Ideal Novelty and Toy Company began in 1906 by 1938  they changed the company name to Ideal Toy Company. 

Ideal dolls are made of wood, cloth, composition, hard plastic, vinyl and magic skin and are considered to be very good quality. 

Ideal was one of the first in their industry to use plastic to manufacture dolls in 1942.  By the end of World War II, most all dolls were made of the new material, at least in the USA.

In 1982 the Ideal Toy Company was acquired by the CBS Toy Company, which later went out of business.

1940-1942 Ideal Judy Garland doll, 21" tall, from strike up the Band.  All composition jointed body, brown sleep eyes, human hair brown wig, open smiling mouth with four teeth.  Has a rounder face than Deanna Durbin (used the DD mold), doll mark on head Made in U.S.A.  Doll mark on back: Ideal Doll 21 (backward).

1940 Judy Garland doll, 21"

1940 Ideal Magic Skin Baby doll, 14, 16, 18 and 20" tall, all latex magic skin stuffed body, jointed at the neck and shoulders, head is made of the new hard plastic "Celanese Acetate" material, molded painted hair, sleep eyes, closed mouth, doll is usually marked on head 18, IDEAL DOLL, MADE IN USA. 

Another Ideal doll with this same head mark, with molded hair, has an open/closed mouth, the magic skin body also has jointed hips.

1940 Magic Skin Baby Doll, 14"

1940s-1950s Hedwig Dolls, 14" tall, unmarked, early dolls are composition and later ones of hard plastic, based on Marguerite Lofft De Angeli (born 1889  died 1987) children's fiction stories first published from 1935 to 1946, the dolls wigs and clothing were designed and selected from the books by Marguerite's friend Hedwig Ryglewicz.  Mrs. De Angeli the Grande Dame of children's literature an illustrator in America, was selected a Member of the Michigan Women's Historic Hall of Fame in 1984 and won numerous awards for her books and illustrations over the years, many school children will remember her books that seem to be a staple of libraries and classrooms. 

The two ladies selected a generic unmarked all composition 14" Ideal girl doll (some dolls were the Arranbee Debu'teen mold, some were the Mary Hoyer doll mold, also initially made by Ideal) and ordered 100 dolls to make into the characters portrayed in Marguerite's books.  The nine dolls that were made are; Lydia, Suzanne, Elin, Hannah, Anelia, Cecelia, April, Tadd and boy dolls; Yonie Wondernose.  These dolls were produced for 20 years, are unmarked, had a yellow and black wrist tag that identified them.

Hedwig Suzanne doll, 14"

See the de Angeli & Hedwig page for more details

1942-1947 Ideal Plassie Doll, 18 to 24" tall, baby doll with a hard plastic head on a composition shoulder plate so head can tilt and turn, composition limbs and a cloth stuffed body, molded painted hair, sleep eyes, closed mouth. Plassie was reissued in 1946-1947 with a cloth body, full arms, partial legs, as shown.  She also came with magic skin limbs.

Anne's 1946 Ideal Plassie doll is 21" tall, hard plastic head with sleep eyes, cloth stuffed body and upper legs, plastic arms and lower legs, crier, doll marked IDEAL DOLL MADE IN THE U.S.A.  PAT. No 2252077. 

Plassie was reissued in the 1950s with vinyl limbs and as a toddler doll in 1951.

Photos courtesy of Anne

1946 Plassie doll,

with a cloth body 21"

1943 Ideal Honey Baby doll, 15" tall, composition head and limbs, cloth body with crier, sleep eyes, closed mouth, curly molded hair, doll mark 20 Ideal Doll Made in USA.

1943 Honey Baby doll 15"

1945-1947 + Ideal Baby Beautiful doll, 17-27" tall, cloth body, composition flange head with molded hair, distinctive two molded squiggly curls on her forehead, (after 1949 the Baby Beautiful doll was made of hard plastic), partial composition arms and legs, sleep eyes, open mouth.  Doll is unmarked, but her large forehead squiggle curl is unique and helps identify her. Patented in 1945.

This is the Baby doll that was shown in the 1947 Miracle on 34th Street, Christmas movie, with young child star actress Natalie Wood (1938-1981).

1945-47 Baby Beautiful doll 27" two squiggly curls on forehead

1945 Ideal Miss Curity doll, 18-22" tall, all composition jointed body, wigged, sleep eyes, closed mouth, wears a nurse uniform, doll is unmarked.

There is also a 1953 Ideal Miss Curity doll made of hard plastic with the Toni body and markings, part of the Toni family of dolls.

1945 Miss Curity doll 18"

1947 Ideal Sparkle Plenty doll, 15" tall, hard plastic head, magic skin kapok stuffed latex body, molded and painted or  yellow yarn hair with sleep eyes and closed mouth; daughter of Gertie Gravel and Bob Oscar Plenty (B.O. Plenty, lol) of the Dick Tracy comic strip, doll mark  Made in U.S.A. Pat. No. 2252077.

1947 Sparkle Plenty doll, 15"

1948-1953 Ideal Baby Coos doll, 14-16" tall, cloth or magic skin body, composition or hard plastic head, sleep eyes, molded hair, closed mouth, doll mark on head: 14 IDEAL DOLL, MADE IN U.S.A or IDEAL DOLL MADE IN USA or a backward 2 or S.  Some dolls mark on back  Ideal Doll 14.

1948-1953 Baby Coos doll, 14" composition head

1948-1953 Ideal Brother Coos doll is 25" tall, is a toddler with composition head, chest plate, arms, legs, cloth body. He "Coos" when you lay him back, brown painted hair with a curl in front, brown sleep eyes, molded lashes.  Doll mark on neck Ideal Doll, Made in USA.

Photo courtesy of Yasmin

1948-1953 Brother Coos doll, 25"

1948-1953 Ideal Sister Coos doll, 25 - 30" tall, toddler cloth body with hard plastic head and limbs.  She "Coos" when you lay her down, wigged, blue sleep eyes.  Doll mark IDEAL DOLL, MADE IN U.S.A or IDEAL DOLL MADE IN USA.

Photo is courtesy of Patkan

1948-1953 Sister Coos Doll, 25"

ca. 1948 Ideal Seventeeny doll or Pre Toni doll, 17", several sizes, all composition jointed body at neck, shoulder and hips, Toni head mold, mohair wig, sleep eyes, real upper lashes, painted lower lashes, closed mouth, dolls are unmarked, came with a hang tag shown at left; An Ultrafine Products, An Ideal Doll, Made in U.S.A. By, Ideal Novelty & Toy Co, Hollis, 7 New York.

ca. 1948 Seventeeny Doll, 17"

ca. 1948 Ideal Pre Toni doll, 19" - several sizes, all composition jointed body, Toni doll head mold, mohair wig, sleep eyes, real upper lashes, painted lower lashes, closed mouth, doll is marked Ideal Toy Corp. or unmarked, doll came with same hang tag as shown above; An Ideal Doll.

ca. 1948 Pre Toni doll, 19"

ca. 1948 Ideal Pre Toni doll, 14" - several sizes, although this doll and the above two composition dolls have a Toni head mold, they were not sold as named Toni dolls as of yet, this one is now all hard plastic jointed body, Toni doll head mold, sleep eyes, real upper lashes, painted lower lashes, mohair wig, closed mouth, dolls are unmarked or marked only Ideal Toy Corp. on back on neck, came with same hang tag as above two dolls; An Ideal Doll.

Photo courtesy of Dollolgy

ca. 1948 Pre-Toni doll, 14"

1949-1953 Ideal Toni dolls, 14-22 1/2" tall, all hard plastic jointed body, the earliest named Toni dolls wore a nylon wig in various styles and hair colors, later heads have rooted hair, sleep eyes usually in blue, real upper eyelashes painted lower lashes, closed mouth. 

This is the "Toni Home Permanent" doll, there were lots of separate outfits available, the smaller sized dolls have the same head mold as shown on the above doll, but the big girl at 22 1/2" on right looks quite a bit different.    

The other dolls that used the Toni marked body are: Harriet Hubbard Ayer, Miss Curity nurse, Mary Hartline, Betsy McCall and Princess Mary.  The Ruth and Sara Ann dolls are shown on the 1950s page.

Here's a full page of some of the various sized and tagged Toni doll clothing.  

1949-1953 Toni doll, 22 1/2"  marked P94.

Ideal Toni dolls marked

P-90 is 14", P90W ,

mark P-91 is 16", P91W

mark P-92 is 19", P92W

mark P-93 is 21", P93W

 mark P-94 is 22 1/2"

W = a walker doll usually 1/2" taller