Rubber Dolls

Bayshore Rubber Dolls from 1953.

      While modern rubber dolls do not usually excite much interest--with the exception of the model or fashion dolls--there are a few (not typical rubber babies) which may be classed as collector's items. I once had a little Dutch girl doll, purchased in Amsterdam, Holland, with a sweet, child-like expression, and better coloring than most that I considered worthy of my collection. 

       Antique rubber seemed best adapted to represent the baby, but after hard rubber was introduced by Charles Goodyear in 1844, the first ones made were supposed to typify the lady or the half-grown girl. One was a portrait doll of Jenny Lind, the ''Swedish nightingale;'' another wore her hair in loose ringlets falling over the shoulder; others wore the typical hairdo of the period.

       It was not long after Goodyear's discovery that Europe began the manu- facture of hard rubber dolls.  Calixto Huret of France made gutta percha bodies to be used with turning porcelain heads, in the 1850 's, and some years later, the French manufacturer M. Bru patented a rubber baby doll (1878) and rubber statuettes.

       Attempts were made to insert glass eyes into the rubber in the early 20th Century. Isaac A. Ronmer of Brooklyn, N. Y., was issued a patent for this in 1927.

       Typical rubber babies, a doll standing, made by the Sun Rubber Co., Barberton, Ohio, of soft yellowish rubber, is now a collector's item, but the unmarked baby in a sitting position, of pink better quality rubber, is attractive enough to be treasured just as well. A metal tube from the mouth ends just under the neck at the back of the head, showing that it was meant to be a "bottle baby." Rubber dolls lent themselves nicely to this idea.

       The manufacture of rubber toys began in the United States in 1837 with Benjamin P. Lee of New York City. It is doubtful that any of these early toys remain, for they were of soft rubber. After the now well-known Charles Goodyear patented hard rubber in 1850, the manufacture of dolls began on a large scale, and some of these, patterned after typical china and papier-mache-headed dolls of the time, still exist, as before stated. These old ones are worth restoring.

       Europe, America and Japan have each contributed its share in the making of rubber dolls. The all-rubber baby doll makes an excellent plaything for the small child. It can be bounced, bitten and thrown about with impunity. And, best of all, it can be washed. In fact, rubber babies must be bathed (and powdered) regularly to keep in good condition.

       Many dolls in the past have been made from time to time with parts, but not the whole figure, of rubber; some have rubber hands only, others are made with just the body or head of rubber, the rest of the doll of some other material such as composition or cloth.

       Just before World War II, a new and altogether delightful rubber-bodied doll called the "magic-skin baby" made its appearance. The hollow body of the doll was filled with specially treated air-blown kapok, and the limbs were so flexible that they could be pinched and wrinkled like a human being. It looked and felt like skin, so much so that its use was considered for the making of artificial limbs soon after it's manufacture. The heads of those dolls looked much like celluloid. Legs and bodies were often all in one piece, yet the legs could swing naturally.

       Many years ago model dolls used by department stores to display in miniature, garments for sale, were made of rubber too. Now they are made of a more durable composition with rubber content.

       Unadulterated rubber was not always the ideal material for collector's dolls because of the kind of care it needed. But modern collectors today often have space in their homes that are temperature controlled thereby making the maintenance of such dolls easier. Hallard

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