.
Coleman, Dorthy S; Elizabeth A; and Evelyn J. The Collectors Encyclopida of Dolls-Volume Two
Edwards, Linda. Cloth Dolls from Ancient to Modern. Atglen, PA Schiffer Publishing. 1997,
Fawcett, Clara. Chase Stokinet Dolls - Antique Dolls. Old and Sold Antiques Auction and Marketplace. originally published in
Antiques Digest. October 1962.
Herlocher, Dawn, Antique Trader's Doll Makers & Marks - A Guide To Identification
Coleman, Dorthy S; Elizabeth A; and Evelyn J. The Collectors Encyclopida of Dolls-Volume Two
Edwards, Linda. Cloth Dolls from Ancient to Modern. Atglen, PA Schiffer Publishing. 1997,
Fawcett, Clara. Chase Stokinet Dolls - Antique Dolls. Old and Sold Antiques Auction and Marketplace. originally published in
Antiques Digest. October 1962.
Herlocher, Dawn, Antique Trader's Doll Makers & Marks - A Guide To Identification
Martha Chase
From 1889 on, Martha Jenks Chase, of Pawtucket Rhode Island, created dolls with the unique impasto painted face and hair
which makes them so recognizable today. As both the daughter and wife of a doctor hygiene was of special import to this
mother of seven. Her dolls, while made of heavily sized stockinette and pressed into a mold, were heavily coated in oil paint
and varnished so that they were truly washable. The paints were zinc, not lead based, so they were not poisonous.
The bodies were stuffed with cotton batting. To the torso (white or sometimes pink sateen), the head and limbs were attached.
limbs were jointed at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. Dolls made after the 1920s had bodies of cotton and the joints
were only at the hope and shoulders. Ears and thumbs were applied separately. Finally the doll was painted.
These early dolls were primarily for Martha's own children. As with so many craftsman, neighbors and friends started to request
the dolls as well. According to Edwards, one day when Martha was shopping for shoes for a doll in Jordan Marsh (a
department store in Boston), the toy buyer for the store spitted the doll "trying on shoes" and immediately placed an order for
the doll to be sold in the store. Her new business was off and running and would last until being sold in 1981!
The dolls were made in "the doll house" a building behind the Chase home. While many aspects of the sewing of the dolls was
pieced out to home workers as well as done in the doll house, the painting was always done at the doll house under the careful
supervision of Martha.
In an interview with "Toys and Novelties" magazine the following letter is quoted from Martha Chase: "I first made the dolls in
1889 as an amusement and to see what I could do. For several years I did this and gave the dolls away to the niegborhood
children. Then by chance, a store buyer saw one and insisted on taking an order. The dolls gained recognition by their merits,
as I have advertised them little. Then someone who knew about them asked me to make one adult size, to use in the hospital
training schools and that developed another new industry. Now in 1917 we are making dolls that can be immersed in water and
used in child welfare work."
Martha made girl, boy, baby, women and special characters ranging in size from 8 to 30 inches. The girls and boys are
identifiable by their hairstyle. The women wore a bun hairstyle characteristic of the time. Special characters from literature
were also made. Nell, from Dickens Curiosity Shop is sometimes found and readily identifiable by her painted braids. Black
mammies were occasionally made. There is a rare George Washington as well as some fashion ladies. Very rare are the set of
characters from Alice in Wonderland. Hospital dolls, reflecting Martha's link to the medical world and the common use of dolls
as teaching tools in medicine, can still be found today. These dolls were life size and had built in cavities for training, i.e. a
small reinforced hole in the bottom to practice taking temperatures. The stockinette for these dolls was replaced by vinyl cloth
in the 1930s. The dolls were never patented.
According to an article by Clara Fawcett:
The dolls had a world wide distribution including Sweden, India, China, and Australia. Queen Mary of Rumania had a Chase
doll as did the children of the Czar and Czarina of Russia. The dolls were marked on the upper lag or lower torso with their
trademark. Early dolls had this trademark stamped on though later dolls had decals.
Martha Chase died in 1925 with the company being run by her daughter Ann Sheldon until her death in 1947. After that the
company was run by Martha's husband, son and finally grandson until it was sold in 1981.
Doll Description Picture
which makes them so recognizable today. As both the daughter and wife of a doctor hygiene was of special import to this
mother of seven. Her dolls, while made of heavily sized stockinette and pressed into a mold, were heavily coated in oil paint
and varnished so that they were truly washable. The paints were zinc, not lead based, so they were not poisonous.
The bodies were stuffed with cotton batting. To the torso (white or sometimes pink sateen), the head and limbs were attached.
limbs were jointed at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. Dolls made after the 1920s had bodies of cotton and the joints
were only at the hope and shoulders. Ears and thumbs were applied separately. Finally the doll was painted.
These early dolls were primarily for Martha's own children. As with so many craftsman, neighbors and friends started to request
the dolls as well. According to Edwards, one day when Martha was shopping for shoes for a doll in Jordan Marsh (a
department store in Boston), the toy buyer for the store spitted the doll "trying on shoes" and immediately placed an order for
the doll to be sold in the store. Her new business was off and running and would last until being sold in 1981!
The dolls were made in "the doll house" a building behind the Chase home. While many aspects of the sewing of the dolls was
pieced out to home workers as well as done in the doll house, the painting was always done at the doll house under the careful
supervision of Martha.
In an interview with "Toys and Novelties" magazine the following letter is quoted from Martha Chase: "I first made the dolls in
1889 as an amusement and to see what I could do. For several years I did this and gave the dolls away to the niegborhood
children. Then by chance, a store buyer saw one and insisted on taking an order. The dolls gained recognition by their merits,
as I have advertised them little. Then someone who knew about them asked me to make one adult size, to use in the hospital
training schools and that developed another new industry. Now in 1917 we are making dolls that can be immersed in water and
used in child welfare work."
Martha made girl, boy, baby, women and special characters ranging in size from 8 to 30 inches. The girls and boys are
identifiable by their hairstyle. The women wore a bun hairstyle characteristic of the time. Special characters from literature
were also made. Nell, from Dickens Curiosity Shop is sometimes found and readily identifiable by her painted braids. Black
mammies were occasionally made. There is a rare George Washington as well as some fashion ladies. Very rare are the set of
characters from Alice in Wonderland. Hospital dolls, reflecting Martha's link to the medical world and the common use of dolls
as teaching tools in medicine, can still be found today. These dolls were life size and had built in cavities for training, i.e. a
small reinforced hole in the bottom to practice taking temperatures. The stockinette for these dolls was replaced by vinyl cloth
in the 1930s. The dolls were never patented.
According to an article by Clara Fawcett:
- The desire of one collector to share with another recently was expressed by Grace B. Mitchell of Winter Hill, Mass.
Knowing the interest among collectors of Chase stockinet dolls, she sent the following letter from Mrs. Elinor I. Batchelder
to her.
Mrs. Batchelder, a relative by marriage of Mrs. Mitchell, at one time painted doll faces for Mrs. Martha Chase, originator of
the wellknown Chase Stockinet doll. Mrs. Batchelder says:
"Martha Jenks Chase was the daughter of a doctor; the sister of a doctor; and last, but by no means least, the wife of a
doctor.
"Mrs. Chase delighted in making toys for her seven children and the doll business grew from the time she started making
dolls for her children.
"Rough handling by small persons made it desirable to have a regular re pair department in her home, although the
stockinet dolls were practically indestructible.
"Mrs. Chase did all the designing and making of these dolls herself in the beginning. Later, when they became known all
over the country, she took her oldest daughter, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, into the business,
painting the faces of the dolls.
"As the demand grew, Mrs. Chase hired a number of girls to work for her. She worked at home, making very dainty
underclothes and dresses. There was quite a demand for dressed dolls.
"Some girls came in only certain days to work in what always was called the 'Doll House,' never the 'Shop.' I, who also had
attended the Rhode Island School of Design, was the first one hired outside the family to paint faces.
"Mrs. Chase was wonderful to us all and most sympathetic. She had a great sense of humor, and would have the best
'giggle' about things which happened in the Doll House.
"When the 13th of the month came on a Friday it was, in her mind, a 'redletter day' and she gave us a party, saying it was
our 'lucky day.' At Christmas, and at Easter time, and especially on our birthdays, she never forgot us, and all of her
helpers had the month of August off.
"In the beginning only one building was used, but later she added the Doctor's garage for her doll business.
"The features of the Chase doll were raised, like any china doll. The masks Mrs. Chase made herself, and never let any of
us know how she did it. The entire head was covered with stockinet.
"Balls were made on half-inch sticks, about eight or 10 inches long, with cotton, excelsior, and string used in the process.
The masks were fitted on these balls.
"Bodies were made of heavy cast-iron cotton cloth and stuffed with cotton; arms and legs, also stuffed with cotton, were
made of fine, strong, white cloth. Legs were joined at the knees, and arms at the elbows, and a piece of the same material
was used around the neck.
"When heads had been attached to bodies, the arms and legs were sewn on, then the doll was ready for 'hanging Up.'
"The hangers consisted of two or three pieces of furring, about eight feet long, fastened by strong cord, wire, and a pulley
arrangement to raise and lower as desired.
"On these hangers were placed a number of heavy wires, bent to form hangers for each doll. The number was governed
by the size of the doll to be hung.
"In the hanging process each doll was sized. First the hands and feet were dipped in hot glue and shaped a little, to look
more lifelike.
"Then, with a brush, paste was applied to the heads, arms, legs, and necks. When this was done the doll was placed in a
hanger until dry, then paint was applied over the same areas and left to dry again.
"The painting process was repeated twice more, and the last time the toes and fingers were tinted with pink. A final two
coats were given the heads with a different kind of paint called complexions.
"When this was dry the doll was ready to have its features and hair painted. We made some dolls blue-eyed, others brown-
eyed. Hair was always blond, unless otherwise ordered.
"These dolls were made in several sizes, from what were called 00 size, to dolls the size of a year-old child. Baby dolls had
more chunky bodies and fatter faces than the older 'child,' and the eyes were shaped a little differently.
"There was quite a variety, Including Mammy dolls, George Washington, little Negro, and character dolls. When a new
member of the doll family appeared, each of us took the one we liked best and had our pictures taken in the yard.
"There were also family sets of small dolls, dressed as family groups or wedding parties, according to request.
"One day Mrs. Chase was asked if she could make a human-sized doll for hospital training use. She met the challenge,
with improvements as time went an, adding tanks to body for treatments, and tanks in the head. These hospital dolls were
made in sizes from a newborn baby to adult.
"At the present time, so far as I know, no toy dolls are made.
"The business was moved after the death of Mrs. Chase in 1925, and I believe is now run by her youngest son."
In another letter to Mrs. Mitchell it was explained that these hospital dolls were hung to dry in the cellar. Since the cellar
had uncurtained windows, the effect from the outside was eerie to say the least.
On one occasion it aroused the suspicions of police who were bent on catching a burglar in the neighborhood, and they
did some investigating.
No patent on the Chase dolls was ever applied for, but there is a trademark printed on the thigh or under the left arm,
sometimes rubbed out with much handling.
The Chase dolls form an important part of the history of American dolls.
The dolls had a world wide distribution including Sweden, India, China, and Australia. Queen Mary of Rumania had a Chase
doll as did the children of the Czar and Czarina of Russia. The dolls were marked on the upper lag or lower torso with their
trademark. Early dolls had this trademark stamped on though later dolls had decals.
Martha Chase died in 1925 with the company being run by her daughter Ann Sheldon until her death in 1947. After that the
company was run by Martha's husband, son and finally grandson until it was sold in 1981.
Doll Description Picture
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