The Birth of the Canadian Doll Industry - 1911-1930
Decoration   Decoration
 

The Dominion Toy Manufacturing Company was established in Toronto in 1911 and began making dolls and teddy bears. Aaron Cone, its founder, was also a partner in the Ideal Toy Company of New York and had designed many of the Ideal character dolls.

In the early years, Dominion produced dolls with lifelike heads and, for the most part, very primitive bodies with large metal disks in the joints. In the twenties, it offered a range of dolls, some inexpensive and others beautifully made and dressed, including dolls that walked and talked. A few years later, in 1932, the company folded.

Several companies were founded in Toronto in 1917 in response to the sudden shortage of dolls caused by the war in Europe. Among them were Commercial Toy and the Bisco Doll Company, both of which lasted only a year or two. Another company with a short life span, the C. & W. Doll & Pottery, was established in 1919 to make dolls with a pottery head. It closed its doors in 1921. Dolls bearing the name of any of these early companies are quite rare today.

The Florentine Statuary Company manufactured dolls from 1917 to 1932. The Reliable Toy Company, established in 1920, was by far the most successful. It produced dolls until the 1990s.

 
Decoration   Decoration

Baby boy

ca. 1917
Dominion Toy Manufacturing Company, Toronto, Ontario
All composition
Courtesy of E. Strahlendorf,
Hamilton, Ontario
L2455.023

This doll appeared on a Canadian stamp issued on June 8, 1990.
 

L2455.023 - Photo: Conservation
L2455.050 - Photo: Conservation Little girl

1920
Florentine Statuary Company,
Toronto, Ontario
Composition shoulderhead and hands, cloth body
Original clothing
Courtesy of E. Strahlendorf,
Hamilton, Ontario
L2455.050

 

Metal head doll

ca. 1920
Dominion Toy Manufacturing Company
Toronto, Ontario
Composition hands, cloth body
Redressed by Georgee Prockiw, Edmonton, Alberta
Courtesy of E. Strahlendorf,
Hamilton, Ontario
L2455.003

 

L2455.003 - Photo: S. Darby
L2455.151 - Photo: Conservation Dainty Dorothy

1918
Dominion Toy Manufacturing Company
Toronto, Ontario
Composition head, fully ball-jointed composition body
Redressed
Courtesy of E. Strahlendorf,
Hamilton, Ontario
L2455.151

 




 
What is a Doll? | Inuit Dolls from Prehistory to Today | First Nations Dolls
Settlers' Dolls - Dolls Made at Home | Antique China and Parian Dolls
Antique Dolls Imported from Europe | Eaton's Beauty Dolls
The Birth of the Canadian Doll Industry | The Heyday of the Composition Doll
The Vinyl Doll Era | Canadian Original Doll Artists | Mechanical Dolls | Web Sites | Credits