Made to Play House
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Dolls and the Commercialization of American Girlhood, 1830-1930
Miriam Formanek-Brunell
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Format: PaperPrice: $24.00
Formanek-Brunell describes how dolls and doll play changed over time: antebellum rag dolls taught sewing skills; Gilded Age fashion dolls inculcated formal social rituals; Progressive Era dolls promoted health and active play; and the realistic baby dolls of the 1920s fostered girls' maternal impulses. She discusses how the aesthetic values and business methods of women doll-makers differed from those of their male counterparts, and she describes, for example, Martha Chase, who made America's first soft, sanitary cloth dolls, and Rose O'Neill, inventor of the Kewpie doll. According to Formanek-Brunell, although American businessmen ultimately dominated the industry with dolls they marketed as symbols of an idealized feminine domesticity, businesswomen presented an alternative vision of gender for both girls and boys through a variety of dolls they manufactured themselves.
"A fascinating book, full of new information and astute observation. Formanek-Brunell's use of material culture is unusually perceptive and convincing; she has an eye for the telling detail and a wide knowledge of the changing appearance and manufacture of dolls. The illustrations add a great deal, not only embellishing the text but advancing the argument. The book will appeal to collectors as well as to social historians, women's studies scholars, and historians of consumer culture."—Barbara Melosh, George Mason University
"The title sets the tone for this interesting scholarly study of girls and dolls from 1830 to 1930. . . . Illustrated with patents and historical black-and-white photos, well-researched and heavily footnoted, Formanek-Brunell's 233-page book should be welcomed by students of doll history."—Dolls
"Formanek-Brunell persuasively argues that the history of dolls in America (their creation, marketing, and use) documents the struggle of women and girls to gain cultural control of representations of their gender identity."—Choice
"This book addresses a significant issue in the history of childhood through the examination of the links between material objects designed for children, the societal construction of childhood, and children's participation as agents of their own socialization. It explores the dynamic interaction between patterns of production and consumption in the emerging twentieth-century consumer culture, and it offers a new perspective on the nature of the relationship between dolls and American culture."—Linda W. Rosenzweig, Journal of Social History
"[A] well-researched story of dollmakers and American girlhood. . . . Fascinating. . . . [A] superb interdisciplinary history."—Eileen Boris, Nation
"Formanek-Brunell's study of the United States doll industry provides a fresh perspective on the construction of gender in America. . . . Made to Play House is a pioneering book of interest to collectors, historians of women and of consumer culture, and anyone who has a child who plays with dolls."—Molly Ladd-Taylor, Journal of American History
Publication Date: January 21, 2014
