"Granddaughter Dorothy frequently mentioned an incident concerning her mischievous three-year-old brother, Norman saying,""Norman broke three bisque-headed dolls in a periond of three weeks by giving them a ride on his Pony-Blitz."" This is was the inspiration for the ALL WOOD doll. When Dorothy"s father brought the first all wood doll home he gave it to her saying,""Here is a doll that your brother can't break."" Norman asked, "How do you know?" and his father told him that a test doll had been thrown down five stories into the courtyard of the factory and it didn't break." After lunch Norman took the new doll and threw it out the second floor window to the cement below. It suffered only a smashed nose."

The previous paragraph was written by our very own "lad". This is the story as told to her by Marion Ball Poe. (Dorothy Schoenhut and Marion went to Drexel University in Philadelphia and were good friends).

Besides appealing to mothers by touting the educational and play value of their dolls, they also appealed to fathers by showing a cut-away doll in an advertisement showing the patented spring-loaded joints and stressing the engineering which made them possible. These joints compressed when the joint was bent, which is just the opposite of an elastic strung doll.

As a result, these dolls, which were all made between 1911 and 1924 still hold a pose like the day they were made.

Much of the charm the Schoenhut dolls have for me is in the playfulness of the dolls. Many long time doll collector's had to pay so much money for their Schoenhuts that they were very carefully placed in the best doll cabinet to be admired in passing. I do understand this thinking, but these dolls, more so than any of the other very old dolls, are meant to be played with! I love to make scenes with them.

We'll get into reconstruction and restoration later in the program.

Schoenhut dolls in original condition are very hard to find. Many dolls were sent back to the factory for a repaint for a younger sibling. Many were painted beautifully by owner-artists. Others were painted by those who had no knowledge of art or dolls, but for whatever reason, decided to paint them anyway. You can see these dolls at doll shows and on the listings here at eBay.This is prime example of a horrible repaint. One of these days we will show you what she looks like re-done.

17/316 (we think!)

There is still a mystique about having a perfect, all original, non-repainted Schoenhut doll. Doc Gipe has some wonderful examples that he has agreed to share with us today....and they are truly beautiful!

Some dolls simply must be restored. My 15/317 sleep eyed Schoenhut is an example. She was dirty to begin with, then was shipped to me wrapped in newspaper, so she was also covered in ink. She had no eyes and the back of her head was missing. I'm sure most of you have seen this pic before, but for all those who haven't, here she is.

A friend of mine carved eyes and my daughter Rviola painted them. I cleaned the doll with soap and water and then used 2000 grit sandpaper from an Auto Supply shop to try to smooth the edges of the paint chips. I believe she was a factory repaint, because the colors are the same where it has chipped off and where it has not. I made her a wig from lovely mohair from Plum Creek Doll Supplies, and she just had to have her picture taken when we were experiencing gale force winds! Dolls! They can be very opinionated!

Katie almost done but wearing a borrowed dress.

21/317

L-R: Rarer 14/101. 16/301, and 16/102 Carved hair repaint

16/301

The most time consuming part of doll restoration is the thinking! You have to decide how little you can do to save the doll - and yet not do too much so that you devalue the doll or change its features. We have had her dolls for about two weeks - they are untouched. We just keep looking and thinking.

George Henry is a completely remodeled Schoenhut.  When we got him, he was repainted so thickly that we couldn't tell that he was really one of the bald toddler faced boys.  Well, these are my least favorite of all the schoeys, so I asked Rviola to make him a new face and carved hair.  Since he was already destroyed, we figured there was no loss involved.  You will never find another like him because he has a newly made face - but he is my favorite of all!

She will be a 14" doll when done.

As this study is winding down, I invite you all to post your favorite pics of your Schoenhuts. I hope you enjoyed this presentation and I hope you learned a little more about Schoenhut dolls. The most important thing about them is that they were meant for play! So enjoy! I know Rviola does, and I surely do!

"... and the band played on .....