She'll Have to Reschedule

Circa 1940s-1950s 28-inch hard plastic Rita Walker by Paris Doll Corporation; when the doll's legs are moved in a walking motion, her head turns from side to side.  She remains one of my top-favorite hard plastic dolls.

After recently taking updated photographs of my 28-inch Rita Walker doll by Paris Doll Corporation (circa 1940s-1950s), I noticed another hard plastic, head-turning walker doll's head was loose.  I had attempted to repair her some time ago, but my repair was shoddily done.  I decided to take her to the resident doll doctor to allow him to properly restring her.

17-inch head-turning walker, made in England with loose head

After undressing her and retrieving the elastic the doctor would need to complete the task, I took the patient to Doc Garrett and announced, "I have another patient for you."

He said, "She'll have to reschedule." So I left her in the capable doctors care until he could find time to complete the repairs.

She's all better and her wait for treatment was not as long as expected.

The very next morning upon entering the doll room with a cup of Hazelnut Teecino and two cinnamon graham crackers, I found her lying on my desk along with the package of elastic, already repaired.  I smiled.

"My head is no longer loose and I am as good as new."

This 17-inch, hard plastic, head-turning walker, has "Made in England" on her back as her only identifying marks.  She  has light blue-gray eyes and black short hair of mohair over which I placed a black two-ponytail, banged wig immediately after she arrived in 2010.  Her upper legs are pin jointed and her knees are articulated.  She arrived wearing a dress with white bodice and mock red/white/blue/yellow print vest that matches the skirt of the dress.  Handmade white knit, two-piece undies, white socks and red vinyl Cinderella-brand Mary Jane-style shoes completed her attire.  The seller identified her manufacturer as Rosebud of England and indicated the doll appears in Frances Baird's book, British Hard Plastic Dolls of the 1940s and 1950s, which was published in 1999.  It was not until her most recent restringing that I decided to purchase this book to confirm the seller's claim.

After the book arrived, I was pleased to discover a doll like mine on page 2 along with a black doll by Roddy ("Top Knot Baby") and a "Pedigree Negro Baby." My doll's name is Rosebud Knee Joint Girl.
The doll is seen two additional times on page 126 of Baird's book as illustrated below:

17-inch Knee Joint Doll, marked "Rosebud' on back of neck, "Made in England" across shoulders, mid 1950s.

The doll in the book has amber eyes.  Other described attributes are the same as my doll's.  She is said to have been made in the mid 1950s along with a white counterpart.  Some dolls that use this mold will bear the name "Rosebud" on the neck and "Made in England" across the shoulders/back.  My doll does not have Rosebud on the neck, but as Baird indicates in the introduction:

It is quite possible my doll was a store exclusive or other special-order doll.  Upon examining her neck once again for the manufacturer's mark, I found a scratched or etched away area, which may be where Rosebud was formerly located.

The 17-inch Knee Joint Doll is shown once more in Baird's book on page 126 in a tea party setting with the white counterpart.  The book indicates the white doll has the same "Made in England" mark on back but also has "Rosebud" on the neck.  The description from the book reads:  Dolls' tea party with two Rosebud knee joint girls sitting naturally at the table. On the left with auburn mohair wig, sleeping blue eyes and a tiny Kleeware thumbsuck in the pocket of her teddy print dress.  On the right a black knee joint girl with black mohair wig, amber sleeping eyes and a pretty turquoise print dress.  On the table a Chad Valley aluminum tea set from 1949 and on the floor, her dolly is a tiny Rosebud baby with moulded hair and sleeping eyes.

With my Rosebud Knee Joint Doll's restringing properly completed, she is now redressed in her white knit undergarments, dress, socks and shoes,  and replacement wig.  She is back on display with other similar dolls, feeling and looking so much better!



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More on My Brown Doll and Friends

I dusted the dolls on the office credenza and repositioned some to another area in the doll room to make room for Betty, my 1950s Pedigree Saucy Walker that was first introduced here.  I had to move several dolls in order to display Betty with similar dolls.

Betty is joined by two Saucy Walker types and a Roddy walker.  Looking on in the background are a 25-inch hard plastic Rita walker and a 27-inch hard plastic and composition mama doll whose arm was repaired recently.

In the photograph above, Betty is flanked by two Saucy Walker types made during the same time she was made.  They, however, were made in America, while Betty was made in England by Pedigree. Below is a close-up of Betty and the two Saucy Walker types.

I like Betty's coloring the best and her flirty eyes add to her appeal.

The American-made Saucy Walker types stand 22-1/2 and 22-inches.  They are both unmarked and were probably copycats of Ideal's 1950s Saucy Walker. I have not been able to document an authentic black Saucy Walker by Ideal.  So I applaud the manufacturers who took the initiative to make the black copycats I own.

The smallest doll in the first picture is a 13-inch Roddy walker, also made in England.  Her facial features are similar to Betty's and the doll in the green dress.  When her legs are moved in a walking motion, her suspended head turns from side to side.  A slight gap between her head and neck is designed to prevent the side-to-side head movement from rubbing against her neck.  I thought this was a flaw when I received the doll in May of 2009, but after investigating, I discovered this is actually how Roddy walkers were made. 

Front and center in red shoes is a head-turning walker by Rosebud.

While repositioning the dolls, I found another head-turning walker that I wanted to display with Betty and friends.  She is 17-inches, marked Made in England, has jointed knees, and her sleep eyes are either green or blue.  It's difficult to determine their true color.  She has been rewigged.  The seller described her as being made by Rosebud and said she appears in Frances Beard's book on hard plastic dolls.

Betty and her new friends described above are made of hard plastic which was widely used in the 1950s and eventually phased out here in America during the 1960s.

Where is Betty?

After photographing Betty with her similar friends, other vintage and modern dolls made from various materials were placed back on the credenza as illustrated in the final picture.  (They are all probably thrilled that Betty arrived because now they are dust free.) 


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