Throwback Thursday review: unidentified Horsman baby

Hey, all you lucky folks, it's RagingMoon1987, and who's finally in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame???  THESE GUYS!!!  I don't understand why non-rock artists like Lady Antebellum and Tupac Shakur got in before the Moody Blues did, but it's clear that John Lydon wasn't lying when he called the HOF a "piss stain."  Seriously...a country band and a rap artist in a ROCK 'N' ROLL hall of fame???  What gives?  Not that that matters to the Magnificent Moodies and their fans; they're happy and I too am deliriously pleased.  Oh yeah, the Cars are in as well.  I like them too, and I think I'll just celebrate tonight with a music binge.  It'll be "Steppin' In A Slide Zone" versus "Moving In Stereo." 

Alrighty, Moon Girl, compose thyself and focus.  This week's post is an example of not one but TWO rules that I made for myself and then broke.  Firstly, I said that I wasn't into baby dolls and that proved to be a big fat lie.  And secondly, I swore that I'd never own a composition doll.  This vow stems back to a doll that I saw during one of our family's many antique mall trips.  Said doll was about twenty inches and had a lovely face, but she was covered from head to toe in hairline cracks (known among compo lovers as "crazing").  I knew from my doll magazines that this was normal for composition dolls, but I also knew that if not taken care of the crazing would develop into cracks and the doll would start shedding paint.  I hated the thought of all that maintenance and promptly swore off composition dolls completely.  Then First Uncle gave me two compo babies that his friend's mother had owned (these became my Creepy Babies)...and I bought another large baby on my own free will (Lili Marlene)...and that was the end of that rule.  I still don't have a ton of composition dolls since they can be pricey, but I've grown to like the medium.  Composition is an odd material, somewhat like a love child between paper and plastic.  It's lightweight and it looks, feels, and sounds like high-quality plastic; when tapped with a fingernail it makes a clicking sound, rather than the "clink-clink-clink" of tapped porcelain or the "thump-thump-thump" of vinyl.  Composition is also a bizarre combination of sturdy and fragile, meaning that a composition doll won't shatter if dropped like a bisque or resin doll will, but it will chip, crack, and scuff over time.  Most importantly, composition absolutely, definitely, positively MUST NOT GET WET, because water makes composition deteriorate faster (this includes humidity in the air).  Thus it's fairly easy to find compo dolls that look like this little gal.  That particular doll has since been put right as rain, but restoration is a complicated process and can be pricey.  It's an expense that may doll collectors are willing to take though, since a good restoration will extend the life of the doll quite a bit.

So there y'all have it.  For all its pitfalls composition was a good alternative to the easily broken bisque, and since it was used for much of the first half of the 20th century there are a lot of composition dolls out there.  They're not all babies, of course; they ran the gamut in age from baby to adult, but today's post IS a baby.  She's a doll who has made a few appearances in the past, usually for the sake of a comparison.  Since I've reviewed three other dolls that were close to her in size, I figured she deserved a review too.  This is Anita.

CONFESSION:  I have once again been beaten to the punch by Tam, who has a brief review of her own composition baby up for viewing.  Her cheery little doll is showing its age like composition dolls tend to do, but she sure is cute.  Tam doesn't know who her rosy-lipped little baby is, and I have no idea who Anita is either, so we're in the same boat in that respect.  Anita is clearly marked "HORSMAN" on the back of her neck, but she doesn't match any of the Horsman dolls I've seen online.  The other babies I've found online are usually too big, too old, too young, all-compo, all-rubber, or they're obvious character dolls that have different faces.  So Anita presents a bit of a conundrum for me, one that I hope someone can help me fix.  If any of y'all have any ideas as to who she might be, or if you know someone who knows a lot about compo dolls, I'd be delighted to hear from you.

It might help if I knew a bit more about Horsman, of course.  I do know that Horsman is an old company, dating back to 1904, and they're still in existence, producing fashion dolls like Urban Vita and Rini.  Now to the review.  As I said above I only have a handful of composition dolls, and out of that handful Anita is the smallest...unless two of next week's dolls really are composition like their tag said.  Here's how Anita compares to Tommy (one of the Creepy Babies), who is about the size of a three-month-old...

...and here's how she compares to my other Horsman dolls, Sally (possible Enchanting Eyes, left) and Lili Marlene (possible Baby Precious, right).

Anita is very close in size to past dolls like Baby Peep, Kathy Cry Baby, Pussycat, and My Child (doll shown is Pussycat).

Being close in size to Pussycat and the others would mean that Anita is about fourteen inches from head to toe.  I'm unsure if Anita ever had a wig, but the shading of her head suggests that she once did.  Otherwise Anita has molded hair like Baby Peep's, and like many, many of her composition companions.

Molded hair and wigs are both commonplace with composition dolls since the material would be WAY too hard to root.  Anita's head is painted a soft yellow in places, but not all over.  See?

This picture gives an idea of what Anita's hairline looks like.  She has some nice molding along the back of her head, but again the area is not painted.

Also visible on the back of Anita's neck is her mark.  Unlike my larger Horsman dolls, Anita's mark is well-defined and plainly visible.

Further perusal of the above photographs shows that the seam on the side of Anita's head is quite conspicuous.  This is something that sets her apart from my other compo dolls (they all have one-piece heads), and it lends further credence to my theory that she once wore a wig.  Either that, or her bonnet was not intended to come off.  Because she IS a composition doll, Anita shows some wear on her face, largely in the form of some dirt and scuffs here and there.  Again, par for the course for dolls of her age and make, and not as bad as other compo dolls that I've seen and owned.  The worst of Anita's damage consists of a ding on her nose that reveals the yellow compo underlayer.

Compare Anita's mildly scuffed and dirty face to Sally's badly cracked and chipping face.

I'll likely have to bite the bullet and have Sally mended one day, as a piece of her forehead is threatening to come off completely.  This is not something I'm looking forward to, but it'll be worth it if it means she won't fall apart as quickly.

Back to Anita now.  Anita has silver-blue eyes with rooted lashes.

These eyes sleep, but they're bad to stay shut when I tip her back up.  Furthermore, I usually have to shake her to get her eyes shut, and even then they don't shut all the way!

The eye mechanism makes a rattling, scraping noise when I move Anita's head, so I suspect that something has come loose in there causing her eyes to be off-balance.  Notice that Anita has no eyebrows, by the way.  Dolls without eyebrows can look a little freaky (Jaylin and Emerald the Enchanting Witch come to mind), but Anita looks more grumpy than freaky.  I often call Anita the Tardar Sauce of my collection, in fact...or the Kristen Stewart, take your pick (no offense meant to Ms. Stewart).  Here's how she compares to one of my more cheerful dolls, the Gerber baby. 

Maybe Anita was just weary from the drive home and needed a nap (I'd just bought these when that picture was taken).  LOL, I'm not sure if Anita ever had eyebrows, but if not she certainly could benefit from them.  It is entirely possible that they were painted on with a very light touch and rubbed off over time.  This appears to be happening with Anita's lips; they were red, but now they're flaking.  This further adds to Anita's grumpy expression. 

To top it all off, the head is a little on the groady side.  If Anita had vinyl parts I'd just put her in a pillowcase and give her a turn in the washing machine, but Anita is NOT vinyl so that option is out.  Frankly, I don't think this body would take too well to washing even if her head and limbs WERE vinyl, because it's not filled with your usual teddy bear stuffing.  Too bad too, because Anita's body could also do with a good cleaning.

That body could be filled with anything from sawdust to rags to chopped-up bits of paper (I doubt that last one), but whatever it is it's firm...or most of it is.  The upper legs and arms are not stuffed at all, making them easier to maneuver.

Anita's lower arms and legs are made of hard, hollow rubber and are a little discolored.  See how brownish they are compared to her pale head?

These half-limbs are firm like the cloth body, but not so firm that one could break their fingers on it.  I can actually compress Anita's arm a little when I squeeze.

Rubber takes to a mold better than composition does, so Anita's got some nicely molded little hands.

Her feet look eerily like rocker bottom feet (a bad sign on a real baby), but they are recognizable as feet and have fairly well-defined toes.

This wire is sticking out of Anita's neck, and at first I didn't know what it was for.

I thought maybe it might be some bizarre way to manipulate Anita's arms and head, since all three pieces move a little when I move the wire.  Then I saw this on one of her arms, through a rent in the cloth.

Apparently the wire has been used to affix the limbs to the cloth body.  <eyeroll>  Five points from Hufflepuff for Moony being a dolt.

Sometimes rubber gets gommy and sticky as it ages, but Anita has dodged this bullet for the most part and I'm glad, because it was these rubber joints that made her stand out from the other dolls at the store.  I know that some composition dolls had body parts that were made of rubber or plastic or vinyl, but I'd never seen one in real life before I landed Anita.  Okay, take that back; Tommy has rubber limbs.  Unfortunately, Tommy's limbs are in pretty rough shape so I can't enjoy them as much as I do Anita's.  See how he's got duct tape on his knees and black patches on other parts of his limbs?  That's normal, but it doesn't look very nice.

As a last little tidbit, Anita has a cry box...cylinder...whatever you want to call it.  This sits inside her chest and it shows through the cloth of her body sometimes.  See that circular area?

As far as I know the cry box no longer works.  That's not a huge deal for me since I have dolls that can and do cry, but it's worth noting that Anita did once have that feature.  I've yet to encounter a composition doll with a functioning cry box, so I can't give any description on how it works other than it's not activated by squeezing the doll like it was with Kathy Cry Baby and Baby Peep.  Since the box is cylindrical like Pussycat's I figure it was activated in the same way, by tipping Anita forward onto her face.  I'd love to hear what these composition dolls sound like when they cry, by the way; I've got two compo dolls with boxes like this (Anita and Lili) and neither of them make a sound, so I'm completely clueless on what sort of noise this mech makes.

Since I don't know who this baby is, I can't give a judgement on how accurate her clothes are other than that they're old and appropriate for the age that Anita is supposed to represent.  She's got a dress and a matching little bonnet.

Unfortunately these clothes are showing the wear and tear that is typical for aged dolly threads.  There are some stains...

...and some holes...

...and the ribbon on the bonnet is shot.

I can replace the ribbon and I don't mind the stains too terribly, but I'm at a loss over those holes.  The material feels too fragile for sewing on a patch, but maybe some Fray-Stop might help?  I wouldn't know; I keep saying I'm going to get Fray-Stop and I never do it.  Anyway, the bodice and the sleeves of the dress are trimmed with embroidery in shades of pink, yellow, and blue...

...as is the bonnet.

The fabric itself feels like muslin, and the places that have no holes are soft and smooth.  The seams are uneven in places but are nicely done, suggesting to me that this was a homemade dress by someone who was fairly experienced but still learning.  The back has an opening, but strangely there are no buttons or snaps.  The top fastens with a safety pin.

The bonnet was held closed with a snap, but the frayed ribbon has necessitated the use of another safety pin.

Anita doesn't have a chance of wearing Baby Peep's narrow-sleeved dress or the real baby clothes that my bigger babies wear, and Morgan's My Child and Magic Nursery clothes look too modern on this antique doll.  So that leaves Kathy Cry Baby and Pussycat for potential clothes sharing.  Oh yes, there's also that random pink dress with the yellow booties that came with my to-be-reviewed Eegee doll.

This proved to be a smidge too short, though nothing super-distracting.  It fits Anita okay, but I don't think it suits her, though that's no fault of her own, really.  Pink does not look good with her brown limbs AT ALL.  As a result Pussycat's stock outfit doesn't look great either.

Oh, it looks (and fits) alright, but I'm just not feeling it.  Maybe Kathy Cry Baby's dress will do better.

The fit is okay, but that red washes Anita's pale head out.  I like this better on her since it has a bonnet, but I can't leave her in it because Kathy would have nothing to wear then.  So for now Anita is stuck in her tired old original clothes...but frankly, I think this look suits her best.  There's bound to be a way to repair the damage, at least so the dress won't fall apart as quickly.  So what do I think of this old baby?  Let's see...

BAD
*The composition is in slightly rough shape, though this is to be expected on dolls of this medium.
*Limbs are discolored, though again this is age related.
*Clothes are starting to fall apart
*Eyes won't shut readily
*Needs repainting

GOOD
*Dressed appropriately for a baby doll
*Eyes are still clear; composition doll eyes sometimes cloud over, as we'll see in weeks to come.
*Body is sturdy, free of large rips and tears
*Vinyl limbs are holding up well
*Composition head is in much better shape than that of another of my dolls (poor Sally).

Most of Anita's flaws are related to age rather than to poor construction or factory foibles.  She's showing dirt, crazing, and minor wear all over, and her clothes are tattered in a few places, but other than that she's a perfectly sound doll.  Do I recommend her though?  Well...not if you're looking for a specific doll.  Though Anita is marked I've not been able to identify her, and indeed she may not even have a name beyond "mama doll," as these dolls that cried were often called that (they'd shriek "MAMA!" if they fell or were tipped in a certain way).  BUT...if you're not looking for a specific doll (and I wasn't) then this little doll is great!  She's not too big or too small, and she's not hard all over like some compo dolls are so if you like to cuddle with your dolls (I admit that I sometimes do) then she's up to the job.  I may not know which little doll Anita is, but I'm happy to have her along for the ride.

Now...time for that promised music binge!!!  I think I'll add "Ride My See-Saw" and "Bye Bye Love" to the playlist because...well, why not, that's because.

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987