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  1927 Eaton Beauty, made by Cuno & Otto 
Dressel, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.Eaton Beauty for 1927 made by Cuno & Otto Dressel, Germany.

  
     

The Eaton Beauty Doll:
"The Doll We Will Never Forget"
by Evelyn Robson Strahlendorf

Over its 100-year history, the Eaton Beauty Dolls have been treasured by children and collectors alike. The dolls changed each year. Details enable owners to trace the evolution of the dolls within the context of events in 20th-century Canada and to identify them in their own collections.

By 1887, Eaton's catalogue was reaching Canadians from coast to coast. According to William Stephenson in The Store that Timothy Built: "By 1887, barely three years after the start, he could boast it was already a nation-wide enterprise, rivaling his massive store as a money maker." By the end of the 19th century, great improvements in parcel post as well as Eaton's postage-paid policy on orders over $5.00 made ordering from the new catalogues easy.

Some of the early catalogues featured inexpensive chinahead dolls with cloth bodies. The china heads were also available separately; bodies could be made for them at home. Imported dolls that had not been seen previously were sold through the catalogues. Bisque heads were made of unglazed china. "Composition" bodies were made from a paste of fine sawdust, cornstarch, glue, and possibly some other ingredient. Companies had their own formulae.

  1927 Eaton Beauty, made by Armand 
Marseille, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.1927 Eaton Beauty, made by Armand Marseille, mould #390. The doll's original owner, Alma Stinson, received her for Christmas and made her dress.

  
     

In the 1890s, dolls with bisque heads and leather bodies became available. Clothing was homemade for the mostly undressed dolls. At the time, girls had few activities available to them and doll costuming allowed them to use their artistic talents and creativity. Young girls practiced their sewing skills by making doll clothes and made elaborate wardrobes. Sometimes they had small trunks in which to store their wardrobes. Girls often played with their dolls until they were 14 or 15 years of age.

In 1900, Eaton's catalogue introduced the first Eaton Beauty doll. The advertisement read: "Eaton Beauty, all jointed, special $1.00; large sizes from $1.50 to $10.00 each." The smallest dolls (20 inches [50.8 cm] tall) were a dollar, a price that was maintained until 1916. For the first five or six years, the bisque heads were shoulderheads (the head and shoulder plate were all one piece) with sleep eyes and curly mohair wigs. The shoulderheads were often made by Armand Marseille in Germany, model 370. The bodies were made of kid leather and were jointed at the knees, hips, elbows, and shoulders.

   Type of doll used as Eaton Beauty in 
1900, made by Armand Marseille, Germany.   

This type of doll was used as an Eaton Beauty in 1900 and was made by Armand Marseille, Germany. Bisque head, model #370, leather body, replaced ribbon.

Enlarge image.

The 1901 catalogue listed only one 17-inch [43.18-cm] Eaton Beauty doll. No description of the doll is given but a fully jointed composition body doll made by Cuno & Otto Dressel in Germany is believed to be from 1901. It is wearing what appears to be the original factory-made underwear, dress, shoes, and socks and is complete with a red ribbon marked "Eaton Beauty" in gold. In the first four years of production of the Eaton Beauty, only the 1901 doll featured the red ribbon.

  Eaton Beauty, 1901, made by Cuno & 
Otto Dressel, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.The Eaton Beauty for 1901 was made by Cuno & Otto Dressel, Germany. Bisque head, fully ball-jointed, papier mâché body; original underwear, socks and shoes, old cotton dress, may be original.

  
     
  Type of doll used as Eaton Beauty in 
1902, made by Armand Marseille, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.The type of doll used as an Eaton Beauty in 1902, made by Armand Marseille, Germany. Bisque shoulderhead, model #370, leather body.

  
     
  Classic Eaton Beauty Doll, made by 
Armand Marseille, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.Classic Eaton Beauty Doll made by Armand Marseille, Germany. Bisque head, model #390, fully ball-jointed composition body. It is the only doll found with a blue ribbon marked "EATONS"; original mohair wig, replaced chemise, socks, and shoes.

  
     
  Eaton Beauty for 1909-10, made by Cuno 
& Dressel, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.Eaton Beauty for 1909-10 made by Cuno & Otto Dressel, Germany. Bisque head, fully ball-jointed composition body; original chemise and ribbon.

  
     

The choice of company to manufacture the dolls was, of course, a business decision and each year Eaton's chose the company that had the best price. In 1904 and 1905, the Beauties were made by J. D. Kestner of Germany and had leather bodies and bisque shoulderheads marked 15413; six or seven sizes were available. In the catalogues, the dolls were illustrated in line drawings, making it very difficult to identify the manufacturers. An Eaton Beauty with the original chemise and ribbon and a photograph of the doll with the delighted little girl who received it is the most accurate indicator that it's an original.

In 1905, Winnipeg had a rapidly growing population of 77 000 when Eaton's opened a large five-storey department store and introduced a catalogue specifically for the influx of settlers moving through Winnipeg into Western Canada. Like some other merchandise, the Eaton Beauties shown in the Toronto catalogues were not always the same as those shown in the Winnipeg catalogues.

The 1906 and 1907 catalogues carried the Eaton Beauty Dollar Doll. Made by Cuno & Otto Dressel, it came in seven sizes from $1.00 to $5.00. The red ribbon had the Holtz Masse (wood composition) logo beside the gold Eaton Beauty logo.

   Type of doll used as Eaton Beauty, 
1905-06, made by Armand Marseille, Germany.   

This type of doll was used as an Eaton Beauty in 1905-1906 and was made by Armand Marseille, Germany. Bisque head, model #390, fully ball-jointed composition body.

Enlarge image.

Armand Marseille made the Beauty for the 1908-09 catalogue with pretty bisque heads, glass eyes, and long ringlets. Sometimes, two sisters receiving Eaton Beauty dolls were given dolls with different eye colour (blue or brown) so they could tell their dolls apart.

   Eaton Beauty dolls for 1908, made by 
Armand Marseille, Germany.   

The Eaton Beauties for 1908 were made by Armand Marseille, Germany. Bisque heads, model #390, fully ball-jointed composition bodies. Given to two sisters in 1908, one doll has blue eyes, the other brown.

Enlarge image.

Schoenau & Hoffmeister also made the Beauties for the 1908-09 catalogues only; Cuno & Otto Dressel made them again for 1909-10 and 1911-12.

  Eaton Beauty for 1909, made by 
Schoenau & Hoffmeister, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.Eaton Beauty for 1909 was made by Schoenau & Hoffmeister, Germany. Bisque head, model 1909, fully ball-jointed papier mâché body; redressed.

  
     
  Eaton Beauty for 1911, made by Cuno & 
Otto Dressel, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.Eaton Beauty for 1911 was made by Cuno & Otto Dressel, Germany. Bisque head, fully ball-jointed papier mâché body; redressed.

  
     
  Eaton Beauty for 1910, made by Cuno & 
Otto Dressel, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.Eaton Beauty for 1910 made by Cuno & Otto Dressel, Germany. Bisque head, fully ball-jointed composition body; replaced wig, redressed in old clothing.

  
     

Armand Marseille of Germany provided the dolls for the catalogues of 1911-12, 1912-13, 1913-14, and 1914-15. During the First World War, dolls from Europe were not available. Luckily, the dolls had been already purchased for the 1914-15 fall-and-winter catalogue. The Beauties were available in a 27-inch size [65.58-cm] for $4.00 and a replacement head could be ordered for 35 cents.

   Eaton Beauty for 1913-14, made by 
Armand Marseille, Germany.   

Eaton Beauty for 1913-14 made by Armand Marseille, Germany. Bisque head, fully ball-jointed composition body; replaced dress, original red ribbon, socks and shoes.

Enlarge image.

  Eaton Beauty for 1915-16, made by 
Dominion Toy Mfg. Co., Toronto.  
  

Enlarge image.Eaton Beauty for 1915-16 made by Dominion Toy Mfg. Co., Toronto. All composition, fully jointed body.

  
     

The Dominion Toy Manufacturing Company, a new Canadian doll manufacturer, was established in Toronto in 1911. It produced a very nice composition fully ball-jointed doll, but with a composition head, not bisque. Dominion provided Eaton's with the Eaton Beauties for 1915, but the sleep eyes were not glass and the composition heads not as beautiful as the bisque. The Eaton Beauties became available again in 1924 when they could be imported from Germany.

  Eaton Special Doll for 1923-24, made 
by SFBJ, France.  
  

Enlarge image.Eaton Special Doll for 1923-24, not an Eaton Beauty was made by SFBJ, France. Bisque head model #60, fully jointed composition body.

  
     

The Schoenhut all-wood dolls made in the United States were featured in the 1917 catalogue and priced at $4.50, enough to buy a week's groceries in 1917! Japan tried to fill the void by supplying bisque headed dolls with Caucasian features, but none were used as Eato Beauties.

In 1922, the catalogue showed an "Eaton's Special Doll" made by SFBJ in France, marked S.F.B.J./60/PARIS. Many collectors today believe their S.F.B.J. dolls are Eaton Beauties, but the dolls were never called Eaton Beauty in the catalogue.

Eaton's fall-and-winter catalogue for 1923-24 included a "Miss Canada Doll." She was all composition, fully ball jointed and 18 inches [45.72 cm] tall. She was dressed in a red felt coat with white woolly cuffs, collar, and matching hat at a price of $2.95.

  Eaton Beauty for 1924, made by Armand 
Marseille, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.Eaton Beauty for 1924 was made by Armand Marseille, Germany. Bisque head, model #390, fully ball-jointed composition body.

  
     

  Eaton Beauty for 1924, made by Armand 
Marseille, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.Eaton Beauty for 1924 made by Armand Marseille, Germany. Bisque head, model #390, fully ball-jointed composition body; replaced wig, replaced ribbon, redressed.

  
     
  Eaton Beauty for 1925, made by Armand 
Marseille, Germany.  
  

Enlarge image.Eaton Beauty for 1925 was made by Armand Marseille, Germany. Bisque head model #390, fully ball-jointed composition body; redressed in old clothing.

  
     

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