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Dating Your Annalee Dolls Using the Seam Tag
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If doll was made prior 1987, then the date on the Annalee tag is ONLY the copyright date, |
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Many of the tags on the early dolls were attached under the shirt, behind the neck, on the back, on the bottom of the doll or even glued to the base. Many never had tags.You have to remember, Annalee and Chip had NO IDEA how successful they would become!
This first tags were handwritten, possibly soon after she graduated from high school in the mid 30's.
I remember when I drove to NH in 1990 to show Annalee what I was hoping to be an early Annalee. She said it definitely was and she dated it as late 30's. I almost fainted! She mentioned that the shirt on my doll was made from one of her old shirts and that it was a girl. I asked, How can you tell it's a girl? She immediately replied, “Boys have ears, girls do not”. She also noted that the legs and arms were sewn to the body, that the majority were skiers, she made the skis and that it had no internal wire frame. The wire frame didn't come until she met Chip. He invented the wire frame, thus giving them the name Annalee Mobilitee Dolls. As soon as I got in the car, I jotted it down so I wouldn't forget. Through the years I got to know Annalee and Chip. Whenever I brought a doll to show them, they would always ask: Where did you find this? It was like they were asking about a "lost child".
Annalee is around early-mid 50's, notice it has no Meredith/ no copyright symbol .
Annalee with Meredith NH - machine embroidered mid 50's I've also seen the same tag with “Patent Pending”printed on it.
Annalee, with Meredith, NH and the copyright symbol , has machine embroidered around 1958-1959
Annalee Mobilitee Doll USA machine embroidered tag with the copyright date . Annalee started using the copyright date in 1961. Only one end of the tag was attached to the doll the other end was pinked or zig zag.
The majority of the dolls with the tags that I've mentioned thus far will have yarn or feather hair. Few examples: baby angels; elves; boy building a boat; square dancers; and skiers . The skiers will have natural color birch skis with the Annalee signature on each tip. Chip told me one time how he put them in a pressure cooker to soften the wood so he could bend the tips of the skiis. 1962 - 1969: 3/4" folded machine embroidered (woven) tag with the Annalee Mobilitee Doll, Meredith NH wrapping around to the back with the copyright date. It is very common that the last digit was sewn into the seam in the late 60's. 196_
1970 - 1974: folded short satin, silky tag. 1975 - 1981 Spring: long, stiff gauze, Tyvek tag. The back of the tag will read "DO NOT REMOVE THIS TAG UNDER PENALTY OF LAW, ALL NEW MATERIAL, Ohio Reg. # 4904 Mass # T-83" This tag is the one that most people cut off because it is so long.
1981 Christmas - 1986 Spring/Everyday/Halloween/Fall: short folded stiff gauze tag with the Annalee Mobilitee wrapping around to the back with the copyright date on the back.
1986 Christmas - 1989: same tag used 1981-1986 but with the actual year as well as the copyright year. The dates on the tag prior to this period are date of copyright for the dolls head or body. The second date indicates the year the artwork, head and or body were redesigned. They do not necessarily identify the actual year.
1990 - 1996: folded machine embroidered tag. It will have the actual year in bigger print than the copyright.
1997 - 1998 long folded machine embroidered tag with a gauge tag sewn inside that states ALL NEW MATERIAL, Do Not Remove This Tag, etc.
1999 - folded satin tag dated '99 with Made in Meredith, NH, USA 1999 - 2001 Sponsor Store Exclusive paper hang tag along with price and bar code hang tag.
2001 - last year Annalees were produced in Meredith, NH USA
Annalee used a different fabric every year on her Christmas stockings, Mr & Mrs Santas clothing, the reindeer saddles, vests on the elves and outfits on the bunnies. Please use Fabric Identification for helping to date your Annalee dolls.
FABRIC IDENTIFICATION: CHRISTMAS |
Phone: 860.434.5641
Hours: Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm EST
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