How to Identify Ideal Dolls
The Ideal Novelty and Toy Company began business in 1902, according to dollreference.com, when it began making stuffed bears. It would go on to make a variety of baby dolls, walking dolls and, in the 1930s, dolls of young movie stars Shirley Temple, Judy Garland and Deanna Durban. Like many dolls, the Ideal line is collectible; there are multiple doll guides in print to help you price any you find, and several websites with photos you can compare to the dolls you have.
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Instructions
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Identifying an Ideal Doll
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Study photos and descriptions of the Ideal dolls you're interested in. If you're looking for collectibles at an estate sale or a flea market, it will help you spot a Toni Doll or a Snoozie Smiles if you already know what they look like. Because Ideal dolls come in different models with many different outfits and hairstyles, the appearance is only an initial guide: Definite identification will require more steps.
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Check for markings. Ideal, like many doll-makers, placed distinct identifying marks on most models of their dolls. For example, the Toni dolls from the early 1950s -- the biggest-selling doll of the time, according to vintagedollcollector.com -- come with different clothes and eye colors, but they're all marked "IDEAL DOLL" on the backs of their heads, under their nylon hair. Below that, on the back of the doll, are different numbers for different size dolls: P-90 for the 14-inch doll, P-91 for the 16-inch and P-93 for the 21-inch. Different Ideal dolls have different markings -- the 1918 Dough Boy has "Ideal" inside a diamond mark on its back, for instance -- so you may have to research a specific doll type to know exactly what mark to look for.
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Look up the markings in doll-collecting guides or websites. If you find Ideal markings on a doll that you don't recognize, you can use reference guides to Ideal markings to narrow down the list of possibilities. Most markings are found on the back of the head or the back of the torso, and the "Ideal" name is part of most of the marks.
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Tips & Warnings
Some early Ideal dolls didn't have markings, so to identify them you'll have to go by appearance. Doll reference materials will tell you which dolls were made unmarked.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit singing dolls image by Lucy Clark from Fotolia.com
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Comments
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I have been trying to ID some family dolls to sell..have done all but 1 which is unmarked. 20" baby doll, cloth body, vinyl head, arms & legs, sleepy blue eyes, rooted hair resembling OTT 14 Thumbelina's. No painted eyelashes on side of eyes, mouth light pink with bottom lip larger. Holes on back suggesting something might have been sown on to the cloth. Any help?
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My Mother's baby doll has a porcelain head & arms. The back of the head has a diamond shape with some letters. What kind of doll is this? It was given her about 1918 or 1920?
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could you tell me the value of an Ideal Doll 1967 a 18 inch Baby Lucy?
