Oh, That Face! by Debbie Foster

Oh, that face.

“I did not set out to make just ordinary dolls with unmeaning, empty smiles. I wanted to do dolls with souls.” Madame Alexander, 1960

By Debbie Foster & Katherine Mooney

V intage Cissy’s detailed two-stroke hand painted features have made her one of the most expressive and collectible dolls in modern history. From the sculpted well proportioned head, to the intricately painted eyebrows and lower lashes, there is a unique style to Cissy. And it begins with plastic. The canvas is plastic.

Until the 20th century, most dolls were quite breakable and fragile, made of bisque, papier mâché and composition (a mixture of sawdust, lint and a binding agent). The introduction of plastics changed all that; first, came celluloid dolls, though not as easily broken, but readily crushed and highly flammable; and then, finally, hard plastics. It was a miracle substance for making dolls for it could be molded with fine facial features and hands, painted Left: #2100 from 1955 is a brunette doll with a formally styled spit curl wig. She wears distinctive pink laminate flower shaped earrings with three teardrop pearls falling from their center. Her tight fitting mauve taffeta torso gown flares at the knees. Two different sashes that encircled the ample flounce were available. She is a painted doll that traditionally has high color with a matte finish.

and beautifully colored in realistic skin tones. Most importantly, it was sturdy. Soon after the war, dolls became part of the plastic revolution. By 1950, plastic — first the hard type and later the softer vinyl kind — was the preferred material for commercial dolls. The great technology that created hard plastic dolls was short lived but it produced a relatively small number of dolls that became a very collectible genre. Today the vintage fashion doll is considered a work of art, as most of the doll’s features were individually painted by hand. The development of adult figured dolls with high-heeled shoes and molded bosom

in the mid-1950s led to an explosion in fashion doll production, the earliest being Madame Alexander’s Cissy, introduced in 1955. The early Cissys were painted a realistic flesh tone over their light beige cast plastic color and then the features were added. Lips were applied using a mask or stencil, rouge or blush was added with an airbrush, sometimes before coats of skin tone paint, sometimes afterwards. Eye shadow, when added, was also applied by airbrush. There seems to be no established “rule” for eye shadow, a curious circumstance when obviously identical dolls, wearing the same outfit from the same year, have differing degrees of facial color or “make-up.” I would venture to attribute that to different people working on the production line.

The two-stroke eyebrows of dolls produced from 1955 through most of 1959 and some of 1960 and the lower lashes were hand painted. I have no idea how many “face painters” Alexander had, but I have observed distinct styles which could be attributed to “Pearl” or “Henrietta” or perhaps “Oscar,” and in my opinion, as the eyes are “the window of the soul” the eye brows determine the individual character of each Cissy. Below: A beautiful example of a painted doll with a matte finish from 1955. “Waste not, want not” was undoubtedly Mme. Alexander’s favorite expression. This Cissy wears a leftover Winnie rooted skull cap wig. Most of these wigs were set too far back on Cissy’s head and look like she’s surely suffered with a migraine for the past 55 years. The abundance of wispy bangs is an easy identifier.

Above: Another painted doll with a matte finish from 1955, #2083, who appears much more juvenile than the formally attir ed dolls. The pinafore style jumper of bright red polished cotton with red and white striped blouse seems more suited to Cissy’s little girl cousins, Binnie and Winnie. A natural colored straw hat with red velvet ribbon tops Cissy’s casually styled wig of many colors.

The fine art of Cissy’s face

More sophisticated and fuller wig on the earlier painted Cissys.

Double stroke eyebrows on both dolls although style is different.

Individually airbrushed eye shadow and blush on both dolls. Slightly lighter blush and shadow on the painted doll.

More casual hair style and a sparser wig.

Lighter color blue eye on the color infused Cissy. Hand painted eyebrows and lower lashes on both dolls. Infused doll more likely to have earrings and more ornate jewelry.

A split personality with painted face left of center and color infused face on the right. Both sides retain their finishing layers of matte varnish but the left side appears more dense and substantial. The infused right side has a translucent appearance and a certain depth that radiates color from within. I call the painted side “matte” and the infused side “bisque.”

Her expressions can range from scowling and angry to soulful and at peace; from sweet and pensive to pompous and haughty. A surface issue: Matte or shiny? Marjorie Sturges Uhl considered “matte” and “shiny” two different categories but I have come to the conclusion that a doll with a shiny face has simply lost her matte finish coat. There may be an exception in some of the early 1955 dolls that were pulled from the remaining Binnie and Winnie “Cissy-faced” dolls to fill the

Cissy production quotas since most of the really fine examples I have seen do have a somewhat shinier appearance with less high color than the dolls from 1956. I have had the opportunity to hold and examine two fine examples of the 1955 Forever Darling Lucy Bride and can state she had the most gorgeous non-gloss complexion I’ve seen.

A magnificent uncataloged Lucy Bride from 1955. She has the most beautiful skin tone and hand painted features. Her face is finished with matte varnish. This Forever Darling Bride has triple-stroke eyebrows very similar to the 1959 (#2115) infused doll on the right. Maybe Harry painted both.

Once the carrot orange discoloration is removed from any of the 1961 dolls like this Renoir portrait, the finish tends to be shiny, translucent and plastic looking. It’s downright dull looking. This Renoir had only a very light discolored finish and fortunately all her features were left in tact.

In 1959 a transitional color infused doll with a wider jaw made her way to the production line. Her color was more pronounced and her eyebrows were bolder and more dramatically shaped. The introduction of Barbie gave Madame and Cissy a run for their money.

Melanie (#2235) is a Gone with the Wind portrait from 1961. She was both dirty and stained but cleaned up quickly with a bleaching agent. You can see from the “before” picture her blush, shadow and eyebrows are still visible under all the dirt.

I am not partial to shine on mine or Cissy’s nose! It is unlikely to me there would be such a variance in finishes in back to back years since dolls were being painted from 1955 through 1957 and, again, it is my opinion through observation that the finish has simply worn off on the “shiny” examples. If you have a painted doll, you are

more likely to see the base plastic where the paint has worn away in the groin area due to manipulating the legs from a sitting to a standing position. Here is what I feel are good examples of painted finishes in various conditions. I consider all painted dolls to be matte. The color infused plastic (where the plastic is instilled with flesh tone color) is what I believe to be “bisque” because of the soft and dewy bisque china appearance. I would therefore describe the earliest painted dolls as “matte” and the later

brow arch brow arch

⅛ inch skewed left though same height & high on brow ridge; basically same shape. Symmetrical. Almost appears frightened.

Brows closer to eyeball and further apart, almost equidistant. Secondary strokes painted on opposite sides of primary stroke. I-dare-you look.

color infused dolls as “bisque.” I believe 1957 saw predominantly painted dolls with a few color infused dolls in the mix. A simple matter of tone. The later transitional dolls and especially the “no-necks” evidently had a different plastic composition. Still infused, but in the quest for a lifelike flesh tone, their formulas had an ingredient that aged orange, leaving many dolls with the toned look of having used too much “Sudden Sun.” Some turn and others don’t and it is not known if the change is caused by sun, smoke, exposure to everyday pollutants when displayed or a combination of any or all of these things. Many gorgeous dolls, especially those from 1959 to

1961, have turned colors ranging from a medium tan to a psychedelic carrot color. Some staining can be removed by using Oxy-Wash, an over-thecounter acne medication, leaving the base coloring undisturbed but more often all color is removed, including the painted features. Cissy’s face is then left with an unattractive translucent plastic appearance. The body is not affected. An example cited by Sturges Uhl as having a shiny finish is Lissy

brow arch

Left brow (as you’re looking at it) is ⅛ inch lower than right. Relatively equally spaced from nostrils and identically painted. Appears skeptical.

brow arch

High central arch above brow ridge. ⅛ inch farther left. Very similarly shaped. Looks naive, quizzical.

Cissy. The example cited in her book appears to be altogether devoid of finish. Many Portraits, including Lissy Cissy, have come to me carrot orange and needing to be bleached. The unstained examples I’ve worked on are what I refer to as “bisque” because of their matte translucency. I don’t have a Lissy Cissy to photograph and compare with Sturgess Uhl’s example, but I do have other examples of 1961 portraits who serve as excellent comparisons. Melanie and Renoir were shown on the previous page. Most of the earlier color transfused Cissys (mid-1957 to mid-1959) have very little or no facial discoloration. Others are moderately stained; however, their blush fades rapidly to a sickly terra

cotta. It appears those left in the sun uniformly bleach out and become very light. Therefore, exposure to sun does not appear to be a catalyst for plastic darkening, at least not in the plastic formulation of these two years.

Those gorgeous eyes. It is noteworthy that painted dolls

brow arch

Left brow higher & longer than right, encroaching on nose bridge. Brow shape is asymmetrical. Looks CroMagnon.

Left brow lower, longer & below brow ridge. Right brow 2 separate strokes while left converges. High arch keeps it from imparting anger.

have deeper blue eyes that darken to green or brown with the whites turning an unattractive jaundiced yellow. The later color infused dolls usually retain sparkling blue eyes regardless of whether their faces have turned or not. Most eye darkening is caused by exposure to cigarette smoke. Another eye color quirk I have noticed is that if a doll has been stored in a damp area and the eyes mildew, they are lighter once cleaned and become a clear smokey blue-gray. If only I knew how to reproduce and accelerate that process! So, what do you think? Needless-to-say I’m a bona fide Cissy addict. If you’re one too, I’d love to hear what you think about my

hypotheses. Contact me at http://www.debsdolls.com. Playthings have changed dramatically over the years but a strong bond between children and their dolls has remained constant. We are part of a long tradition whether you play with your dolls or display them. Dolls may be a passing childhood fancy for some,

brow arch

Same shape & configuration but a little below brow ridge. Appears sad. These were mildewed eyes. Notice the stark blue-gray color.

brow arch

Left brow appreciably lower than right & below brow ridge. Two completely different processes of painting style. Looks mad & depressed.

but for many of us, our love of these treasured companions never fades and becomes a rewarding adult passion. Collecting can be a mature expression of the same instinct that first drew you to play and can harken you back to a simpler and more gentle time. Working with dolls--either as an artist or as a businessperson or as both--is deeply satisfying. I know that whenever I look at Cissy’s face, I sit back and smile. Beatrice Alexander understood that no matter how the world changes, children will always need to play with dolls. In the chaotic 1960s, Madame Alexander said: “What a doll does for a little girl is develop her capacity to love others and herself.” And so it goes.