an organdy dress with a separate slip, panties, socks and oilcloth shoes. Doll mark Effanbee Made in U.S.A.  The Little Girl Doll is a smaller sister doll, to the dolls noted below.

If your doll is 11 1/2" tall, is named and marked Suzette, see below for the 1939 Suzette doll.  If your doll is 14 1/2" tall, see the 1940 Suzanne named and marked doll on the Effanbee 1940s doll page. 

1933 F & B Little Girl doll, 9 1/2"

1935 Effanbee Anne of Green Gables doll, 14, 21 or 28" tall, celebrity doll, this was the "real" Anne Shirley doll, a character in Lucy Maud Montgomery's book "Anne of Green Gables", about a feisty 11 year old orphan with red auburn hair, child actress star Dawn O'Day, used the  Mary Lee doll head mold with open mouth, has a fully jointed body (14" is the Patsy Joan doll type slim body), all composition, sleep eyes, painted upper & lower lashes, wigged. The dolls head maybe faintly marked Mary Lee.  On dolls back marked Anne Shirley

1935 F & B Anne of Green Gables doll, Mary Lee doll mold, 14"

1935 Effanbee Anne of Green Gables doll,  9 1/2, 11, 13 1/3-14, 16 & 19" tall, celebrity doll, this was the " real" Anne Shirley doll, a character in Lucy Maud Montgomery's book "Anne of Green Gables", about a feisty 11 year old orphan with red auburn hair, child actress star Dawn O'Day, used the Patricia or Patsyette head mold with closed mouth, fully jointed child body all composition or composition and cloth, brown sleep eyes, auburn or blonde braided wig with bangs.  Think some larger sizes the head is faintly marked Patricia, small sizes marked Effanbee Patricia Kin and Anne Shirley.

Photo courtesy of Flozdolz, pristine and all original.

1935 F & B Anne of Green Gables doll,  Patricia doll mold, 14"

1936-1939 Effanbee American Children Portrait Dolls, designed by Dewees Cochran, six dolls were contracted by Effanbee to be produced for the 1936 Toy Show, they are 15, 17 or 20" tall, all composition socket head with jointed body, human hair wig, tin stationary or sleep eyes, closed or open mouth.  Usually marked: Effanbee American Children or unmarked.  Also the Effanbee American Children Portrait dolls - Anne Shirley doll mold and mark.

Some of the Dewees doll names were; Barbara Joan doll, Barbara Ann doll, Barbara Lou doll all with an open mouth and teeth.  A Boy doll, Gloria Ann doll and Ruth Ann doll all with closed mouths. Additionally a resource notes the doll names Betty Jean and Peggy Lou doll.

See also the Dewees Cochran 1934-1970s doll page.

In 1997 the U. S. Postal Service Stamp Commerative issued a reproduction vinyl doll based on the earlier Dewees American Children dolls of the 1930s.  Robert Tonner also has reproduced the Effanbee American Children dolls in the 1990's-2004.

1936-1939 F & B American Children Boy doll, 17" tall, the boy doll was sold only one year is unmarked and came with tin eyes and closed mouth.

1936-1939 F & B American Children  Gloria Ann doll, 20"

1936 Effanbee Sugar Baby doll, 16-25" tall, composition flange head with lightly molded painted hair, sleep eyes or painted, closed mouth, cloth body, partial composition limbs, doll marked on neck Effanbee Sugar Baby Trademark. 

Doll shown, appears to have been restored, repainted.

1936 F & B Sugar Baby doll, 25"

1937-1939 Effanbee Clippo the Clown doll, 15" tall, ventriloquist marionette doll, dressed in a red and white clown suit with white organdy collar, white felt hat and white shoes.  Came with a play booklet, tickets and poster.  Designed by Virginia Curtis Austin (1903-1986), other marionettes were; Emily Ann, Lucifer, Liza Lee, Poochie (a dog) and were know as the "Clippo Club".  Virginia toured giving theatre performances with her puppets for many years.

1937-1939 F & B Clippo the Clown doll, 15"

1938-1943 Effanbee Oriental Boy Butin-Nose doll, 8" tall, all composition, molded hair, painted side glancing eyes, jointed at the neck, shoulders & hips.  Doll marked  Effanbee.  Came wearing ethnic costumes, doll shown is a boy in an oriental costume, there was a companion girl doll - shown below - Betty.

1938 F & B Oriental Boy Butin Nose doll, 8"

1938-1943 Effanbee Betty Butin-Nose doll, 8" tall, shown all original with her box, and tag, all composition, molded hair, painted side glancing eyes, jointed at the neck, shoulders & hips, doll mark Effanbee. 

1938 F & B Betty Butin-Nose doll, 8"

1939-1959 Effanbee Little Lady doll - Effanbee Anne Shirley doll, 14-15, 18, 21 1/2, 27, 29" tall, all composition jointed doll, sleep eyes, wigged some made of yarn, DeWees Cochran designed one of two hand molds; the other one has separated fingers that are a bit shorter & fatter. Both dolls are marked: Anne Shirley or just Effanbee.  Here is a page with Little Lady doll - Anne Shirley doll clothes from a 1942-1944 Montgomery Ward catalog.  The 1959 Anne Shirley dolls were re-issued doll in hard plastic. 

Photo courtesy of Flozdolz.

1940s F & B Little Lady doll, 14", all original, braided wig, headpiece, long floral gown, DeWees hands.     

1939-1940 Effanbee Little Lady doll - Historic Doll Sets; three dolls to each set, 30 dolls total, 20" tall, used as department store displays, depicted various clothing from a 1492 native American Indian Maid to 1939 Miss America a "modern doll". 

What was sold to the public were replicas that were 14" tall, Little Lady doll head mold, body marked Anne Shirley, with painted eyes, Dewees Cochran designed arms of hard rubber with separated slender fingers.

1939-1940 F & B Little Lady - Historic Doll, 1620 Plymouth Colony

1939-1946 Effanbee Baby Bright Eyes doll, 1939-1944 Tousle Tot doll or 1938-1941 & 1950 Noma Talker doll, 1957-1981 Sweetie Pie doll, (all same head mold), 19 or 24" tall, cloth body and legs, composition swivel head, composition arms, flirty sleep eyes, caracul wig over molded hair.

Also, Effanbee Tommy Tucker doll, Katie doll, Sugar Pie doll, Mickey doll, Brother doll & Sister doll, a set of 14" twin dolls called Mickey & Janie doll, all used this same head mold.

1939-1946 F & B Baby Bright Eyes doll

1939-1949 Effanbee Mickey doll or Mickey Baby doll, 14" tall, cloth body and legs, composition swivel head, composition arms, sleep eyes (some are flirty), molded painted hair, some have a wig over the molded hair, marked: F & B.  Uses the Baby Bright Eyes head mold, as do many other dolls.

1939 F & B Mickey doll or Mickey Baby doll, 14"

1939, 1959, 1962 Effanbee Suzette doll, 11 1/2" tall, strung all composition, painted side glancing sleep eyes, molded hair or wigged, slight bent right arm, marked on head Suzette Effanbee USA and on back Suzette Effanbee Made in USA . 

The 1962 Effanbee Suzette doll is 15" tall and made of vinyl.

1939 F & B Suzette doll, 11 1/2"