Before Barbie, There Was Patsy

by Pamela S. Meyers

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

While researching toy dolls of the 1920’s, to see what was popular back then, I was reminded of a porcelain head doll that had been handed down through my family and had to be from the late 1800s or early 1900s. She came complete with a small trunk of handmade clothes of her era. When I was around eight or nine years old, my mother told me I could play with her, but I needed to be very careful to not drop her because her head would break.

This is similar to the doll I broke

Of course that’s exactly what happened.

My heart crushed as I saw her beautiful face shatter into what seemed a bazillion pieces. At the time, I was more afraid of my mother’s ire than regret over breaking such a treasure, but now I realize how much my mom must have berated herself for giving me the doll. It makes me wonder how often were little girls given such fragile dolls to play with back in the day. I’m sure I wasn’t the first child to break a doll's head.

According to Collectors Weekly’s website, in the 1920s, doll makers were using a composite material that Lazarus Reichmann developed. The substance was inexpensive and flexible for molding doll bodies. And little girls couldn’t break it, which had to be a plus.

At that time, the Patsy Doll became the rage, much the way Cabbage Patch dolls and Barbies shot up the popularity list in more recent times. Does anyone remember the long lines of shoppers waiting to purchase a Cabbage Patch doll? According to several websites, the Patsy doll, made by the Effanbee Doll Company, is one of the most popular dolls ever made. She came in a variety of sizes, each size with its own name. The original design was that of a typical three-year-old girl.

The Patsy Doll

Patsy was one of the first dolls to have her own wardrobe of outfits and accessories, along with her own newsletter. 

When World War II began, the doll's popularity declined and Effanbee nearly went out of business, until the company was purchased by Noma Electric, and Patsy continued to live on.

Nowadays, the Robert Tonner Doll Company owns the rights to Patsy and she's still around some 90 years after she first made the scene.

Reading all this information, brought to mind my Betsy Wetsy doll which I still have. Betsy could be fed a real bottle and a moment later she'd wet her diaper. As I recall, I was only allowed to feed her water. :-)

Betsy Wetsy

The years have been unkind to Betsy and she has lost both her legs. Well, I actually still have them. They just aren't attached to Betsy anymore. Some time ago, my mom surprised me at Christmas with Betsy. She'd given her a makeover, complete with a new dress, bonnet, and booties that she had made (at the time the legs were still attached). She now sits on a shelf in my bedroom, her full skirt covering the space where her legs should be.

Your turn! Do you have any antique dolls handed down in your family? Are you a doll collector? Please share!

A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, author Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago, an hour's drive away from her hometown which she visits often to dig into its historical legacy. Her novels include Thyme for Love, and Love Will Find a Way,  contemporary romantic mysteries and her 1933 historical romance, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva,Wisconsin, released in April, 2013. She can often be found speaking at events around Lake Geneva or nosing in microfilms and historical records about Wisconsin and other Midwestern spots for new story ideas.