Reliable Toy Corporation of Toronto, Ontario, Canada is noted for early dark skinned dolls like Hiawatha, from 1948. Hiawatha is missing her shoes and her wig is not original. Other composition dolls by Reliable include their version of
Topsy and other baby dolls.
Reliable manufactured the above stuffed vinyl
Topsy during the 1950s.
These two 1960s babies, also by Reliable, arrived as
heads only (without torsos and limbs). One has molded hair; the other has rooted hair. Otherwise, they are identical. A fellow doll enthusiast who resides in Nova Scotia, Canada sent them to me explaining that they were factory extras that she acquired with plans to make them whole. Not knowing when she would complete the task, after we "met," she sent them to me. I added Apple Valley doll kit bodies to the heads and dressed them as shown. The doll on the right has somehow separated herself from her white socks and pink shoes (or perhaps another doll borrowed them).
Reliable manufactured this 1970s, 30-inch walker that I found on eBay several years ago. I redressed her in a child's size dress, socks, and shoes. Read more about her
here.
Dee and Cee, another Canadian doll company, produced the above male doll,
Calypso Bill, in 1960, which is similar to Horsman's 1950s
Pete. Both dolls have female counterparts,
Calypso Jill and
Polly, respectively.
 |
| Two 25-inch Jessie Collection dolls by Jessie International Ltd. |
Yet another Canadian doll company, Jessie International Ltd of Quebec (formerly Importations Jaques Fournier), made a line of small-to-large vinyl dolls with cloth bodies, girls and boys. Called the
Jessie Collection, the dolls were actually made in China and distributed by Importations Jacques Fournier Ltd/Jessie International Ltd. The doll on the left (distributed by Importations Jacques Fournier) is from 1990 and has a white cloth body. The one on the right is from 1995, distributed by Jessie International Ltd. The latter doll has a brown cloth body. Described as collectible dolls by the company, the serious collector would consider them play dolls.
These are just a few dark skinned dolls made/distributed in Canada.
dbg
My 3 yr old daughter was given a beautiful doll, whose picture is shown above - from the jessie collection of importations jacques fournier ltee the one i was given was the 1990 series. I have been trying to find out more information on this doll and I am extremely hesitant to let my daughter play with this beautiful doll as it is in mint condition, except it is wearing different clothes, not the clothing shown in the picture above, Im not sure if there were more than one outfit the doll was sold in or not, to know if the clothing is original however I think probably not. If you are able to tell me anything about this doll it would be greatly appreciated. teresabg@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteThe [Jessie Collection] dolls that I included in the blog have been redressed. I have their original clothing. The dolls usually were dressed in colorful dresses or rompers. I believe they retailed for about $35 to $40 back in the 1990s. There's not much else that I can offer. I purchased several wholesale during the 90s for resale and kept the two that I included in the blog. Their certificates of authenticity sewn to their cloth bodies indicate they are collectible dolls, but actually from a collector's standpoint, they fall more into the play doll category.
ReplyDeleteI hope this helps!
I have three Jessie Collectible Dolls. one is a Black, one is an Eskimo and the last one is a Chinese.
ReplyDeleteThe black has a gold coloured dress and of course the other two have traditional Eskimo and Chinese garb.
The Black is from 1992, Eskimo and Chinese from 1993.
All unused condition, purchased in Canada.....
I have two Jessie Dolls. One is from the 1996 Original Jessie Doll Collection. She is white with platinum blonde hair and has been redressed. The other is 12" tall and part of the Natacha Edition from 1998 and dress in what looks like Native attire.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone can tell me more about on the left that would be great thanks
ReplyDeleteWhich picture are you referring to? There are two photos with dolls on the left.
Delete