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Little Lady/Anne Shirley

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All Composition 22" Little Lady

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*A Little Lady doll must have been a real treasure for a little girl back in the 40s.  Most are dressed very elaborately in exquisite ball gowns or fancy dresses and pegnoir sets.  She usually represented a grown up girl as opposed to the more common toddlers and little girl dolls that were on the market during the same era.   Many times you see them for sale as an Ann Shirley doll but they were probably originally marketed as "Little Lady".  The earlier dolls are marked on the back Effanbee//Anne Shirley, the later dolls tended to be marked with only "Effanbee". They were made of the finest composition with arms of hard rubber which allowed for beautifully formed hands.  The majority of the dolls had hands with separated fingers, which was a unique design by Dewees Cochran (Effanbee's American Child).  Each finger was separate of each other to be able to accommodate gloves.  A few specially designed dolls had magnets embedded in their palms which would allow them to hold small metal objects such as the American flag, a kitchen utensil, etc.  One thing I have noticed about Effanbee composition dolls is that it is not uncommon to see cracks in the compostion around the eyes.  One must be careful to protect these dolls from extreme temperatures in order to preserve their beauty.
   

   An exquisite example of Little Lady
     in Ginger Rogers style ballgown.

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*Effanbee stands for the initals of the two original owners of the company, Bernard Fleishaker and Hugo Baum (sometimes marked F & B).  The company began in New York City in1910.  I personally think that Effanbee had some of the most beautiful dolls of the very highest quality of the day.  Some of the most popular Effanbee dolls were the Patsy doll family, Dy-Dee Baby, the Historical Series (dolls dresses in elaborate costumes depicting America's early history),  the Ann Shirley/Little Lady and the hard plastic Honey.

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*Little Lady was introduced in the late 1930s and was popular throughout the 1940s.   The doll came in various sizes from 15" up to a very rare 27".  Most had human hair wigs with blue or brown sleep eyes.  They were frequently featured in the Wards Christmas catalogs along with other fine Effanbee dolls. Little Lady could be purchased wearing high quality little girl dresses, negligees, or beautiful fancy gowns.  She was a very popular doll.  During wartime, due to shortages of supplies, the company substituted yarn for the human hair wigs, and in some cases, changed all composition bodies to cloth bodies with compo limbs.  A few even had painted eyes as opposed to the normal sleep eyes.  The yarn hair is a very historical feature on these dolls.  The doll on the left has long strings of yarn which I styled in large ring-curls and tucked under braids.  The yarn haired dolls came with a special comb and booklet to instruct the new mothers on how to style her unique hair.  If you find one of these unique dolls, you can date your Little Lady to WWII.

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       WWII era Yarn Hair/
           not orignial outfit

Kaylee's Dolls of the 40s (additional photos)

    Current Doll Value Guides show mint dolls ranging from 1939-1949, about 14" - 27", priced between $275-$550, based on size.

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