Horsman Antique Dolls 1920s Identified USA
Edward Imeson Horsman, E. I. Horsman, founded his toy company in New York City, New York in 1865 and became a leader in the toy industry. In the early years Horsman imported dolls from outside the USA, starting in 1904 to 1928 they distributed “Babyland Rag Dolls” made of all cloth originally created by Albert Bruckner. Between 1919 to 1925 Horsman and Aetna Doll & Toy merged. 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 It dolls. In October of 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.
Horsman dolls 1904+ | < 1920s > | 1930s+ | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s+ | 1970s
1920s Horsman Antique Dolls Identified
1921 Horsman Jackie Coogan doll 14″ tall, composition and cloth, Jackie was a child actor from the Charlie Chaplin film “The Kid” in 1921, there were two dolls; the first one used a generic molded doll head that was used on many other dolls, the second head was sculpted specifically for the doll by Helen Trowbridge with a likeness of the child actor and wore a pageboy wig. Both dolls are dressed in a turtleneck sweater, long pants with suspenders, checked cap and button that said “Horsman Jackie Coogan Kid Patented”.
1922+ Horsman Nippon bisque head baby dolls 16-24″ tall. bisque head, sleep eyes, open mouth with upper teeth, composition jointed baby bent limb body, doll mark Horsman No. 2 Nippon.
1923 Horsman Baby Horsman doll 14, 20, 24″ tall, designed by Edith Hitchcock, composition flange head and hands with loosely stuffed cloth body and limbs, disk jointed shoulders, hip joints are stitched, molded painted hair & facial features (they largest size has painted eyes, the smaller dolls two have sleep eyes) and closed mouth. Was meant to portray a real life baby and even has dimpled hands, doll mark E.I. © H. Co.
1924-1930s Horsman Baby Darling doll 16-25″ tall, composition head with lightly molded painted blond hair, brown sleep eyes with painted upper and lower lashes, open red painted mouth with two upper and lower teeth, cloth baby body some may have a tummy Mama crier, composition arms with wide spread apart fingers on hands, composition legs to above the knee, doll is unmarked. ** This head mold was Very popular and used by many other doll manufacturers, including Averill. An Effanbee Lovums competitor baby doll.
1924+ Horsman Bunny Tots dolls 6″ tall, all bisque, one piece doll with sculpted bunny hood and pink lined bunny ears, a blond tuft of hair at the forehead, painted side glancing eyes, closed pouty mouth and painted purple shoes and white socks. Marked on foot: Germany Bunny Tots trademark. Paper label on chest: Copyright by the E.I. Horsman Co. or could be labeled BonnyTot. “Bunny Tots Adventures” was the name of a character that appeared in the Washington Post as an illustrated column on Sundays in 1924 and became part of a series of books published by author, illustrator and creator Edward G. McCandlish in 1926 and republished in 1928.
1924 Horsman Tynie Baby doll 6-12″ tall, all bisque jointed with painted facial features doll mark © 1924 E.I. HORSMAN Inc. Made in Germany. Tynie Baby dolls 15-21″ tall, have composition flange heads and full arms or just the hands, cloth body some with a Mama squeak in tummy, painted or tin sleep eyes, closed mouth, scowling like face, doll mark © 1924, E.I.H. Co. Inc. or unmarked. Designed by Bernard Lipfert. A Bye-Lo Baby doll type competitor.
In the late 1920s Horsman sued Acme Toy for copying the Tynie Baby doll, but lost the lawsuit as their doll was only marked with the initials E.I.H., not with the full Horsman name, thereafter dolls are marked E.I.H. 1924 Horsman.
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1926 Horsman HEbee doll 9″ tall with blue painted shoes, SHEbee dolls 7″ tall with pink painted shoes. HEbee or SHEbee all bisque dolls are 4 to 9″ tall, all composition 7-9″ tall, have painted facial features, both have a molded white painted chemise, girls have pink shoes and boys have blue shoes each with a metal loop on shoe for a bow, dolls are unmarked with a paper tag on bottom of foot “Trademark Charles Twelvetrees Copyrighted 1925″.
In 1996-1997 Horsman HEbee and SHEbee all bisque dolls were reproduced, believe modern artists also reproduced the dolls which can be easily found at flea markets and auctions.
1928-1930 Horsman Baby Dimples doll 16-18 or 22-24″ tall, composition flange head & partial composition limbs on a cloth body, molded painted hair, sleep eyes, open smiling mouth, doll marked E.I.H. © CO. INC. or Dimples. Baby Dimples was also distributed thru JC Penney.
Charles H. Twelvetrees a cartoonist and illustrator designed the HEbee and SHEbee dolls based on his “Twelvetrees Kids” featured in the Pictorial Review and newspapers throughout the USA during the prior decade.
1928 Horsman Ella Cinders doll 18″ tall, comic character by Bill Conselman and Charlie Plumb, has a composition head with round painted eyes, freckles beneath the eyes, open/closed mouth, cloth body. Had at least four different costumes, shown is the pink and white checked cotton dress with black sash and white apron, doll mark © 1925 M.N.S.
Gata, Gatabox LTD of Hong Kong, reproduced this doll in 1988 after they acquired the Horsman name, reproductions was limited to 2,000-3,000 dolls.
1928+ Horsman Mama dolls, various sizes, composition shoulder heads with composition limbs and cloth body, criers, including Baby dolls: Horsman Brother doll and Horsman Sister doll, 12-14 or 18-20″ tall and Girl dolls: Horsman Peggy Ann doll and Dolly Rosebud doll 14-16 or 22-24″ tall. The Dolly Rosebud doll has her name in the mold on the back of her neck.
1928+ Horsman Mama doll 20″ tall, composition shoulder head, arms & lower legs, cloth stuffed body, stitched hip joints, multi stroke painted eyebrows, gray tin sleep eyes, real upper lashes, painted lower lashes, open mouth with two teeth and celluloid tongue, mohair wig, doll mark on shoulder plate: E.I. © H. Co., E.I. Horsman, Inc., EIH © ADC.
1929 Horsman Boots doll 14″ tall, Patsy type look a like, all composition socket head with jointed body, some have a body twist waist, molded painted hair, large painted brown eyes, dolls are unmarked.
Note: This doll face mold was also sold by the Maxine Doll Company who named her Mitzi and is marked on her back and Averill named her dolls; Jimmie a boy and Dimmie a girl, both dolls are unmarked.
Horsman dolls 1904+ | < 1920s > | 1930s+ | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s+ | 1970s
Additional 1920s Horsman Antique dolls not shown
1922 Horsman Bye Bye Baby doll, height ?, a composition doll designed by Helen Trowbridge, when pulling a cord attached to both arms, the doll moved it’s arms and hands imitating a life like baby gesture of waving goodbye, probably doll marked E.I.H. or Horsman.
ca. 1928 Horsman Mellin’s Food doll 11″ tall, composition shoulder head with molded painted blonde hair, blue painted eyes, closed mouth, pink cotton cloth body, upper arms and bent legs, composition lower arms, doll mark E.I.H. © Inc. (Horsman) dressed in red and white striped rompers, clothes labeled Mellin’s Food Doll Boston, Mass.
1929-1930 Horsman Mama doll 19″ tall, composition shoulder head with molded blonde painted curly hair, blue tin sleep eyes, cloth stuffed torso with a Mama cryer, composition limbs, doll marked E.I. HC2. INC. R.M.B. © 1929.