Simon and Halbig Antique Dolls Review

Long ago, near the beautiful German city of Waltershausen, Wilhelm Simon and Carl Halbig joined forces in 1869 to found a factory which produced what these two men did best ... bisque heads for beautiful dolls manufactured by other companies.  Gorgeous dolls (or "puppens") were one of Germany's most famous exports for years.  During Chicago's 1893 World's Fair, when different nations participated in creating exhibits for the colossal Manufacturers & Liberal Arts Building, one of the German exhibits was a shop crammed from bottom to top with beautiful dolls and toys.

THE WORK OF MANY HANDS 

It is said that "It takes a village to raise a child" but in those days, it took many villages just to make a doll.  These beloved toys assembled at German factories really resulted from the work of many hands.  Deep in the Thuringer forests were men, women, and children who worked in their homes to create various doll components.  In an early example of outsourcing, a village might make nothing but carved legs or arms, stuffed bodies, wigs or exquisite doll garments or accessories.  Each village had its own specialty, paid for by the piece and shipped to the factories for final assembly with the beautiful bisque heads as often as not contributed by Simon & Halbig.  Ahead of their time, the Germans came up with curvacious 13" "fashion dolls" and beautiful Black dolls also.  Today, French antique dolls are considered to be more valuable but I think that the Germans were unsurpassed for the beauty and uncanny sensitivity of expression in their dolls' faces.  I have reached the point where I can spot an "S & H" doll at 50 paces.  Truly, they are in a class by themselves.

HOW I GOT INVOLVED WITH ALL THIS.

I began life as someone who loved dolls.  For me, they were sheer magic.  Alas, I did not take mine with me when I left home and my practical Dad eventually gave them to another family but I never ceased to be fascinated by these beautiful toys.  Shortly after getting my first apartment in Oak Park in 1965, I discovered a doll hospital a few blocks from me and wandered in one day.  As I the owner and I chatted, I was startled to notice what looked like four naked little girls sitting in a glass cabinet. I was told that these were Simon & Halbig dolls which had been imported into this country before World War I.  Caught up by my enthusiasm but hardly expecting to make a sale, Maudie showed me the dolls.  My favorite was a 35-1/2" hard body lass with ball-jointed elbows, knees and wrists, lustrous glass open-and-shut eyes, fur eyelashes, tiny teeth, and even pierced ears.  She was covered with decades of dirt, her human hair hopelessly woven by long-ago loving little fingers into tiny braids and her "strings" were shot but her beauty surpassed all that.  One look at that fine proud grimy face, and it was love at first sight.

"Olga" cost $100, a sum which took eight months to pay off.  In those pre-credit card days, I had to wait until I had ransomed her before making the pick-up.  When the great day arrived, I carried her home wrapped in an old towel with her poor filthy old head cradled on my shoulder.  It took the better part of a weekend to gently sponge her off and another $135 to pay an antique doll expert to restring her, make any other necessary repairs, and also unbraid, shampoo, and restyle her wig.  Wherever they are today, Messrs. Simon and Halbig would have smiled if they could have seen Olga restored to her former splendor on the day when I picked her up.  (See picture at top of review.)

By this time you are probably wondering why I'm reviewing something like this since who cares about old dolls anyway.  Au contraire, these grand toys which used to be the stuff  little girls' dreams were made of are today's hot commodity for adult collectors, including unwary buyers who end up getting "fleeced."

SOMETIMES, IT GETS SERIOUS.

Most of my doll acquisitions have been bargains either in bad shape or as treasured gifts from dear friends and relatives.  Once I bid for an S & H doll on E-Bay.  Unable to get a first-hand look at her, I had to take a lot on faith but this turned out to be the "real McCoy" and a good investment.  The experience also taught me a lot about bidding and human nature.  Armed with Christmas gift money and desperate desire, I plunged in, tossing down the gauntlet with a somewhat premature opening bid.  Over the next four days, competing bids volleyed and thundered, the fragile veneer of civilization wore perilously thin, and the price soared to $700 ... the most which I have ever paid for anything I could pick up and carry.  I must have been the only survivor left at a keyboard waiting to make that last-minute killer bid, when the wire finally came down at 3 a.m. on the appointed day.  By that time, I almost had to crawl on all fours from a blood-soaked arena, dragging my prize with me. 

A few days later, "Jossie" was shipped to me beautifully dressed with her wig detached so that I could see for myself the S & H trademark on the back of her head.  Later, I sat on the couch silently regarding her from across the room where she sat a little lopsided, sporting that dazed look common to all newly transplanted dolls.  She was almost as big as Olga, just as gorgeous, a great bargain and one of the best investments available today.  I have never regretted this purchase but the strange thing is that this was the end of my doll collecting.  Although I still treasure the occasional doll gift, I have never shopped for one again.  I am still interested in the subject, however, and have a few suggestions to pass along.

A FEW TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL DOLL COLLECTING:

Forget all about that "Blue Book" value stuff or at least don't adhere to formal appraisals too inflexibly when buying or selling a doll.  Of course, a little assertion and careful negotiation is good but look -- you are going to end up having to settle on a sum agreed to by both of you in the purchase or sale of a doll or any other kind of antique.  When push comes to shove, you're going to end up taking or leaving it.  Whatever kind of collectibles you are into, you should be buying them primarily for your own enjoyment and not for their resale value.

A jointed doll is held safely together and can be posed certain ways because of the incredible pressure exerted by a complicated internal system of cords -- the "strings" -- and usually these cords are in bad shape in an old doll which means that she is wobbly and on the verge of falling apart.  Getting the strings replaced should be your first priority before any other sort of repair because if your doll is sitting up and suddenly falls over, its delicate hollow porcelain head may shatter.  Once that happens, your valuable doll will be Gone, Baby, Gone.

In the old days, little girls knew how to play with and take proper care of fragile bisque-headed dolls.  This isn't true of most kids today.  So if you have small children who love dolls, you might want to consider avoiding a lot of frustration and anguish by buying the kids more durable dolls to play with, and putting your antiques away for a while until everyone is grown up enough to handle them safely.

If your dolls are really, really valuable, you may want to take out special insurance for them. 

If you want an antique doll, make sure it is really an antique.  You are actually at an advantage if the doll is in reasonably bad shape.  If a doll is covered with dirt, has tangled hair and has been incarcerated in a doll hospital for 30 years, this is a good sign that she is an antique or at least old.  It is normal for even dolls which have been carefully played with to show signs of use so if the doll you want looks like it was made yesterday, it probably was.

MY VIEWPOINT:

Actually, there are beautiful bisque-headed dolls being made today.  Fine reproductions of Simon & Halbig antique dolls are also available.  These newer collectibles can provide great enjoyment and add to the decorating scheme in your home.  There is nothing wrong with buying a new doll, but you shouldn't have to pay for it by coughing up the price for a rare antique.  Wherever Messrs. Simon and Halbig are today, they would be saddened if they knew you had been cheated in that way.

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