OBJECT BIOGRAPHY: ‘Kim’ – Hard-Plastic, Pedigree Doll

One of the most interesting subjects I did this year was Place, Image and Object.

As part of this subject you had to research an object that had meaning for your family. I chose my mother's Pedigree Doll. It was an interesting way of presenting family history in a different way. I have a few other objects I might endeavor to present in this way too. 

OBJECT BIOGRAPHY: ‘Kim’ – Hard-Plastic, Pedigree Doll

When family objects are passed down from one generation to the next, they bring with them shared histories and memories. A toy train might spark memories of afternoons making model landscapes. Old buttons may recall times spent with a departed grandma. A doll which has been played with though, brings with it a story, a personality and a name. A doll may have had one or many playmates. They have probably had many adventures. With dolls it seems more appropriate to say we adopt them, not inherit them. 

A doll is something common to every region, culture and time-period in history. While quintessentially dolls are miniature three-dimensional representations of a person, the roles it can play are limited only by the imagination.  Professor Jerome Singer, at the Yale School of Medicine explains children may be drawn to dolls, as a playmate, as they have an inherent need to shrink ‘the large, loud world down to a manageable size so they can test their ideas in everyday situations’. When children use dolls as playmates, they hold both sides of the conversation and along the way learn about communication, problem solving, and empathy.  Carl Fox extends this idea by stating, ‘The doll is a private vessel into which are distilled fears, hopes, sorrows and magic make-believe’.  

My object is a doll. In collectable terms it can be described as a 1950s, 52cm, hard-plastic, English Pedigree walking-doll with saran hair, flirty eyes, a ‘Mama’ voice”, in fair condition and having a retail value of around $200. But for us she is more than an object and her value cannot be counted in dollars. She is Kim and ever member of our family can tell you a story about her.

In 1957 my mother Caroline, aged twelve, won Kim in a church raffle. The small-town gossip was that the prize should have gone to a younger girl. Mum played with her occasionally preferring to keep her for display. Mum’s nieces and nephews played with her when they visited, resulting in damage. She lost her teeth, developed a bald spot and had her eyelashes pulled out. Mum’s bond to Kim was also damaged.  As a child Kim became my constant companion, even going camping with me. More recently she’s accompanied me to school for ‘show and tell’ and once the police pulled us over thinking I had an unrestrained child in the car. In essence Kim still belongs to my mother, but I am her guardian. 

Kim has a system of internal metal rods that enable her to ‘walk’ when rocked side to side. These rods move both her head and eyes left and right and these are known as ‘flirty’ eyes’. Her eyes also close when she ‘sleeps’. Her wig is made of saran, a type of plastic that can be combed and washed. The markings on the back of her head and torso identify her as an English hard-plastic doll manufactured by the Pedigree company. Her teeth and open mouth further identify her as a ‘Delite’ doll.   

One of the earliest doll relics is an alabaster doll with movable arms discovered in ancient Babylon.   In more recent centuries, the doll was a handcrafted item requiring specialised skills to construct them from materials such as porcelain, cloth or wood. They were more likely found in the homes of affluent families. This changed after World War II, with the introduction of plastic in manufacturing, dolls became mass produced and small dolls could be bought for as little as a few pennies.  In a Christmas advert in 1953, a similar model to Kim was selling for £6/10/- (around $13). In today’s market that would equate to approximately $235.   These higher-end priced dolls were probably bought for a special occasion. Instead of a new doll each year, their doll would be repaired or outfitted with new clothes.  

During World War II, English toy factories stopped making toy guns and started making real ones. The Line Brothers, who trademarked Pedigree in 1942, manufactured machine guns and munitions in their South London workshop.   During this time they became skilled in moulding new types of hard-plastic known as cellulous acetate. The long-wearing and lightweight properties of plastic made it perfect for the manufacture of dolls. A process known as injection moulding was utilised where melted plastic was set in moulds until the desired thickness was achieved and the excess poured out. After curing, hollow parts were trimmed, mechanical parts attached, and the two halves glued together. Skin colour, eyes, wigs and stringing of the limbs were completed in that order. The hard-plastic made them perfect for play, but also made them prone to chipping and cracking.   Kim would be one of the last hard-plastic Pedigree dolls, after the company transitioned toward vinyl in 1958.  

In 2005, Kim was taken to the Sydney Doll Hospital for repairs. She was restrung, her major cracks glued over and repainted. Her original teeth, having been found inside her, were refitted and her ‘Mama’ box was replaced. In consultation with the ‘doctor’ no other permanent changes, including re-wigging, were made to maintain value but mostly to retain her familiar look. Replacing eyelashes requires cutting the head open, so temporary eye lashes are sometimes applied, along with doll safe makeup to refresh her look. After researching doll repairs, I stitched non-permanent nylon hair to her scalp to help blend in her bald spot. I sewed her outfit from a Pedigree doll dress pattern and shoes sourced online.

Kim is at risk of ‘Pedigree Doll Disease’. As hard-plastic dolls age the oils in the plastic can react to moisture in the environment. Due to a build up of acetic acid, the oils may begin to seep and a strong vinegar smell develops. The compromised plastic then looks like it has melted. The incurable ‘disease’ can be passed onto other hard-plastic dolls.  Thankfully Kim does not have signs of the disease but considerations for cleaning, display and ongoing checkups need to be factored into her ‘retirement plan’.

Our family has many memories, many still unwritten, about Kim. Mum has willed Kim to her eldest granddaughter who will no doubt already know a few of her stories having seen Kim mentioned on Facebook numerous times. Kim is now ‘retired’ as a plaything and is displayed in a dry, low-light bedroom in a dolls’ rocking chair. Her capacity to generate new memories may now be limited so this makes it even more important that the memories she already holds are continued to be shared. 

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Advocate.

Baird, Frances, British Hard Plastic Dolls of the 1940s & 1950s, New Cavendish Books, London, 1998.

Brewer, Susan, British Dolls of the 1950s, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, South Yorkshire, 2009, ch. 3, https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ifvLDwAAQBAJ, Google eBook.

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Lang, Deborah, photograph of a girl picnicking with her doll, 2018, original held by Deborah Lang, Burwood Heights, New South Wales.

Lang, Deborah, photograph of Caroline and Kim, 2020, original held by Deborah Lang, Burwood Heights, New South Wales.

Lang, Deborah, photograph of Kim, 2020, original held by Deborah Lang, Burwood Heights, New South Wales.

Lang, Deborah, photograph of manufacturing details, 2020 original held by Deborah Lang, Burwood Heights, New South Wales.

Lang, Deborah, photograph of Pedigree brand, 2020, original held by Deborah Lang, Burwood Heights, New South Wales.

Lang, Deborah, photograph of Pedigree hard-plastic doll, 2020, original held by Deborah Lang, Burwood Heights, New South Wales.

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