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Left
is Richwood's Cindy Lou doll on right a Mary Hoyer doll
Photo courtesy of Lina
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Mary
Hoyer 14" tall, all composition with side glancing,
painted blue eyes and painted eyelashes. |
The Mary Hoyer Doll
Manufacturing Company history began in 1925 as a yarn and craft shop
in Reading, Pennsylvania USA. Mary designed knitted
goods for infants and children and later added a slim
doll that could model her clothes along with a pattern
book, this doll was supplied through an agreement with
Ideal Novelty & Toy company, so early dolls only bear the
Ideal markings, this was the Mayfair doll with a body twist
waist, although the clothing should have the Hoyer
label.
Around 1937 Mary approached
Bernard Lipfert a well known doll sculptor, to create her own
doll, it was a composition doll, that was produced by the
Fiberoid Doll Products Co. in New York, for the Hoyer company.
These dolls will often be marked: The Mary Hoyer Doll in
raised print. Dolls are all composition, wigged, most
have blue sleep eyes with a lid above the eye (some are
brown), real upper lashes, painted lower lashes and a closed
mouth. Some dolls have painted eyes with painted
lashes, these may be from the era of World War II (1935-1949),
when supplies were hard to come by.
After 1946 the Mary Hoyer dolls
were made of hard plastic and are often marked ORIGINAL Mary
Hoyer Doll Made in USA (some composition dolls have this
marking too), some dolls were marked
Made in USA within a circle without the Mary Hoyer name
and doll blanks could be bought unmarked, dressed and sold by other doll makers, see related
page links for each those companies. The Mary Hoyer Doll company closed in
the 1970s, around 1991 Mary Hoyer family members reintroduced a vinyl 13 1/2" Mary
Hoyer doll. |
Mary Hoyer Dolls Identified
1925 Mary Hoyer doll, 13"
tall, Mayfair body by Ideal with twist waist and
upper torso, all composition, jointed body, wigged, sleep eyes.
Doll was manufactured by Ideal, sold to Hoyer who redressed and sold the doll.
Doll is marked Ideal
Doll.
If she does not have Hoyer marked
clothing or her original box - your out of luck to make a
correct ID as a Hoyer doll.
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1925 Mary
Hoyer Mayfair twist waist body doll 13" |
1937-1946 Mary Hoyer doll, 14" tall, all
composition jointed doll, mohair wig (some have molded
hair beneath the wig),
sleep eyes usually blue but some root beer brown have been found, or painted eyes with painted
lashes, real upper lashes, painted lower lashes, closed mouth,
many different outfits were made for this doll, as well as
patterns were sold, that could be knitted or sewn by the dolls
owner. Mary Hoyer made clothing will have a Mary
Hoyer tag. Doll marked: The Mary Hoyer Doll in
raised print.
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1937-1946
Mary Hoyer doll,
14"
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1947-1950s
Mary Hoyer doll, 14" tall, all hard plastic, jointed body,
mohair wig many colors & styles, some with molded hair
beneath, usually blue sleep eyes. closed
mouth.
Doll marked: Original Mary Hoyer Doll inside
a circle.
Shown Mary Hoyer doll, blonde, hard plastic, in her
lavender Hoyer marked tutu.
Many different outfits were made
for this doll, as well as patterns were sold, that could be
knitted or sewn by the dolls owner. Mary Hoyer made
clothing will have a Mary Hoyer tag.
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1947-1950s
Mary Hoyer doll,
14"
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1937-1946
Mary Hoyer boy Doll,
14" tall, all composition or 1946-1950s all hard plastic,
jointed body, wigged with short
hair (this doll is
often thought to have had a haircut), sleep eyes, closed mouth.
Doll shown on right
in the original Prince tagged clothing.
Marked same as above hard plastic girl:
Original Mary Hoyer Doll inside a circle.
The boy, male Hoyer doll
commands a slightly higher price, as they did not make as many,
thus, supply and demand from collectors today make him
rather hard to find in good condition.
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1950s Mary Hoyer The
Prince doll,
14"
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1950s Richwood Cindy Lou doll, 14" is a Mary Hoyer doll mold hip pin walker,
evrything is the same as the Hoyer doll except the body is a walker. Mrs.
Hoyer was not happy with the wlker body design, so she sold the mold to Richwood
who assembled, dressed and sold the dolls. The dolls back is marked
Made in U.S.A. inside a blank Circle on the back. The Hoyer sold dolls will
include the Mary Hoyer text inside the circle.
Non-walking dolls
and bodies were also purchased from Hoyer. |

1950s Richwood Cindy Lou doll 14", hip pin walker body |
1950s Mary Hoyer Gigi doll, 14 or
18" tall, all hard plastic jointed strung body, wigged,
sleep eyes, closed mouth, both sizes should have the Mary
Hoyer Doll mark within the circle, very few of these dolls were
produced, made by the Frisch Doll Company.
If your doll is an unmarked, it's likely
to be from another doll maker, possibly a
Nancy Ann Style Show doll if 18" tall, whose face is often mistaken as Gigi.
Doll
shown is the 18" tall Gigi,
hard plastic jointed strung body, hard plastic head, auburn hair
wig, blue sleep eyes, real
upper lashes, closed mouth, dressed in elegant pale blue
and tulle gown.
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1950s
Gigi doll, 18"
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1957 Mary Hoyer Vicky doll, 10
1/2" tall, vinyl head on a hard plastic jointed fashion body,
twist waist, rooted hair, high heeled feet. Vicky is
marked Uneeda on neck and was purchased, dressed
in sportswear to formals and sold as a Hoyer doll. (it's
Uneeda's Suzette doll).
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1957 Vicky doll,
10 1/2"
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1958 Mary Hoyer Margie doll, 10"
tall, all vinyl doll with short rooted hair, sleep eyes,
closed mouth, toddler type jointed body, doll marked AE. Doll will need
her original box, tagged clothing to be sure
it's the Hoyer sold Margie doll, as many other
companies used this same face mold and sold it as their
doll.
Here are some other doll makers that used this
Effanbee Fluffy
type doll mold without the Effanbee marking with or without freckles:
Allied Grand
Doll Company named their doll Bonnie, Kellogg's
doll was named Linda Lou used as a mail in premium
Advertising doll who is unmarked,
Mollyes called her Perky
also unmarked,
Earle
Pullan sold this doll name unknown, marked Pullan,
Sayco named her Cute Carol
(with freckles), mark unknown
and Valentine used her for
the 13-15" tall Perfect Patient doll unmarked and possibly other
manufacturers may have dressed and sold this doll as well.
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1958 Margie doll 10" |
1960s Mary Hoyer Becky doll, 14"
tall, all vinyl
doll with rooted hair, sleep eyes, closed mouth, jointed body, marked on head AE.
Probably purchased from
Allied Grand
Doll Company,
dressed and sold by Mary Hoyer. |

1960s Becky doll 14" |
1965 Mary Hoyer Vicky doll, 12" tall, all
vinyl doll with rooted hair, jointed body, doll marked AE
on back of neck. Probably purchased from the
Allied
Grand Doll Company as this is the same head mold they used
for their Tammy clone doll, with the three painted corner
eyelashes, dressed and sold by Hoyer. |

1965 Vicky doll 12" |
Additional Mary Hoyer dolls not
shown
1961 Mary Hoyer Cathy doll, 10"
tall, vinyl infant doll with a baby jointed body, made by the Unique Doll Company,
doll mark is unknown.
1962 Mary Hoyer Janie doll, 8"
tall, vinyl body, baby type doll, it's
unknown at this time what company actually made the Hoyer Janie doll,
doll mark is unknown.
1991+ Mary Hoyer vinyl head dolls, 13 1/2"
tall, rooted hair, real eyelashes, doll marked MARY HOYER DOLL CO.
related
Ideal dolls |
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