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Nancy Ann Dolls - Decades of Darling DollsCome back to the years of the Great American Depression - to the years of bold jazz and breadline blues. A brave but struggling people take comfort in the swing beat that fills the radio waves, in the fantasy world of the motion picture show, and in dreams of better days when prosperity will surely return. In a small apartment in San Francisco, CA., Nancy Ann Abbott has a dream of her own, and wants to bring hope and fun to the lives of American girls by creating dear little dolls for them. In 1936, with only $125.00 to invest in her business, Nancy Ann Abbott created her very first line of dolls - 3-3/4" Hush-a-bye baby dolls.
These were the pretty dolls my mother's generation played with and it is small wonder that women continue to adore and collect Nancy Ann dolls today. With several hundred kinds of Nancy Ann dolls in existence, the collector has a truly wide array to choose from. Unfortunately, identifying Nancy Anns can be a bit of a challenge, as their sole identifier consisted of the foil tag around the doll's wrists or stickers on their clothing. If the tag or sticker is gone, identification can be complex, but this article's aim is to assist you in knowing all of the important characteristics of this brand of doll The present collectors value of Nancy Ann Dolls 
To the right you will see a closeup of one the wrist identification tags. The company began using these in 1941. Prior to that, gold stickers were used on the clothing or hats of the dolls. Obviously, dolls with their proper ID are going to be most valuable to the collector, as will be dolls that still have their boxes. The early Nancy Ann Doll boxes were red, pink or blue with white dots, and the later ones were white with red, silver, pink or blue dots. I have also seen reports of several boxes which predate all of the above and may be covered with stars or even a marbled-looking print. Some of the later dolls also came in special theme boxes with plastic windows. Depending upon the condition of the doll, I have seen Nancy Anns from the earliest models to the latest making as little as $10 and as much as $3000 at auction. If a collector is especially keen on a specific doll in near mint condition, they may be willing to pay more. The following list explains various detractors from the value of Nancy Ann Dolls:
Main Characteristics of Nancy Ann Dolls Composition Size
Features
Clothing and Hair The 13 Main Categories of original bisque Nancy Ann Dolls Within each of these main categories, you will find numerous dolls, but I hope you will find it helpful to see this broken down into basic types:
It is these last dolls - the Storybook Series - that have come to be eternally linked with the name of Nancy Ann. Despite the fact that the company created so many different lines of dolls, the Storybook name stuck with us. All but a few Nancy Ann dolls had numbers assigned to them. If you are lucky to have a mint condition doll like the one shown here, with her tag and box intact, you have a complete picture. However, do bear in mind the unfortunate fact that many Nancy Anns show up in the wrong boxes and this frequently leads to mixups for collectors. 
The 10 Main Categories of Plastic Nancy Ann dolls In the late 1940s, Nancy Ann moved to manufacturing plastic composition dolls. These dolls can be broken down into the following main types:
For me, the biggest difference between the early dolls and the ones from 1950 onwards is not so much that the composition changed from bisque to plastic, but that Nancy Ann's eyes could suddenly open and shut. Such eyes certainly add a more lifelike character to a doll's face! And Nancy Ann's clothing continued to be just lovely. Wonderful full skirted- gowns, fabulous hats and imaginative trimmings. To the left, you can see a very special plastic Nancy Ann Storybook doll, boxed expressly to be given as a birthday gift to some fortunate little girl. She holds a present in her hand and her box is one of those interesting departures from the classic polka dots. This next photograph shows not only how complete this doll is (with her tag and box) but also that she is accompanied by a valuable color pamphlet showing all of the Nancy Ann dolls that were available at that time. What a treasure!  Collector Warning regarding unauthentic Nancy Ann Dolls Due to the enormous popularity of Nancy Ann during the 30's, 40's and 50's, a number of manufacturers began creating imitation 'Storybook' dolls. My mother recalls playing with dolls that looked like Nancy Anns but felt as though they were made of a soft, almost papery substance. The main manufacturers of Nancy Ann knockoffs were: K & H, Princess Dolls and Mayfair Dolls. Of these three, the dolls created by K & H most closely resemble original Nancy Anns, but doll collectors know that the feet of K & H Storybook Dolls are much larger than those of the authentic dolls. If you are concerned about the authenticity of a Nancy Ann doll, remember that the stamp on the back and the wrist tag or sticker are your safest indicators of a real Nancy Ann. However, you should also pay attention to the garments. If you see raw edges rather than hems or soft hair that is made of anything besides mohair, chances are, you are not looking at an authentic Nancy Ann.
The faces are somewhat suggestive of the original dolls, and yet one can tell that modern dollmaking techniques are being used in terms of how the facial features are composed. You might enjoy a visit to the website about these new Nancy Ann Dolls. A few personal notes on this enduring series of little dolls I have a very early childhood memory of going with my mother into an antique store in some small town we were visiting. In this crowded and interesting little shop, I had my first encounter with Nancy Ann dolls. There was a whole big glass case full of them. I remember stopping in my tracks and carefully examining each doll in that case to see what dresses they had on and to look into their painted bisque faces. They had such simple features and looked like they knew some tiny secret I wished I could learn by playing with them. My mother was also enchanted to see these dolls and she bought one for one of her sisters as a reminder of their own childhoods. My mother grew up in San Francisco, home of Nancy Ann, and she told me about an orphange that her parents' friends were involved in there. Some kind patron (could it have been Nancy Ann Abbottt) made a donation of hundreds of the Storybook Dolls to the orphanage - more than the home knew what to do with after they had given them to all the little girls who lived there. Luckily for my mother, her parents' friend was told to take a few of the extra dolls and share them with any little girl who might like one. All of the girls in my mother's family got to have the pleasure of receiving a wonderful new Nancy Ann in this way. I like to think about this story...to think of my mother being a youngster in the late 1940s and 1950's and to know that these were the dolls of her own special dreams. I feel quite certain that many of the Nancy Ann doll collectors of today are of my mother's generation and share her special feeling about these dolls. *Permission to use the photographs in this article was graciously given by the Art of Dolls eBay store. The owner of this shop says she has a special feeling for Nancy Ann dolls and she often has them for sale.
Just for fun Here are a few new Nancy Ann Doll photos to bring a smile to your day. Just look at the fine detailing on some of these costumes. Don't you wish you could own every single one? It is this exact feeling that ensures the continued collectors' devotion to these dolls. They are something special. These photos were donated to me from a recent auction. I see boxes for the dolls, but no tags. We'll need a true Nancy Ann expert to comment on these. The dolls were sold in a lot, and the good collector can often find great deals on lot buys. I hope these dolls found very loving and appreciative homes. Don't you?
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Greetings! This is me when I was 3. And, as you can see from the photo, I was
very happy when playing with my dolls. Decades later, dolls still hold a fond place in
my heart. I have created DollKind in order to publish my doll history research articles
and to share my enjoyment of dolls with you.
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