There’s no business like showbusiness. From the golden age of Hollywood: a rare, and ground-breaking, high fashion beauty. The Bold Doll gets to know more about this vintage star.
Monica of Hollywood, a doll that evokes the glamour of the golden age of cinema. This doll’s looks are presumed to be inspired by the likeness of Monica Bannister, a little-known actress today, who appeared in the 1933 movie Mystery of the Wax Museum. The doll certainly shares this starlet’s smoldering eyes and distinctive cupid’s bow lips.
THE FACES OF MONICA
Top row, from left to right: An 11-inch Monica with rare black hair; 15-inch, and 17-inch tall dolls. Bottom row, from left to right: A 20-inch doll; The sought-after hard plastic version of Monica: A contemporary sketch portrait of Monica Bannister, the actress that inspired the Monica doll.
Monica dolls were manufactured for only ten years, from 1941 to 1951, by the Monica Doll Studios of Hollywood, CA. The first dolls appeared in the 1941 Toys and Novelties magazine. The creator of the dolls was Mrs. Hansi Share, originally from Germany; at the age of 53 she produced a doll quite unlike any other on the market.
From left to right: Monica dolls in 11-, 15-, 17-, and 20-inch sizes. The 11-inch doll is from the Roberta Heintz Collection
Mrs. Share’s great innovation was to root real human hair directly into the composition material of the dolls’ heads. Although a commonplace technique with vinyl dolls nowadays, this was the first time that dolls with rooted hair had been manufactured. Monica dolls are not marked in any way, but the rooting and the distinctive face paint makes them easily identifiable.
It was important to Mrs. Share that the hair had more versatility than with the traditional glued-on wigs. She was keen that the dolls would offer as much play value as possible. Monica’s locks could be combed, curled and finger-waved. The hairline often featured a widow’s peak – reminiscent of the actress Margaret Lockwood in the movie Wicked Lady. Human hair in shades of blonde, brunette, and auburn was used.
A glamorous 15-inch Monica in original evening wear, embellished with rhinestone accents. The doll is shown wearing her coordinating black velvet jacket in the previous photo showing comparative sizes. Monica of Hollywood’s face paint evoked the looks of many glamorous stars of the time. Her fashionable cupid’s bow lips and piercing eyes are reminiscent of top box-office actresses including Marlene Dietrich, as commemorated on a postage stamp from Gibraltar.
Monica is jointed at the neck, shoulders, and hips. The third and fourth fingers are molded together and the nails are painted red. The feet are flat, which allows the dolls to stand easily – as opposed to the later teenage dolls with high-heel feet,
The composition used for the dolls’ heads is of a much finer quality than that used for the bodies. It does, however, craze very easily and it has been noted that the dolls should not be moved rapidly from a hot to a cold environment, and extremes of humidity should be avoided. It seems that the material used and the process of rooting were closely-guarded secrets as these type of heads have never been duplicated since.
Left: 16-inch blonde Monica wearing original green banded dress and headscarf.
Right: 19-inch dark-haired Monica in an original blue outfit reminiscent of Judy Garland as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.
A range of sizes was available to purchase, ranging from 11- to 24-inches. Although the dolls are universally known as “Monica” today, it seems that they were given different names according to their height. Other characters introduced in 1942 as 17-inch dolls were known as Veronica, Joan, and Rosalind. It is thought that these were depictions of Veronica Lake, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell, some of the top film stars of the era.
The dolls were usually sold in exclusive stores throughout the United States and Canada. Georg Jensen, an elegant jewelry store in New York, advertised her as the “Miss America” of dolls. F.A.O. Schwarz put its own label on some of the dolls, and Monica was shown in the 1947 Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog. The high-end image of these dolls was reflected in their cost: vintage ads quote prices in excess of $20, quite a sum for the 1940s.
A 20-inch tall Monica wears a short day dress of crisp blue and white poplin. Bicycle from Sasha doll, dirty laundry in basket – stylist’s own.
The dolls were presented in a plain box, simply labeled “Monica Doll … From … Hollywood.” There was a wrist tag on each doll with a note from the doll herself:
My Dear Doll Mother:
You will love to include me in your family, not only because I am beautiful and good, but because you can do so much with me. My real human hair grows right out of my head … It is not a wig glued on … so you can comb and curl it as much as you like without spoiling it.
My clothes zip and snap on and off, just like yours, so that you can always keep me in fresh dresses.
In any case I will keep you very busy.
Monica
A contemporary press advertisement from Monica Doll Studios
Intended to be high fashion dolls, they were elaborately dressed. The clothing was never tagged, but some of the styles are easily identifiable, with familiarity. The use of fancy trims, rickrack, and floral accents, are the most distinguishing elements.
In an original rickrack-trim fiesta dress, this 17-inch Monica is ready to party! This doll shows evidence of craquelure to her face, a common feature of these dolls. White dress trimmed with ribbons and embroidery is typical of the original outfits. Chair by minimagine. Lanterns, fruit, and table from Daiso. Nothing says “party” like a bowl of plastic fruit. Vintage backcloth, stylist’s own.
The high cost of the doll at the time, coupled with the relatively low numbers produced, as well as the dolls’ propensity to crazing and hair loss, makes it difficult to find these dolls in excellent condition.
One of the diminutive, and hard to find, 11-inch tall Monicas. Decked out in her original ballgown, overlaid with golden mesh, complete with matching petticoat and undies.
Yet more elusive are the hard plastic Monicas, produced from 1949. These new dolls were made in 14- and 18-inch sizes and were fully-jointed. Instead of painted eyes, sleep eyes were used. Hair was rooted once again, in shades of platinum blonde, golden blonde, and auburn. As for the composition dolls, the hard plastic dolls were not marked, but they bore a wrist tag in gold paper with the legend “Human Hair • Rooted in the Scalp • Can be Combed and Curled • Monica Doll • Hollywood.” The hard plastic dolls, however, are harder to identify because they look similar to dolls of other companies, although the real human hair is a helpful clue to identification. Their faces were more round than the earlier composition dolls.
The hard plastic, sleep-eye Monica (left) with trademark floral details and rickrack trim. Photograph and doll courtesy of the collection of Roberta Heintz. Right: The 1946 Montgomery Ward catalog featured a Monica doll in a felt coat with matching hat.
The box for the hard plasic dolls reads “Monica Dolls from Hollywood/Size/Name [Elizabeth, Marion, or Linda]. Marion was an 18-inch hard plastic doll believed to be named for Marion Davies, the one-time actress whose main claim to fame was as the companion to newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. It’s possible that Elizabeth was for Elizabeth Taylor, and Linda may well represent Linda Darnell.
Monica and Marion dolls were supplied in standard no-frills boxes constructed of plain white cardboard with a stick-on label. A wrist-tag for the dolls is shown at right.
The hard plasic dolls have a similar appearance to the Nancy Ann Style Show dolls, produced by the Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls of San Francisco. It is possible, since both companies were based in California, that their dolls came from the same supplier and used the same basic doll as a basis for their creations. These dolls had a manufactured uniformity that made their appearance less dramatic and unique than the composition dolls.
By the mid 1950s, Madame Alexander was making a hard plastic doll that had a rooted vinyl skull cap, with synthetic hair. By the 1960s, vinyl dolls with rooted hair became the norm in the industry. By this time Hansi Share’s dolls were obsolete. But she had changed the industry with her small doll company producing a rare, unique, and high quality offering for today’s collector.
This feature originally appeared in the Spring 2018 issue of Fashion Doll Quarterly magazine.
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