Schoenhut “All Wood Perfection Art Doll,” 1911-12

Children’s need for and appreciation of realism in play assumed uncanny aspects in the discussion of Schoenhut’s “All Wood Perfection Art Doll.” The 1912 anniversary catalogue, for instance, explained: “They are the sort of dolls that children love—real little playmates.” With their movable limbs, swivel joints, and fashionable wardrobes, the dolls, according to the text, looked like “up-to-date little girls and boys.” Here, the catalogue stressed the life-like qualities of Schoenhut dolls. That being said, a distinction was still made between the real and the doll, which was “alive to the delicate fancy of the child or the imagination of the child’s father or mother.”