Welcome to my Norah Wellings Journal. Since writing my book 'Norah Wellings Cloth Dolls and Soft Toys' in 2003 I have wanted to share more information on Norah Wellings Products.I am hoping through my blog to do just that. If you have anything that you would like to share about Norah Wellings I would love to hear from you.Please email me at norahwellingsjournal@gmail.com Copyright of pictures and articles published on this site are retained by myself or the person who took the photograph.
Norah Wellings Fairy Dolls Christmas is nearly upon us and what better way to add to the Christmas spirit and end the year with Norah Wellings Fairy Dolls. A big thank you to all those who sent me a photo. I do hope you enjoy seeing them and also the catalogue illustration and the photograph from British Industry Fair.
Norah Wellings Norene model 3200 from the 1940's Catalogue
Thank you to Joanna Bess for sharing her gorgeous Fairy Doll model 3200. She has a newer felt sash added to her outfit. She does vary from the catalogue photo but this does happen with certain models when they are produced for a few years. I think she is wonderful .
Norah Wellings Dollymine Doll. She does not have wings and may never have had them but she has the similar little dress with satin pants and shoes. She is 9 inches tall and made in the 1940's.
This photograph was taken in 1952 at the British Industry Fair showing one of the Norah Wellings Display Stands. It shows Fairies and Elves playing together.
This lovely photograph was taken by Heather Kendall and shows one of the Fairy Dolls shown in the 1952 Norah Wellings Display Stand. I have not seen her in any of the catalogues yet. Standing 9 inches tall. She would be one of Norah Wellings Character Dolls ( known before 1950 as Novelty Dolls).
Wishing You All A Very Merry Christmas. I hope Santa brings you a Norah Wellings or Two.
I Do Hope 2017 Will Be Happy, Healthy and Prosperous.
Norah Wellings Dolls in the 'Queen Mary' Childrens Playroom
If you click on this photograph it will enlarge.
This is a postcard produced for the Cunard White Star Line for the ' Queen Mary' Maiden Voyage in 1936. It shows the Childrens Playroom. Many Norah Wellings were sold on board Cruiser Ships but this is the first time I have actually seen a photo of a Playroom for the Children showing Norah Wellings Dolls to be played with. It is amazing how many there are and considering they are cloth dolls how long they would have survived. Sorry the picture is not very good but I have tried to highlight the different models , they are, Norene Old Lady model 893 and Man model 894. Two Norene Dolls in Mexican Outfits, Girl model 876 and Boy model 885. You can also see a Jollyboy Sailor model 139 playing with a ship and in the foreground looks to be a Norene Boy model 851 with golf clubs. There is also a Dutch Boy model 854 playing or pushing the organ. All these models were available in the 1936 catalogue and I would expect for sale on board ship This would have been a very good marketing ploy if your Child had been playing with a doll and not wanting to leave it in the Playroom the parent could then go upstairs and buy one. Once again sorry for the poor quality photograph but I just had to share.
I thought you might like to see the photo's of the dolls from the 1936 catalogue that are shown in the 'Queen Mary' postcard. The picture of the Golfer is a very like the earlier Cora models. In 1936 there were two Norene Golfers , this one was also seen in earlier catalogues and did not appear in the 1937 catalogue. The other Norene Golfer model 3126 has the slimmer face with heart shape face and appeared up to 1939. I will feature the Golfers in a later article. Always remember various colour combinations than those shown in the catalogues were also used and sometimes even different materials. I do hope you enjoy seeing these Wonderful Dolls.
I must start by saying a big Thank You to all those who came to my talk. It was wonderful to meet so many Norah Wellings Enthusiasts. For those who couldn't make it please keep watching my blog as I will be sharing lots of what I talked about and Norah Wellings Dolls and Soft Toys here. I have spoken on Norah Wellings before and usually my talk takes around 50 minutes but this time I wanted to try something different. I did a power point presentation for 25 minutes and Show and Tell for 25 minutes. I took lots of Norah Wellings Items for everyone to see and if anyone wanted to share their items they could. A few weeks before my talk The Doll Club of Great Britain bought out their 60th Anniversary edition of the their magazine The Plangon. A talk that I gave them 3 years ago was featured in the Magazine which was only available to Doll Club Members. I was very kindly given permission to copy the article written by their Editor to hand out at my talk, this way nobody missed out on any information.
I was very pleased that Thomas Plant from Special Auction Services introduced me for my talk. I asked everyone to put their name on a piece of paper and at the end of my talk Thomas very kindly took out a name from a bag and I gave the winner a copy of my book ' Norah Wellings Cloth Dolls and Soft Toys', now out of print and a small Norah Wellings Novelty English Policeman Doll ( I thought this appropriate as the Talk was in London). The person who won was very excited as they hadn't won anything before. I was very pleased about this, it sounded very familiar to me as I won a Norah Wellings in 1974 who started off my Collection. ( I haven't shared any names due to not having asked permission).
Please keep checking back as I have lots of articles to share with you and I am always happy to hear from you if you have any questions. You need to write to my email norahwellingsjournal@gmail.com
My goodness time is flying past and it will not be long until The London International Antique Doll, Teddy Bear and Toy Fair. I am so excited as there are many seminars and I am booked to see some of them. I will also be speaking on Norah Wellings Saturday 19th at 10 a.m and I will also have a stall at the Fair under the name The Optimists on Sunday 20th. I am sure there will be some fantastic items at the Fair as there are so many top dealers attending. You will find all the information you need at the link below. The Magazine for the Fair is now available for £5 at the same link. It is a lovely glossy magazine and has lots of very interesting articles including ones from the Seminar Speakers, don't miss out. If anyone is coming to my talk or to the weekend I would love to hear from you, please email norahwellingsjournal@gmail.com
Please Take a look at the website as you can book to attend one of the many seminars , book a dinner for the Saturday evening, order Fair tickets. There is also information on how to get there Hotels, Parking and of course buy the wonderful magazine. I hope to see you there.
Great News for the New Year. Daniel Agnew and Hilary Pauley are organising a New Fair this year on Sunday 20th November 2016 called The International Antique Doll, Teddy Bear and Toy Fair to be held in the magnificent Olympia Pillar Hall. This Fair will have Dealers from all around the world so a Fair not to be missed. I will be trading there under my business name The Optimists.
Even more exciting news on Saturday 19th November 2016 they have organised a day of Seminars in the Olympia Hilton Hotel with lots of speakers including yours truly with a lecture on Norah Wellings at 10 am. I will be adding more about my lecture on Norah Wellings later. Here is a list of all the speakers. Bunny Campione from the Antiques Road Show, "Dolls and the Antiques Road Show"; Sue Pearson, "A Lifetime's Love of Teddy Bears"; Eric Petit on "French bears"; Andrew Greetham on "Identifying Early British Teddy Bears"; Hugo Marsh on "Diecast Toys"; Rebekah Kaufman on "Steiff"; Gillian Trotter on "Norah Wellings"; Rachel Gotch on "Rare Dolls"; Olivia Bristol on "The history of early British Dolls' Houses;" Sarah Holmes on "Merrythought-The Early Years"; Pierre Patau on "The history of the Peepshow" Deborah Rosenthal on "Photographing your treasures" Chris Littledale on "Trains" Davis Pressland "the Art of the Tin Toy" And some mystery guests to be announced!!
You must take a look at their website so you can see all that will be going on for the weekend 19th and 20th November 2016 . If you want to book any Seminars you can do it on the website. Not only are there the Seminars and Fair but also the event will be opened by Bunny Campione of The Antiques Road Show and an Exhibition of Bunny Rabbits ( including some from Bunny's Collection).
You do not have to finish your Seminars on Saturday 19th by going home you can book the Gala Dinner at the same Hotel. There will be a Champagne reception followed by a Piano
Recital by Jena Pang, after which will be a three course meal with wine. As I said Very Exciting News so please check the webiste. http://london-international-antique-teddy-bear-doll-and-toy-fair.myshopify.com/ Hope you can make it I would love to meet you there :-)
My book ' Norah Wellings Cloth Dolls and Soft Toys' is now out of print but can sometimes be found on ebay or Amazon.
I have written articles for The Doll Advertiser an excellent magazine by Judy Bebber and printed twice a year in the United Kingdom. Judy Bebber also organizes Doll Fairs. To order Magazines and for Information on the Fairs please go to her website www.dolladvertiser.com
I am happy to answer any questions you may have regarding Norah Wellings Items or if you would like to share any Norah Wellings products you have please email me. Emails and photographs can be sent to this address norahwellingsjournal@gmail.com
I look forward to hearing from you
Very Best Wishes Gill
Copyright
All photographs and articles presented on this site are copyrighted by those offering the images or articles for posting and are not to be used by other persons without permission. All writings and photographs are copyright Gillian Trotter unless specified.
Victoria Toy Works
Norah Wellings, Leonard Wellings and The Victoria Toy Works
Norah Wellings was a very talented artist and designer of cloth dolls, she started her career with Chad Valley in 1919 and became one of their chief doll designers. Leonard Wellings her brother was also an artist and well known for his plastering skills having his own premises in Wellington, Shropshire. When Norah left Chad Valley it was Leonard who suggested Norah rent a room in his building to make Cloth Dolls and Soft Toys. Norah moved into the premises in 1926 with only six women employees and called the small factory room The Victoria Toy Works. Norah Wellings began production and the catalogues and letterheads described the company as ‘Manufacturers of Soft Fabric Toys and Novelties’. Leonard was involved in the business and promotion side of the company as well as continuing with his own plastering firm. Norah designed all of the dolls and soft toys herself. In 1927 she attended her first British Industry Toy Fair where her Products were shown for the first time with great success. The business grew very quickly and Leonard and Norah decided they needed larger premises and in 1929 bought a Baptist Chapel in King Street, Wellington, which was expanded and buildings added over the years. At the peak time during the 1930’s there were around 250 employees. Norah Wellings was also one of Britain’s leading doll exporters with over 70% of sales going overseas, this is why so many dolls are found world wide today. Many of the products were sold on board ship as holiday souvenirs. Leonard Wellings died in 1959 at the age of 67 Norah had lost not only her brother but also her business partner and best friend. Norah decided it was time to retire and so on September 4th 1959 Employees were given two weeks notice and production ceased. Norah spent her retirement doing the things she enjoyed, painting, cooking and gardening, Norah Wellings died in 1975 at the age of 82.
Norah Wellings At The British Industry Fair 1935
Norah Wellings holding an 'Old English' Night Dress Case Model 997, all the other Dolls are 'Norene' Models. Back Row, Duch Boy, Model 854. Middle Row, School Boy, Model 890, Girl ,Model 888. Front Row Old Man ,Model 894, Old Woman,Model 893. The last two models are very rare, I have not found them in a catalogue and they are modelled to represent 18th Century English Gentry.
Norah Wellings
Norah Wellings Sculpting a 'Babimine' Head with a 'Norene' Doll sitting and an 'Islander' just seen behind the 'Norene'. Photo taken in the 1930's
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