Annalee DollsWhat began as a hobby for a young girl named Barbara Annalee Davis, grew at an overwhelming rate into a family business that has thrived for more than 70 years simply by creating lovable, moveable dolls whose selling point is their simplicity. In the 1950's, when their egg-laying business began to falter, Annalee and her husband Chip Thorndike decided to try producing Annalee's dolls on a larger scale, since they had already been quite popular in the smaller shops where they had already been featured for several years. They set up a makeshift office and assembly line in their kitchen, and knew almost instantly that the Annalee doll line was going to be a rousing success. The feature that makes Annalee dolls so unique among the thousands of others available is their ability to be posed in a wide variety of ways, thanks to Chip's creation of an internal wire frame, a concept that was ahead of its time when he first implemented it in his wife's designs. Today, just as they were in their first days of production, each Annalee doll is hand made and hand painted, resulting in small variations in the expression and design of each individual piece. They are also still made entirely in the United States, which makes them one of the few successful, fully family run doll making businesses still in operation. The Annalee collection features everything from the whimsical to the everyday, and most of them feature mice, rabbits or other animals dressed in outfits that are designed to represent the different seasons and special occasions in our lives. This makes them perfect for gift giving, to commemorate a special time in the life of a child or an adult who is young at heart. One of the most popular additions to the Annalee family are the State Quarter mice, who come complete with a flag and a shiny new quarter that represents their state. 50 mice, one for each of the United States, are planned for this collection and some of the older designs are already sold out, so it's a good idea to keep an eye out for them if you have yet to seriously start collecting. Unlike some other dolls which can be found in retail stores all over the place, Annalee dolls are made in much smaller quantities and therefore can be a bit harder to find unless you know where to look and what you're looking for. Exclusive, seasonal pieces can be found in some of the more upscale department stores such as Lord and Taylor, Macy's, and even Foley's. Of course, if you miss out on them when they're being sold, you can always find them online or at auction, but be advised that the price might be higher. In a veritable sea of collectible dolls, the Annalee collection is a true original. There has yet to be another, similar doll created with the kind of quality collectors have come to expect from Annalee dolls, though many have tried to duplicate their style. Perhaps this is because of the love and care put into each doll from the very beginning, which still starts as it did all those years ago...in Annalee's own hands. |