Ginger

A few weeks ago I did a post on "Littlest Angel" manufactured by the Vogue company and I mentioned Ginger, today's post is on "Ginger." An American beloved doll.

Jennie Adler Graves was the proprietor of the Vogue Doll company, her father died when she was 15, being the eldest of 4, Jennie gave up a education to help augment her family income. It wasn't until a "friend", who knew of Jennie's sewing skills, asked Jennie to sew outfits for dolls (she was giving to charity), that Jennie became involved in dolls. Unbeknown to the seamstress, who was inspired to dress German dolls, Jennie's friend sold the dolls/outfits to Jordan Marsh, a Boston Department store. Sometime there after"Ye Old Vogue Doll Company" began in Jennie's home. In 1948 when sales dipped Jennie developed a 8 '' doll called Ginny after Jennie's daughter Virginia. Ginny was designed with purses, hats and snap shoes, beginning as a fixed eye doll to a strung doll with sleep eyes to a straight leg walker with molded lashes, by 1957 Ginny reached over 5 million in sales and was a permanent fixture in the doll world. In 1958 Matel tried to purchase "Ye Old Vogue Doll Company" but negations fell through. (imagine no Barbie!) By 1960 Jennie retired and the company passed to Virginia, who made Ginny in vinyl. The next successor was her brother in law, then in 1972 Vogue was sold to Tonka. Ginny suffered many changes and restructure during this time, as did all the dolls including Barbie. 1995 saw a renewed energy when the rights were purchased by a well known doll maker, Wendy Lawton. The "new" Vogue Company wanted to reissue Ginny to her rightful place in modern doll history, the idea wouldn't become true until 2004.
These are my dolls and I cherish them as if they were the composition Ginger portrayed in the first picture. They are the reissued Ginny of 2004.

Ginny, a American icon. C&G Design.