Dolls

Listen to me, listen to me, little doll
You’ve been sleeping for a long, long time
You’ve been in bed for so long,
Now rise, my sweet baby … 

(For the Little Doll. A New Flower Garden for Good Youth. Published by: Ivan Sagan Library, Karlovac, 1896)

The most numerous group of toys within the Collection gathers and preserves large and small, plastic, fabric, souvenir, Barbie and other dolls. The oldest dolls date back to the first half of the 20th century and were made of rubber, dressed in folk costumes or other homemade material. Most of these dolls come from Croatian factories (Biserka Toy Factory, Jugoplastika, Tila – 25. maj…). Such dolls, in particular those produced by Biserka Toy Factory, were originally made of rubber and hand-painted, but were later modernized with new materials, combinations of plastic and rubber, featuring shoes and clothes and, interestingly, hair that could be washed and combed, while more imaginative and creative children even dressed their hair. Dolls produced by the Italian factory Furga & Furga and Riatti are beautiful examples of foreign-made dolls – preserved in a set with several outfits and a personal fashion catalog. The Collection also includes Barbie dolls, the oldest of them dating back to the 1970s (Disco Barbie and Ken), as well as dolls featured in different shows such as Winx, Monster or Disney’s princesses. There are also wonderful and fragile specimens of large dolls made of strong papier-mâché, dating back to the 1950s, as well as porcelain dolls of different sizes, mostly dating back to the second half of the 20th century.

Souvenir dolls are a separate class, the most numerous among them being those bequeathed by the famous children’s writer Nada Iveljić, including several handmade dolls that have a special value. Some collected and preserved items do not have their (original) clothes, but it is these suitable or sewn clothes that document and preserves a valuable part of the history of childhood and growing up.