20" Vintage HP Artisan Doll Co. Raving Beauty Roller Skater Original &
Mint 1950USD $95.00
Condition : Used
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20-inch vintage hard-plastic Raving Beauty "Roller Skater" non-walker doll by Artisan Doll Co. from about 1950. She is unusual because she does not appear to have ever been undressed or played with; her hair never combed or restyled. She is the blue ribbon winner from the recent California Doll Fest; her first-place blue ribbon will be included. I have displayed her for about 5-8 years in an enclosed doll case in my doll room away from heat and sun.
I'm trying to retain only one representative for each type of doll rather than multiples so I am selling her and keeping only one Raving Beauty. She was also called Miss Gadabout when wearing more casual or sporting clothing. It is possible that the skater was marketed as Miss Gadabout. Raving Beauty dolls are unmarked.
Most Raving Beauty dolls were made as walking dolls, but they also made some non-walkers. This doll is not a walker so that is also less common.
So little is known about Raving Beauty so I'm including photocopies of two very informative articles about her and a Raving Beauty Dress pattern.
Artisan Doll Co. of Gardena, CA produced these dolls beginning Christmas 1950 and invested in a special 15-minute television program, "Norma Jean's Doll Shop" that aired on Station KTTV 3 times per week from October 30 through December 22. This caused a stir that Christmas when so many customers "demanded" their local toy shop obtain Raving Beauty Dolls in time for Christmas. This clever marketing practice paid off. They only made dolls for a few short years and then faded away.
She has no odor and no flaws that I can find so I will describe her from head to toe. Head:
Single-stroke eyebrows, brown sleep eyes with real upper lashes (full with no missing lashes), painted lower lashes, lightly blushed cheeks, open mouth with tongue and 4 teeth, red lip color. The article said she has Ravon (Dynel) hair. She has her original set of curls with many bobby pins holding the curls in her deep auburn wig. Body:
Hard-plastic fully jointed. There are no scuffs or marks on her; she is as she was 70-plus years ago. Skating Costume:
One of the included articles has a similar skating costume in dark blue or black on the front page. This Raving Beauty's original skating costume consists of a satin onesie blouse/underwear (so her panties never get loose), a woven (rayon?) plum fully-lined skating skirt with metal gold stars attached and a matching skating hat with pom-poms in the back. Her skates are white oil cloth tie shoes with metal wheels and nylon socks. I will include the metal stand
that she came with when I bought her; it is likely her original 1950 stand. Her stringing feels tight, but her head will slide forward sometimes. It will maintain a pose. My feeling is that it is best to wait as long as possible to restring a doll because you must fully undress and take off her shoes and socks; my preference is to let her be until the stringing is loose.
She is almost 4 lbs. when packed in her shipping box so Fed Ex is likely the most economical shipper. No returns, please unless I have somehow misrepresented her in my description. Thank you.
I'm trying to retain only one representative for each type of doll rather than multiples so I am selling her and keeping only one Raving Beauty. She was also called Miss Gadabout when wearing more casual or sporting clothing. It is possible that the skater was marketed as Miss Gadabout. Raving Beauty dolls are unmarked.
Most Raving Beauty dolls were made as walking dolls, but they also made some non-walkers. This doll is not a walker so that is also less common.
So little is known about Raving Beauty so I'm including photocopies of two very informative articles about her and a Raving Beauty Dress pattern.
Artisan Doll Co. of Gardena, CA produced these dolls beginning Christmas 1950 and invested in a special 15-minute television program, "Norma Jean's Doll Shop" that aired on Station KTTV 3 times per week from October 30 through December 22. This caused a stir that Christmas when so many customers "demanded" their local toy shop obtain Raving Beauty Dolls in time for Christmas. This clever marketing practice paid off. They only made dolls for a few short years and then faded away.
She has no odor and no flaws that I can find so I will describe her from head to toe. Head:
Single-stroke eyebrows, brown sleep eyes with real upper lashes (full with no missing lashes), painted lower lashes, lightly blushed cheeks, open mouth with tongue and 4 teeth, red lip color. The article said she has Ravon (Dynel) hair. She has her original set of curls with many bobby pins holding the curls in her deep auburn wig. Body:
Hard-plastic fully jointed. There are no scuffs or marks on her; she is as she was 70-plus years ago. Skating Costume:
One of the included articles has a similar skating costume in dark blue or black on the front page. This Raving Beauty's original skating costume consists of a satin onesie blouse/underwear (so her panties never get loose), a woven (rayon?) plum fully-lined skating skirt with metal gold stars attached and a matching skating hat with pom-poms in the back. Her skates are white oil cloth tie shoes with metal wheels and nylon socks. I will include the metal stand
that she came with when I bought her; it is likely her original 1950 stand. Her stringing feels tight, but her head will slide forward sometimes. It will maintain a pose. My feeling is that it is best to wait as long as possible to restring a doll because you must fully undress and take off her shoes and socks; my preference is to let her be until the stringing is loose.
She is almost 4 lbs. when packed in her shipping box so Fed Ex is likely the most economical shipper. No returns, please unless I have somehow misrepresented her in my description. Thank you.
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