Saturday, March 26, 2011

Flagg Dolls in one inch scale

 Anyone who has followed my blog for a while knows that I love the dolls made by the Flagg company in the 50s and 60s.
 Here, in their original box, is a family group of Flagg flexible play dolls from c1960. They represent the perfect post World War two family. Mom, Dad, brother, sister and baby.

These dolls are 1:12 scale. the father is approximately 6 inches tall.
 Her is another set of the 1:12 scale dolls in the original box.

Both families are dressed in their original clothes, made of felt with paper shirts and collars.
 This family, unlike the ones above, have never been taken out of their box. This is useful for the collector, as it tells us what is original, and what is supposed to be included.

This family is either waving to us, or discoing to 'Stayin' Alive'.
I find the variations in the costumes between the two families interesting. The family at the top of the page have more detailed outfits. Mother has fancy lace on her skirt and a jaunty neck scarf. The children's outfits are fabric (except for the boy's shorts), and the father has dark pants with a lighter shade of sports jacket.

I have a feeling that the dolls were made at different times in the life of the company. The quality seems higher with the top family. Even the box is made of sturdier cardboard and the printing is darker and stronger.

Maybe the other set was made later and the company was trying to conserve funds, or, on the other hand, had grown to the point that quantity of production outweighed quality.


 This is printed on the inside of each box. Point 2 is puzzling as the clothes are stapled on. Removing the clothing could be detrimental to the felt. If the staples weren't removed first one could easily tear holes, not to mention puncture little fingers with the sharp metal.

Once removed, the clothes could be put back on the doll, but without the staples to hold them on I doubt if they would stay.

They mention blondes and brunettes, yet three members of the family at the top of the page have red hair.

The last point is very mysterious. I have collected several of these dolls and have never found 'Snap-on" clothes. I am curious to see these.
The dolls are flexible, even after 50 years. They are fun to pose, and look great in dollhouses of the era.

Here are the two boxed families with three other 1:12 families. All are wearing their original outfits except the little boy in dark blue and the mother in the purple dress - her family had all their clothes, but hers were missing. I guess her original owner bought the "easily undressed" blurb.
 This family, except for Mother are dressed exactly like their boxed counterparts.
 Again the outfits are the same as the two families above. Mother has lost her bolero though. This family is made of a different kind of plastic. It seems to have become translucent over the years. Or maybe they looked this way when new. In any case this plastic gives the family an other worldly, zombie-ish, look.

This scale of doll never achieved the popularity of the smaller 1:18 scale that Flagg was famous for. These larger dolls were discontinued after a few years, but I find these dolls much more attractive than the smaller ones


This pretty Nurse is the only 1:12 scale doll I have found in a single box, but she gives me hope that others are out there. I will keep looking.

Flagg made larger dolls, approximately 7" tall, in many different costumes. These 1:12 dolls are not from that series. These dolls were specifically made for doll houses. The 7" ones were not.



She bids you adieu for today. I hope to find some colleagues for her in the future.

TTFN
Susan

5 comments:

  1. Way cool! I especially love the rick rack!
    The uniform of the nurse doll is classic too. Were they associated with a particular dollhouse? CM

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  2. I don't think they were associated with any brand of dollhouse. FAO Schwarz was selling some lovely 1" scale dollhouses around this time. So was Halls lifetime toys. I guess the Flaggs were just following the market.

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  3. You have a great collection of Flagg dolls, and those boxes are fun too!

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  4. Wow, soooo many cool Flagg dolls! I really like them, what a great collection - Thanks for showing!

    Nicola

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  5. These are darling! I have a large collection of dollhouse dolls, vintage & contemporary, but I've never seen these! I have to look for a set now. Thanks for the info. I wanted to add: it is incredibly unusual in 1960 (!!!) to have offered a black family for children. This is incredibly progressive and ahead of their time. Mattel did not offer a black Barbie until about 1969! This would be of interest to those who collect African American memorabilia.

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