Chapter 8. Dolls with Hard Heads

The problem of creating a doll that was inexpensive to make, beautiful and appealing to look at, and assured of a fairly long life without breaking was solved in various ways during the last century. Wood dolls, of course, were particularly sturdy, but unless their creator was particularly gifted in carving faces the final result was plain, to say the least. Rag dolls can be utterly charming as well as amazingly durable, but they, too, were subject to the whim and skill of the person making them. China and bisque dolls were the most enchanting because their faces could be so lifelike. But they broke so easily!

About 1840 some doll makers started producing dolls made from various kinds of materials that were practically unbreakable. These materials could be modeled into really lifelike heads and, when completed, were almost as beautiful as the china and bisque and wax heads.

The materials used to make these unbreakable heads was composition. The ingredients that went to make up a composition were the individual doll-makers secrets. A little later on, when the doll business became so widespread and economically important, doll-makers began to patent their creations to protect them from being copied without permission. The patents usually included the formula for the specific composition. One particular patent stated that a mixture of bran, sawdust, and glue was necessary for its composition.

The bran and sawdust were thoroughly mixed, then moistened with glue until a good pliable dough was obtained. The dough was kneaded, then rolled out just like cookie dough, cut into circles, then pressed into shape in metal molds until dry and hard. This produced an extremely durable head which was then attached to a soft body.

Papier-mache was also successfully used and has withstood the abuse of time in a remarkable fashion. Papier-mache is a French phrase which means "chewed paper". Special machines do the chewing for commercial purposes. When the paper has been reduced to a soft, fluffy mass it is wet with a special compound, then modeled or pressed into all sorts of shapes. It is so strong that it was made into tables and chairs, chests, boxes, and toys, as well as doll heads.

An old-fashioned doll with head tied on.

You can make doll heads that are fairly durable and quite pretty. Plastic wood, cold-water putty, and self-hardening clay are easily modeled, inexpensive, and produce good results. If you have had any modeling experience in school, you will find it not at all difficult to handle these materials successfully.

When we talk about modeling a doll head, we actually mean creating a head, neck, and shoulders all in one piece. There is a very good practical reason for this: it is much easier to attach this unit to a body than it would be to put on a head alone. The sketch above shows how the antique doll heads were made and tied on to the bodies. That was the most secure way of doing it and, with low-necked dresses, gave a better appearance to the finished doll.

How to Make a Clay Head

Unless you are a professional sculptor or skilled artist, it is wisest to work for effect rather than realism. A good deal of realism is added later by means of paint. Right now the thing to do is to model an egg-shaped lump, give it just a suggestion of a nose, make slight depressions for eyes, then set it on a neck and shoulders.

Self-hardening clay, plastic wood, and cold-water putty are too heavy to use alone. They must be built around a core of some lightweight material. Newspaper is very satisfactory for this.

Head

Tightly crumple a wad of newspaper into a small oval about three quarters the size of an egg. Roll a good-sized lump of clay out flat and a bit less than 1/4 in. thick. Cut a 3-in. circle from it and place it on the wad of newspaper. Fit a smaller circle to the back of the paper core. Blend the seams together by smoothing along them with the ball of the thumb.

Gently mold the head between the palms of the hands so that the clay begins to stick to the paper core. If depressions begin to form in the outer surface of the clay during this process, they can be filled out with small, flat pieces of clay blended on.

Neck

Roll a lump of clay into a solid cylinder 1/2 in. thick and 1/2 in. high. Set the clay head on this in the position shown in figure 3 below. This forms the head and the neck. It must be reinforced at the joining place. To do this, cover the seam with small, flat pieces of clay and then blend them into the surface with the thumb.

	1. Head and neck centered on shoulder piece. Rolled newspaper supports and gives shape to shoulders. Dotted line shows how clay is added to smooth out shoulder lines and give added strength to head.
2. Tiny roll of clay makes nose. Smooth upper part to merge with forehead. Slight depression makes eyes.

Shoulder

The shoulder part must be hollow to fit over the top of the doll's body. Roll some sheets of newspaper tightly until they form a roll 1 in. thick. Tie the roll at the ends to keep the papers in place. Roll a lump of clay out flat and cut from it an oblong 3 in. wide and 21/2 in. long. This oblong can be slightly thinner than the head circles were. Fit this oblong over the newspaper roll as shown below.

Center the bottom of the neck on the shoulder piece and press down on it. Don't press too hard, or you may push in the head. Blend the neck and shoulder seam as before, using somewhat larger pieces of clay. The desired curve is shown by the dotted lines in the sketch above. Smooth down the outside edge of the shoulders, as indicated by the dotted line, to give them a soft and graceful slope.

Face

Use strips of scotch tape to attach the newspaper roll to the table top while you are working on the face. A tiny sausage roll of clay is used for the nose. Make it 1/8 in. thick and not more than 1/4 in. long. Blunt the end of it to form the bottom of the nose, and put it in position on the face. Blend the edges into the cheeks, using the flat end of an orange stick.

At the top of the nose, and on either side of it, make two slight depressions with the tip of the little finger. The nail must be very short or it will gouge the clay. Model the deepest part of the depression at the top of the eye, to make the eyebrow. In order to do this successfully, push the fingertip up from the bottom.

Examine the work carefully. Smooth out any finger or nail marks. Check the evenness of the shoulders and the joining of the neck to the jaw line. Look at the head from the back and both sides as well as the front.

Let the head dry for at least two days before doing any further work on it.

Putty and Plastic Wood

Cold-water putty and plastic wood are worked the same way as the self-hardening clay but they are a little more difficult to handle. Cold-water putty comes in powder form and must be mixed with water. Follow the directions for mixing but have it no wetter than self-hardening clay. You can buy the cold-water putty at twenty-five cents a can. It comes in wood colors. The tone called "natural" dries out a lovely skin shade which requires no further coloring. Both self-hardening clay and plastic wood must be painted before the eyes and mouth are put on.

Plastic wood is the most difficult of the three materials to work with because of its stickiness. This can be avoided to a large extent by having a container of plastic-wood solvent into which the fingertips can be dipped while working. The surface of the plastic-wood head will not be so smooth as the other two materials, but when dry, it can be sandpapered. It really does produce an unbreakable head.

Painting the Head

Finishing the head is most exciting. When perfectly dry, remove the newspaper roll. The surface must be painted, unless you've used natural-color cold-water putty to look like skin. A good household enamel will work well.

Pour about four tablespoons of white enamel into an old saucer. Add one or two drops of bright red artists' oil paint and mix it thoroughly until the paint is the palest of pale pink. Now add a tiny bit of burnt sienna oil paint to the mixture to get the tan shade most real skins have. When the color of the paint is pretty much like your own skin, it is right for the doll head.

Use a small cardboard box as a stand and place the head on it. With a soft, wide water-color brush, flow the paint on the head, neck, and shoulders making sure to cover every speck. Don't move the box to examine the back of the head. You walk around the table and check up on it. When it is quite perfectly painted, allow it to dry overnight even if the enamel you are using is the so-called "four-hour drying" kind.

Soap Heads

Carving a doll head from soap is a fascinating way of creating a head with an unusual texture and appearance. Done in white soap, the surface may be smoothed to look like alabaster or marble. Soft yellow laundry soap produces heads with an oriental character, while pale pink toilet soap makes wonderful baby heads.

The general shape of the head, neck, and shoulders is roughed or blocked out before any detail work is done. The diagram below shows how the general outline is scratched on the front, back, and sides of the soap. The small blade of a penknife or an X-acto knife is the only tool required. The edge of the knife blade is put into the soap at a sharp angle. The ball of the thumb then pushes the blade forward so that it takes off a thin shaving. The main difference between modeling and carving is this: in modeling, you can always put back a piece to repair a mistake or fill in too large a depression; carving is a continual process of removing pieces, and if you take off too much there is no way of putting it back. Since the soap is quite soft it is very easy to cut out too much. Be safe and shave off, rather than whittle or cut as you do with wood.

Scratch outline of head and shoulders on flat sides of soap. Side view of head is scratched on narrow end of soap. Cut away all soap area indicated by cross lines in drawing. "Round head and shoulders. Smooth knife marks with water soaked finger tips. Head is held inside top of cloth body by shirring material to fit snugly. Three common pins pushed in front and back will further secure head.

Once the main shape and outline have emerged from the soap, use the greatest care in working the face, neck, and shoulders. Scrape with the edge of the blade to even off cut marks. When the surface is as smooth as you can get it with the knife, the final polishing can be done. Dip the fingers in hot water and rub them back and forth. In a very few seconds all knife marks will disappear. The back of the head may be left rough.

Painting the Face

If the head has been painted, be sure it is thoroughly dry before painting on the eyes and mouth. Use oil paints and the smallest size artists' brush. Make a very fine line for the eyebrows and the upper eyelid. The iris is a small circle of color, the top of which is apparently cut off by the eyelid. For this and for the mouth follow the design shown below. As with the modeling, they are suggestive rather than realistic.

Enlarged design for mouth and eyes. Make mouth same width as eye. Use very fine brush to paint outline.

A very slight blush of color may be put on the cheeks. It must be very delicate and light. Put it on with a small piece of absorbent cotton and then, with a clean piece, blend the edges of the color out and away from the face until they disappear.

How to Make the Body

It will take several days for the oil painted features to dry, so in the meantime you can make the body. The pattern, seen below, is a headless one. Make it of muslin and stuff it firmly with absorbent cotton. The pattern for the arms and legs indicates by dotted lines where the stuffing is to stop and a line of stitching is to be put across to hold it in place. The tops of the arms and legs are sewed to the body as shown in the sketch below.

Body pattern. Cut 2 pieces. Sew along pattern outline. Leg pattern. Cut 4 pieces. Leave top open for stuffing.

Arm pattern. Cut 4 pieces. Leave top open for stuffing, follow sketch in attaching arms and legs to body.

Attaching the Head

When the body is completed, coat the top part of the shoulders with household or plastic cement. Immediately coat the inside of the shoulders of the head with cement. Put the head on the body and then push the body up into the shoulders as far as it will go. Tie the head in place by winding cotton tape over each shoulder and down the body and between the legs. This should be done quite tightly. The ends of the tape are knotted around the waist and left on until the cement is quite dry. Overnight should be long enough.

The soap head, instead of being pasted to the body, must be inserted in the top of the muslin body. Stuff the body to within an inch of the top. Fit the soap head into the top. Turn the top edges of the body in and hem them, taking a tiny tuck every now and then to draw the material tight around the shoulders. Straight pins, three in front and three in back, stuck through the cloth and soap will further anchor the head in place. These pins will rust inside the soap and be practically unremovable.

Hair

Wigs for the clay or putty doll head may be made of rug yarn, knitting wool, or embroidery floss cemented to the head. A small, commercially made doll's wig can be pasted on. Dolls' hospitals sometimes sell hair in strips. You buy it by the inch and paste it on the head in layers, starting at the bottom and finishing at the crown of the head. Three layers are usually sufficient for a luxurious hair-do.

Soap heads require a different kind of wig because glue and cement will not hold on soap. Make a tight-fitting skullcap from wool or cotton jersey, or the leg part of a black or brown cotton sock or stocking. Fit the cap to the head and hold it in place by pushing short pins through it directly into the head of the doll. Push them in as far as they will go, aiming them toward the center of the head. Four or five pins at the most will do the trick. Yarn or floss hair may be sewn to the skullcap.

How to Make Marionettes

These hard-headed dolls are easily turned into marionettes by doing three simple things: fill the hands and feet with buckshot or BB's before stuffing; sew a line of stitching across each leg at the knees and across each arm at the elbows; and string them up.

The buckshot gives the necessary weight needed for good manipulation of the marionettes. The stitching at the knees and elbows allows the limbs to be bent when the strings are pulled up. String the marionette as shown below.

Marionette. Five strings are used to manipulate the doll One string each at hack of hand, one string at each knee and one string direct from top of head. Keep all strings even, with arms hanging down naturally. Attach strings to a 7 shaped wooden handle.

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