A & H
Manufacturing, Inc. a New York, USA doll manufacturer, is best known for it's small
(8" to 12" tall) hard plastic dolls
from the late 1940's to mid-1950's. In 1953 hard plastic dolls
were considered rather expensive to produce (originally $8.95 in 1953
for the 12" tall doll). Today collectors enjoy the historical outfits found on
these dolls, which are
now very reasonable to add to a collection and the small size means
you'll have plenty of room to collect them all.
Here are some A & H dolls we
have found:
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1953-1954
Marcie, Dolls of Destiny, 12" tall, dolls are all hard
plastic, head turning walkers, mohair wig, sleep eyes with molded
lashes, jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips, have
oil
cloth shoes with ties, socks, removable detailed historical costume,
usually with attached slip/ petticoat, pantaloons, & hat.
Doll is similar
to a Dress Me
doll, but better quality, jointed hips, oil cloth shoes
- no molded painted shoes - removable well constructed
clothing.
Dolls are marked Pat's Pending
on back, clothing or box has the Dolls of Destiny and dolls
name, first hard plastic dolls that were dressed in
authentic historical costumes, each had a story book about the
character portrayed, written by well known children's authors
or historians and came in a
beautiful blue presentation box, the clothing has a cloth tag
sewn on the inside seam with the company name & dolls name.
There were twelve dolls in this series;
Priscilla Alden, Marie Antoinette, Empress Eugenie, Empress
Josephine, Elizabeth Woodville Grey, Mary Todd Lincoln, Molly
Pitcher, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Isabella, Queen Victoria,
Betsy Ross & Martha Washington,
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1953
Marcie,
Dolls of Destiny;
Molly
Pitcher 12"
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ca.
1955 Gigi, 7 1/2 - 8" tall, all hard plastic, head
turning walker, Ginny or Muffie look a like, sleep eyes, dolls are
unmarked, and there was and extensive wardrobe
available separately. Doll is shown as a dressed doll in 7020 pink organdy
dress with bonnet and came with a purse, or the outfit could
be bought separately as #702.
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ca. 1955 Gigi
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ca. 1955 Marcie, 9"
tall, all hard plastic, head
turning walker, sleep eyes, wigged, fashions available separately,
much like her smaller buddy Gigi. |
ca. 1955 Marcie |
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ca. 1955-1957 Julie Walking Doll, 8" tall, came
with separate fashions that fit all 8" tall walking
dolls. Gripper snaps have "Rau Sklits" on
them. |
ca. 1955 Julie
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1961+ Marcie Dolls, 9"
tall, their Ad reads: Prize Packages Dolls* . . .
are yours with A & H Doll's complete series of beautifully
costumes dolls . . . Belles in Bells, Teens in Bells (and what
costumes), Gigi in Bells, Lil Sister in Bells, Belles of
Nations and other famous dolls . . . all packaged in a A &
H designed and created crystal clear plastic bells - prized
packaged for profits! *Winner of 1961 Silver Award for
original bell packaging. Dolls are
jointed at the neck & shoulders only, with stationary straight
legs with molded painted shoes, sleep eyes, painted lower
lashes, mohair glued on wig.
These are basically a Dress Me doll,
dressed by A & H.
Bottom of the bell has the doll
company name and A Marcie doll on it.
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ca.
1961 Belles in Bell
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ca. 1960's Birthstone Belles,
9" tall, just like the above Belles but each doll was
named after a month and the associated birthstone ie. January
- Garnet, February - Amethyst and so on, each dressed
accordingly. Shown on left is January - Garnet & on
right is October - Opal.
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ca. 1960's
Birthstone Belles
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