Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
Historic Treasure of the Week -
July 10, 1983
By Helen M. Fagg
Vigo County Historical Society
Ludwig Greiner made papier mache dolls
The historical treasure of the week is one of the oldest dolls in the collection at the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley. It is a 31-inch papier mache made by Ludwig Greiner.
In 1840, Greiner, then residing in Philadelphia, began making dolls, and in 1858 applied for and received the earliest known United States patent for making heads of papier mache.
The ingredients were one pound of white paper, one pound Spanish whiting, one pound rye flour, one ounce glue, and linen cloth for reinforcement. He made the heads in sizes for dolls 13 inches to 35-inches. The hair was molded with a center part and was usually painted black, although after 1872 many were given blonde hair. A few of the dolls had brown painted eyes and a very few had glass eyes, while the majority were painted eyes in various shades of turquoise.
The bodies of the dolls were made of cloth and the arms and hands were made of oilcloth.
The feet were usually encased in handmade boots of velvet or similar cloth. Most of the early Greiners had no mark of identification, but those made in 1872 and later had a paper label on the back shoulder.
Even without labels, however, the Greiner dolls were usually recognizable because of the expression of the facial features and the hair style.
The Greiner doll in the museum is one of the larger models. She has oilcloth hands and arms and her boots are of blue velvet. She is dressed in an old dress of blue and white striped cotton with white lace and white eyelet trimmed undergarments.
The doll was presented to the museum by the DeBaum family and is one of the dolls from the collection of Ruth’s mother, Clara Muncie Mayfield.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.