Norah Wellings Jockey and Horse

 Norah Wellings made so many wonderful and unusual dolls and animals. In this article I decided to show you a Norah Wellings Jockey model 1137 from the Novelty Doll Range and a Norah Wellings Horse model 5135  from the Novelty Animal Range. They were introduced in 1938 and sold separatley as can be seen in the catalogue photographs above.  They do not appear after the war years and are quite hard to find. The Jockey is lovely and bright and stands 9 inches tall, made of velvet including his head with felt ears and hat with some felt strips on his top, silk sash and oil cloth neck collar. His face and hair painted and only his neck jointed. He has the lovely happy smiling face. The Horse standing  7 1/2 inches tall and  9 1/2 inches long , made of wool plush with felt pads and clear glass eyes. His  bridle, reigns and saddle made of felt with metal stirrups.

I was lucky enough to find a a very rare Jockey and Horse used for the Norah Wellings window display at the 1938 British Industry Fair the Jockey is sewn onto the horse with his hands sewn to the reigns. They both have a black Norah Wellings label with gold writing the Jockey has his on the bottom of his boot and the Horse on his felt pad.

A photograph taken of the Norah Wellings Window Display at the 1938 British Industry Fair. I am sorry its not a very good photo but if you look closely it is a very comical scene.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing more of Norah Wellings wonderful products. Until next time Happy Hunting

Norah Wellings ' Harry The Hawk'.

                                      
                                            

 One of the most sort after Norah Wellings smaller dolls is 'Harry The Hawk'. He was introduced as a mascot for the Second World War depicting a Royal Airforce Airman and for every sale made money was donated to the R.A.F Comforts Fund to help the War effort. He was available in 7 1/2 and 10 inch sizes. He appears in an American Magazine called Kimport News in their Aug -Sept 1942 edition at a cost of $2.95.  I have not seen him in any of the Norah Wellings catalogues mainly because during the war years they were not produced but he would be classed as one of the Norah Wellings Novelty Dolls and his model number was model 295.

 Although larger dolls are found up to 28 inches wearing the same outfit with mohair wigs I do know if these were made for the R.A.F Comforts Fund but they were produced at around the same time and still from Norah Wellings Novelty Range of dolls with only the head jointed.

The smallest 7 1/2 inch mascot face was made of cotton or stockinette and the 10 inch one felt or stockinette and their features were painted. The uniform was made of either velvet or cotton and was an integral part of the body and he had a fake fur collar around the neck.  He also had a detachable felt helmet, goggles and felt parachute in a felt parachute bag that are often missing on the dolls. They have been found with their Norah Wellings label on the foot or under the collar at the back of the doll. Some of them also carried the original cotton label with a registered  number 837533 and rarer still the original paper label.

'Harry The Hawk' mascots are popular not only with Doll Collectors but also those collecting Militaria so prices can be quite high compared to other smaller Norah Wellings dolls, he was  only produced over the Second World War years so a very good find for the collector today.


The 'Harry The Hawk' pictured  is 10 inches tall . He has a felt face with velvet body and he has his original, goggles, parachute, helmet and original cotton registered label sewn under his collar . He has his Norah Wellings black and gold label sewn under his foot and a rare paper label. He is a lovely example and I hope you have enjoyed reading about him.
Happy Hunting.

A large 28 inch Harry The Hawk from the Norah Wellings Novelty Range,  felt head ,painted features, mohair wig and the outfit is an integral part of his body. Hat, Goggles,  Gloves,Boots and Felt Back Pack with Parachute can be removed.

Norah Wellings Novely Animals, 'Towser ' Rabbit and 'Towser' Duck

I had an enquiry from Beth about a dressed rabbit and duck that Norah Wellings made and promised I would write my next article about them so here they are.

Norah Wellings made Towser Rabbit model 150 and Towser Duck model K51 for her 'Novelty Animals' Range. They were made of wool plush  with glass eyes and only their heads were jointed. Towser Duck had felt feet, beak and wings. They both wore velvet dunagrees that were an integrel part of the body with the straps being attached with buttons front and back. I have seen the wool plush in  white, cream, yellow and brown shades with outfits in soft pastels such as pink blue and green and various shades of red, mustard, green,blue and bown. Towser Duck also had a ribbon bow around his neck and sometimes a bell. They were filled with soft kapok.

 Front and back view of two Towser Rabbits, they are 8 inches tall to the top of their ears. They have clear glass eyes and a cream with black writing Norah Wellings on the bottom of the wool plush foot. The buttons on the dungarees are mother of pearl.

 Towser Duck was added to the Norah Wellings catalogue in the early 1930's and he was available in sizes A 6 inches, B7 inches, C 12 inches.D 14 inches and the largest E 17 inches . He seems to have been discontinured in the 1940's and he is harder to find than Towser Rabbit.

These Towser Ducks are the smallest size 6 inches tall. This photo shows front and back view.They have googly black and white glass eyes and cream label with brown writing on the foot.Mother of pearl buttons on their dungarees.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about the Norah Wellings Towser Rabbits and Ducks and if anyone has any special requests for the next article please email me and I will. do my best.

Norah Wellings 'Jollyboy' Sailor Doll

I have had quite a few enquiries recently regarding Norah Wellings Sailor Dolls so I thought this would be a good choice for this article especially as it is the Sailor Doll that is most recognized as being made by Norah Wellings. The Sailors were first introduced in 1929 and he was part of the Norah Wellings 'Novelty Doll' Range. The Sailors wore hats with the name of various Cruise Ships and Navy Ships hand written on the hat band.The very first Sailor was model 140 and he was called 'Jollyboy '. He had glass eyes, painted smiling mouth with teeth showing and bright orange curly wig and his head was made of velvet . He had a blue velvet body and this was also an integral part of his outfit and his feet were bare. On his head he wore a white cotton hat. Only his head was jointed. Sometimes the hands are sewn to the legs. In 1929 they were made in three size 12",14 and 18"inches.

  First Norah Wellings 'Jollyboy' Sailor model 140. Shown in the 1929 Catalogue

In early 1930 another 'Jollyboy' Sailor was introduced model 139. It is interesting as I would have expected the number 139 to have been made first as most of Norah Wellings dolls normally run in numerical order. However this was not the case in this instance. The 139 model had painted eyes although I have seen the earliest and largest examples of this model with glass eyes but they are hard to find. The mouth was painted smiling or with teeth showing and the hair was also painted. His body construction was similar to model 140 and he still had bare feet but he was thinner and they were made with either velvet or felt heads and only the head was jointed. It appears both models were available in the early 1930's and the sizes then went from 10 inches to 36 inches. In the 1936 catalogue only the painted hair Sailor model 139 was available and he continued to be made right until the last catalogue in 1958. Model 140 had been discontinued by 1936 but I am sure special orders would still have been available.

 Norah Wellings 'Jollyboy' Sailor Model 139, Early 1930's

Before the 2nd World War the 'Jollyboy' model 139 had some variations. The head was now made in stockinette or cotton due to lack of materials and very few felt and velvet ones were made. The faces were still painted with either a smiling mouth or with painted teeth.Many were produced without painted hair. They still had the velvet body but most were now made with black feet to represent shoes.The sizes available were 7 to 36 inches. The 8 to 9 inch size with black feet is one of the most popular sailors to be found today and there were over 100.000 of these made to cover sales at Navy week which was the first week of August every year and the crews used to sell them on the dockyard. The Sailor hats had the ship names either hand written or printed on the hat band. The Aldershot Tatoo was also another very busy time for Sailor Dolls to be sold.

 Norah Wellings 'Jollyboy' Sailor Model  139 Pre World War II with black feet to look like shoes.


 In the late 1940's through to the last Norah Wellings catalogue in 1958 it is the earlier 'Jollyboy' model with painted eyes and bare feet that is pictured. The smaller sailors with black feet are not catalogued.

 Norah Wellings 'Jollyboy' Sailor model 139 pictured in a 1950's catalogue, reverting back to bare feet

 When Norah Wellings retired and ceased production in 1959 Cunard Shipping Company asked another famous British Doll maker Peggy Nisbet if she would supply them with Sailor Dolls. Peggy Nisbet asked Norah Wellings if she would have any objection to her making the dolls. Norah was quite happy for her to do so but would not supply the pattern or techniques as her dolls were such a part of her. Peggy Nisbet Sailor Dolls are often mistaken for those of Norah Wellings to an untrained eye.  Other companies also copied the sailors  from the 1960's and a company called Empire produced many. They are often found with Sticker 'Empire ' under the collar at the back .The Sailor dolls were made well into the 1980's

         
 First Sailor Doll is a Peggy Nisbet next to the most popular 'Jollyboy, Sailor 139

 Norah Wellings Dolls left the factory with a cotton label and most of the Sailor Dolls have the label on their foot but some have them under the collar at the back ,these can be missed so make sure to look there if you can't see a label anywhere. It is because the smaller 8 to 9 inch sailor dolls were made in such vast numbers that makes them so easy to find today and at reasonable prices. There are many that just collect the Sailors and want a Doll with each ships name, they certainly have numerous to choose from and some will pay extra so they can acquire a particular ships name. Norah Wellings also made other sailor dolls that are harder to find but I will cover those in another article at a later stage.

Norah Wellings Finds From 2012

For my first article of the New Year I have decided to share the four Norah Wellings I added to my own collection in 2012. I had promised myself not to buy anymore as I downsized my collection many years ago but once a collector always a collector. When I saw the Norah Wellings original box for sale I was hoping it was just the colour that was different from the orange one I already had. On closer inspection it also had different dolls pictured so I had to have it. It is from the 1930's and measures just over 11" long and 9" wide and features a photograph of the 'Novelty Dolls' series consisting of six dolls, Mexican Boy 'Panchito' model K20, Dutch Boy model K25, Islander 'ZuZu' model 109,Swedish Boy model K35,Dutch Girl model K24, Soldier model K44. The box has number 1002 printed on the front and it would normally contain the models that are shown. In 1936 this box and the six dolls pictured would have sold for 8 shillings . The dolls were 8 to 9 inches tall, this is interesting because the Dutch Dolls and the Mexican shown are photo's of 13 and larger size dolls, when they are found to be 8 to 9 inches they look slightly different than those photographed. There is also handwriting with 'Birds' written on the front of this box so it may have contained Norah Wellings Birds. Customers could order different models and I am sure sometimes these boxes would be used and contain different dolls or animals to the ones pictured. You can see my orange Norah Wellings box in an article in this journal dated Sept 2009 in older posts click on the side bar side bar 'More Articles On Norah Wellings Products'.

You have already seen this little Spider Monkey in my Merry Christmas and Happy New Year picture. Although I haven't found him in my catalogues and he does not have a label I did see him in the Norah Wellings Family Collection. He is 7 1/2 inches long with his legs stretched out but not including his paws. He is made of Alpaca Wool with felt mask face, felt eyes and ears and felt tail coat, tie and hat. His legs, arms and tail have wire armature so he can bend easily, not jointed. There is a Spider Monkey in the 1936 catalogue model 131 but he does not have any clothes on and is a little smaller at 6 inches tall but he has the same bendy limbs and single felt hands and feet. There is a larger larger monkey in the 1940's catalogue with the same clothes on, model 4110 but he is not bendy and has formed hands and feet and some have glass eyes. The Spider monkey shown here is 7 1/2 inches long with his legs stretched out but not including his paws. He is made of Alpaca Wool with felt mask face, felt eyes and ears and felt tail coat, tie and hat.

Rare Pink and White Rabbit from the Norah Wellings 'So-Soft' Series made in the late 1920's , model 410 and he came in sizes 10,12,14,18 and 20 inches in height . The 1929 catalogue does not state what colours they were made in but they were of Beaver, Plush and Lambswool. My Rabbit is nearly 14 inches tall from the top of his ears to his feet. He is made of Lambswool with glass eyes. My little darling is as flat at a pancake but adorably cuddly being made for a baby. He has the earliest Norah Wellings label on his foot, not jointed.

Last but not least my favourite buy of the year a gorgeous Norah Wellings 'Cora' Doll from late 1920's to early 1930's. She is such a darling standing 11 inches tall, not including her massive wild hair. She has a felt head with lovely blue glass eyes, velvet fully jointed body with all fingers sewn together. Her felt ears are quite large and they are double thickness . Her lovely brown mohair wig is sewn in strips to her head. Wearing her original cotton two piece sunsuit, sleeveless top and shorts with a cute duck print and her original felt shoes. I do not know her model number,she has the earliest Norah Wellings label.Such a cutie.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my new acquisitions. If you have any Norah Wellings you would like to share please email me with photo's and I will add to my Norah Wellings Journal. Always happy to hear from any readers with suggestions for other Norah Wellings articles they would like to see here. Unil Next Month 'Happy Hunting'.

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year

Wishing You All A Very Merry Christmas and A Happy, Healthy, Safe and Prosperous New Year. Sorry for my lack of articles on Norah Wellings this year but I will be adding at least one article a month next year so please keep looking.

Wonderful Norah Wellings Norene Doll, Model 3210

A big Thank You to Ann Willis for sharing her photographs and description of her wonderful Norah Wellings Norene Doll, she is model 3210 and was first seen in the 1940 catalogue and I have added a photo from the catalogue.
She is 32" and is dressed in a long skirt and matching blouse of cream satin. The top fastens with small mother of pearl buttons and has long sleeves which fasten with a popper. The skirt fastens at the back with a popper.
Under her skirt she has a hooped petticoat, a nylon vest and rather baggy cotton drawers.
She has a rust coloured needlecord jacket with a peplum and the long sleeves end in a v-shape. Her poke bonnet ties with a rust-coloured velvet ribbon
Her yellow felt shoes fasten with white-capped poppers and she has white socks, these seem a bit incongruous with the outfit.
She carries a basket over one arm.
Thank You Once Again Ann she is a Fabulous Doll in Wonderful Condition.