A New Type of Doll

Faull Kennedy | Jul 13, 2022

Children have always been fascinated with dolls. Some of the earliest dolls were found in archaeological digs underneath Egyptian sands. Half a world away, the oldest Canadian dolls were discovered amid the ice of the arctic. The Inuit made dolls from skins and furs. Doll-making was used to teach sewing, an essential skill to create clothing that could withstand the Arctic cold. Elsewhere in Canada, other Indigenous people made dolls from natural materials such as wood, leather, fur and cornhusk, which are perishable in temperate climates. These dolls did not survive over the centuries as did the Inuit dolls of the far north. Once settlers began to populate the southern regions, home made dolls were a common toy for young ones. By the 19th century, dolls were manufactured and imported from Europe.

Because the First World War caused a shortage of dolls in Canada, several companies were founded in Toronto to fill the gap and create a local market. By the 1920s, they offered a range of dolls to the consumer. Some even walked and talked! Perhaps those dolls were the eagerly awaited Christmas or birthday present to a young girl in South Frontenac.

There was another change happening in doll making. Toward the end of the 1920s, porcelain (also called bisque) dolls were being supplanted by a new invention: dolls with heads made out of composite. While composite had been used to make doll bodies for decades, this was the first time it was used to make doll heads. Composite is a mixture of sawdust and glue; a heartier and far less fragile substance than porcelain. In fact, composition dolls were being hailed as unbreakable. Compared to their porcelain predecessors, this was almost true! However, the finish on composition dolls could be ruined by water and by time. Composition dolls were prone to developing fine cracks called crazing. This was so common, that collectors today find dolls with a light crazing to be acceptable. In the late 1940s the first hard plastic dolls entered the scene, spelling the end of the composition doll, which lasted only a few years more.

The South Frontenac Museum has many dolls kindly donated by residents. Included in the current exhibitions are some produced in the 1920s.

The museum is now open for the summer: Mon, Wed and Sat 1-4. No charge; come by and take a trip through time!