woodendollstitle

Note: If you are looking for Hitty, please check the main menu or the submenu above for the Hitty Series.

There are also several wooden dolls in my Tiny Doll line which you can find by checking the main menu under Dolls by Type.
Queen Anne Doll

12 Inch Wooden Queen Anne Kit
This doll has pre-cut wooden parts and a papier mache molded head. Wooden parts need easy refinement using a simple X-Acto knife and then all is painted. Kit includes supplies for the doll and her mohair wig, a CD of the entire original class to make these dolls with all its lessons to make the doll and all her clothing (and some for a gentleman). Printed patterns for all outfits are included. Dolls may be made female or male.
The kits have a bonus set of arms (in addition to the flat hands normally provided) in case carving 3-dimensional thumbs is desired.

OUTFITS INCLUDED IN THE KIT:
• Caps, Hats & Other Accessories
• The Many Variations of Gowns
• Undergarments of the Day
• The Gentleman

Sorry these kits are now sold out.

CD for the 12" Wooden Queen Anne still available by request for those wishing to construct their own dolls or make clothing (list of outfits shown above) for this style and size of wooden doll. $24 Add to Cart
Note: If you can no longer use a CD format, you can order this on a USB thumb drive.
$24 Add to Cart

Note: If you have the older 10" molded Papier Mache Queen Anne, Patterns for this size are still available ~ scroll down a bit.

Wooden Queen Anne

Extras:
Additionally you can choose to get specially cut arms for carving the traditional 3 dimensional thumbs and vintage glass eyes (with all-black iris/pupils). Instructions for insetting glass eyes and carving dimensional thumbs are included in the CD that comes with the kit.

SET OF ARM BLANKS for 3-dimensional thumbs $16 Add to Cart
GLASS EYES - expensive, but real and vintage. Sorry, no longer available - but I prefer to paint the eyes myself and you can get good glass eye look by painting on high gloss nail polish over painted eyes.

WOODEN STAND KIT - attaches directly to doll body so as not to interfere with clothing. May be painted or stained and polished as desired. $14 Add to Cart
DOLL'S SEWIES FOR ACCESSORIES (scaled for QA) ~ A set of fancy working miniature brass scissors with patterns for a tiny scissors case, flat tomato pincushion and a strawberry emery. All items are well under an inch and easy to make from silk (or cotton) scraps. They are nice to hang from doll's apron waist on a silk ribbon.
Kit with Scissors $1
5 Add to Cart
OTHER ITEMS - Cotton netting, laces, silk ribbons, paints, paint overdye, silks and dyes for silks available on Supplies page.

dimensional thumb

Patterns still available for the discontinued 10" Molded Queen Anne ~ $9.50 each:
NOTE: All of these same patterns are fitted to the 12" Wooden QA above and are included with the kit.
You do not need to purchase these.

• Caps, Hats & Other Accessories Add to Cart
• The Many Variations of Gowns Add to Cart
• Undergarments of the Day Add to Cart
• The Gentleman Add to Cart


Click image to see photos.

Be sure to see the tiny cage doll in the Tiny Dolls category.

The Cage Doll
A 12" Interpretation of a Rare Historical Icon

These dolls will be discontinued when the last parts of the last batch have been sold. The remaining pieces are on sale.

This doll form began as a retreat and is now available in kit form. Like most of its historical counterparts, this version has an all wood constructed cage below. Her head and hands are papier mache attached to jointed wooden arms and a hand shaped wooden body. Kit contains all materials to make one doll. If you are used to working with PaperClay, you can even add other hair options to the doll. Additional wooden cage parts are also available for those wishing to put some other doll on the cage mounting platform.

Limited Edition Boxed Kit ~ No longer available

Finished Cage Doll - No longer available


Peg-Wooden Friend - The 6-1/2" tall (Hitty size) Peg Wooden is now available in its official kit form and has everything you need to work up these beloved jointed wooden dolls which have jointed elbows and knees with tiny peg noses. These dolls are good companions for Hitty and most Hitty clothes will fit, but kit does come with patterns for simple dress, petticoat and pantalets.


Kit $115 Sold out
Pre-Painting of Head $35 No longer provided
Finished Dolls no longer available





12" AND 9" SIZES OF THE JOEL ELLIS &
MASON & TAYLOR STYLE DOLLS


Click image to see photos of Springfield Woodens

A Brief History

Joel Ellis dolls and other similar wooden dolls, collectively called Springfield Woodens, began in Springfield, Vermont, in a factory founded by Joel Ellis in 1858. Ellis made other items, most notably doll carriages, toy carts, some doll furniture and oddly, violin cases. The dolls known as Joel Ellis dolls were only made for one year, 1878, but soon after, a group of men formed a cooperative and made many other variations of the now famous jointed wooden doll using many patents, but primarily all made by Mason and Taylor. With the second group of dolls, the main differences were new composition (various styles) head and more complicated joints. The entire body of dolls is so confusing - it is hard to tell who was responsible for which dolls, that most doll collectors group them all together and call them simply the Springfield Woodens. Only Ellis dolls had the distinctive rock maple wooden head which was then steamed and pressed into molds. This process thus compressed the already hard wood even more and inadvertantly made the heads unable to hold their painted surfaces for more than one season as wood expands and contracts with humidity, thus popping the paint off with the movement. There are virtually no Ellis dolls around today with very good original paint, and even those held by museums have some very old, but nonetheless repaired, paint. The dolls were made with incredible joints and mostly had pewter hands and feet, probably because these could be cast into the shapes, whereas they would be impossible to mass produce by carving. Ellis intended the dolls to be sold undressed so that children could marvel at the joints, but of course children are children and wanted clothing, so Ellis was compelled to hire local women to sew the outfits.I was born and raised in Springfield, Vermont, so it is very appropriate for me to be making these dolls. Since I do not have a factory at my disposal, I have designed a doll that one would know right away is a "Joel Ellis" doll, but one that is able to be produced using simpler methods. My doll has a wooden body with lathe turned arms and legs which are indeed jointed, hands and feet are cast in pewter like the originals and the head, though in the style of an Ellis doll, is my own sculpting and made of sturdy papier mache. The first of my dolls of this type was made in October, 2005. Like Ellis, I find it hard to dress the dolls after all the work on the wood parts, so I include a dress form with my dolls to display her outfit nearby. Each doll is signed and dated. This past year I added a "Mason & Taylor" version, which is to say it has a head more in the general style of M&T dolls with more complicated hair styles and it has the distinctive blue shoes.


ABOUT THE DOLLS

Complete Joel Ellis Doll Sets - When I started completing orders for my 12" Springfield Wooden doll - my version of the 1873 Joel Ellis jointed wood doll - I could not bear to put the clothes on the dolls with so much work in the wood and how nicely it displays undressed. What to do? The solution became to send the dolls undressed and to make dress forms and hat stands to display the clothing at the same time. I make the dolls using hand turned wooden parts, pewter hands and feet made from my own molds just like the original, and her head is molded from papier mache to resemble real Joel Ellis dolls originally made in my own hometown of Springfield, Vermont. The complete set includes: the wooden doll with both her two-piece outfit and her period day dress (includes underwear) to display on her dress form and her hard fancy silk bonnet on on a hat stand. Colors are old New England prim browns. A great display. You can read more about this historic doll by clicking on the link at left.

Mason and Taylor Doll - Spring of 07 brought the 12" M&T doll, another of the Springfield Woodens. She has the distinctive styled hair (dark blonde), shoes that wonderful proprietary blue, but otherwise is made like my Joel Ellis and all clothing is interchangeable.

ABOUT KITS & PATTERNS

The kits for the dolls come with all pre-worked parts  which will require sanding (by hand is fine or you can use a Dremel tool) and the drilling of some peg holes which is easy to do with a home drill (drill bit supplied). No other wood skills are required. All that you need to put together one of these dolls is in the kit, including paints, except you will supply wood stain and it is recommended you use alkyd oils for the cheeks which cannot be supplied in the kit (but can be ordered at the time you are ready to use them from my Supplies page). If you would prefer to have a CD* of my complete online class which has many pictures and lots of historical information plus the M&T doll and all the clothing listed below with printable patterns, and many more how-to's in place of the normal paper instructions, please click the  choice below and we will substitute the CD (CD is for both dolls) in place of paper instructions. Please understand that Gail has to personally shape each body by eye on power sanders and that wood is not plastic and has imperfections. You may also order un-worked parts that will require you using simple power tools to use with lessons included on CD.

*ABOUT THE CD ~ The information on the CD is compatible with both PC and Mac and provides PDF formatted pages to print out or look at on your monitor. This requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free program that is usually already installed on most computers, or follow the instructions included for how to download. You can also take the CD to many places (such as Kinko's) to have it printed out for you. Patterns have to scale measures so you will know if they print to the correct size.

THE FINISHED DOLLS AND KITS IN THIS SIZE ARE NOW SOLD OUT AND NOT BEING MADE ANY LONGER. PATTERNS FOR CLOTHING FOR BOTH SIZE DOLLS STILL AVAILABLE - SEE ILLUSTRATION ABOVE FOR STYLES

PATTERNS FOR 12" DOLLS STILL AVAILABLE:

Two Dresses (Bias Trimmed and Ruffled Versions) Pattern $9.50 Add to Cart
Two-Piece Dress Set (Jacket and Skirt) and Undies Pattern $9.50 Add to Cart
Bonnet Pattern (mold form included) $9.50 Add to Cart



SMALLER SIZE ~ 9" SPRINGFIELD WOODENS

THE FINISHED DOLLS AND KITS IN THIS SIZE ARE ALSO NOW SOLD OUT AND NOT BEING MADE ANY LONGER

PATTERNS FOR 9" DOLLS STILL AVAILABLE:.

Two-piece dress and Bias trimmed dress plus undies Pattern $9.50 Add to Cart
Bonnet Pattern (includes mold form) for 9 In Springfield Woodens $9.50 Add to Cart