Schoenhut Dolls, Toys and Pianos

       Schoenhut dolls were wooden dolls produced by the Schoenhut Piano Company between 1903 and 1935. The company, founded by woodworker and immigrant  Albert Schoenhut, initially made toy pianos. They began to produce figurines in the early 1900s, including wooden circus-themed sets and animals.

• Schoenhut: From tiny pianos to legendary toys...
• Schoenhut Toy Piano Review and another tiny piano concert here and yet another Schoenhut piano in-depth review
• My Baby Is A Child Prodigy? (so cute)
• Schoenhut pianos have been produced for over 100 years!

Left a toddler plays at her Schoenhut piano in 1923. Right, a little boy plays with his Schoenhut trucks in 1918.

       Above left, the Schoenhut toy piano makes real music, not noise. These small instruments have been made since 1872.  Above right, the Modlwood toys made in 1918 appealed to a boy's desire to know what was inside them. These trucks were made of clean white wood that could be taken apart and reassembled. Locomotives, automobiles and motor trucks were designed for younger children whose unskilled hands could not master more complicated metal construction toys.

The company introduced the Schoenhut Art Doll in 1911, a spring-jointed doll made entirely of wood. It was the first doll in the world able to be manipulated and posed. The company ceased making dolls after its bankruptcy in 1935. Though it was revived the following year, it only produced toy pianos.

       "Schoenhut All-Wood Perfection Art Dolls can be put in any life-like position. Some have beautiful life-like child faces, and others have the usual doll faces. They come with the finest quality mohair wigs or with hair carved on wooden heads painted in natural colors. Schoenhut Dolls are made entirely from wood, they do not break and cause heartaches. They are artistically painted in natural colors that will not come off."

Schoenhut's Humpty Dumpty Circus, Greatest Show on Earth ...10001 New Tricks!

             Above "The funniest toys ever seen. Boys and girls of every age, and even grown-up people, laugh at their antics. All are made of solid wood, fully jointed with strongest elastic cord. The animals are painted in oil colors that will not come off. The clowns and other figures wear fancy costumes. They will stand the roughest kind of treatment. Sold in sets from 75 cents to $25.00, according to the number of pieces. Start a circus with a few pieces and keep adding until your 'greatest show on earth' is complete."

       The Schoenhut Company began producing dolls as early as 1903 with the production of the Humpty Dumpty Circus set, featuring lady and gentleman acrobats, a lion tamer, a lady circus rider, and a ringmaster. In 1908, Rolly Dolly dolls were created, which featured pear-shaped bodies with weights inside that allow the toy to bob back and forth without tipping over. A fifty-three piece set called Teddy Roosevelt's Adventures in Africa was also made, based on the Smithsonian–Roosevelt African Expedition.

• 52 for 150: What's So Special About Your Library's Schoenhut Circus Collection?
• A little band of circus musicians shows up at the Antique Road Show
• The Schoenhut Humpty Dumpty Circus Performance - super adorable at EMSY
• Making of Humpty Dumpty Circus Stop Motion - clamation
• Atwater Kent Museum, Philadelphia, PA collections of Schoenhut

The doll with patented
steel springs with
swivel connections.

       After submitting a patent application 1909, the company patented the All-Wood Perfection Art Doll in 1911, which featured solid wood heads (some with carved hair, and others with wigs), compressed spring metal joints, and holes in the feet, which allows the dolls to be manipulated and posed on stands. They were the first dolls produced in the world that were able to do this.
       Various styles of the dolls existed, in 14-inch, 16-inch, 19-inch and 21-inch sizes. Face variations included a character face with carved hair and intaglio eyes; a character face with wig and intaglio eyes; a girl adorning a bonnet, with the cap molded to the head; Schnickel-Fritz, which featured molded wavy hair and squinting painted-on eyes; Tootsie Wootsie, with lightly molded short hair; and an African American doll with molded curly hair. Sleepy-eyed child dolls were also produced, which featured eyes that close upon laying the doll horizontal. A Dolly Face style was produced in 1915, which featured rounded cheeks and eyes.

• Michael Canadas discusses Albert Schoenhut Dolls, Imagination and Innovation
• Schoenhut Dolls, ca 1914 doll collection at The Road Show

"Not real children, but a group of Schoenhut ALL-WOOD Dolls"

       Schoenhut Art Dolls, in addition to many other early toys made by the company, have become collector's items. According to a 2008 appraisal, 14 inches (0.36 m)–16 inches (0.41 m) Schoenhut dolls with carved hair and intaglio eyes were worth an estimated USD$2,800–2,900.

• Schoenhut Collector's Club
• Schoenhut Figures - Bottles, Relics, and Junkets
• A video by Fredrick E. Keller about Schoenhut toys
• The  Bowers Collection of Spelter Banks and Schoenhut
• Albert Scheonhut at Immigrant Entrepreneurship

The Pinn Family Dolls, A Depression Design 

by Beth Nance and Kathy Gregg.

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