In 1903 the Armand Marseille Floradora doll came into the market and continued to around 1925 (according to Cieslik’s German Doll Encylopedia). The Floradora dolls appeared in both socket heads on composition jointed bodies and shoulder heads on leather stuffed doll bodies.
Floradora Doll Markings
Socket heads may have the name Floradora incised on the back of the head under the wig. Below is an example of the incised Floradora mark.
Some Floradora dolls had a paper label with the name printed on it placed on the front kid leather torso. Dolls with the kid leather, sometimes have the name Floradora incised on the back of the shoulder plate but the kid leather covers the mark because it sits so low. Other shoulderheads have the incised Floradora mark up higher across the back of the shoulders so that the leather doesn’t hide it.
See some other antique German doll marks here.
Floradora Doll Bodies
Armand Marseille Floradora dolls usually have typical Sonneberg bodies. If the doll has a jointed composition body, she might have very long elongated thighs. The cloth stuffed body may have leather covered feet or bisque lower legs starting at the knee joints.
Armand Marseille Floradora Doll on Sale in America
The kid body Floradora dolls seem to have appeared more often in American newspaper ads than the jointed doll bodies. (Just for clarification: the “kid” body means it was a cloth stuffed body covered in a white leather from goat skin.)
Floradora Kid Body Dolls Sold
In 1905 Skannsons & Co. in Washinton, D.C. advertised Floradora dolls along with Santa dolls, Viola dolls, and dolls by Handwerk. In 1909 a department store in Los Angeles advertised the Floradora dolls alongside Kestner and Handwerck dolls. Interestingly, Floradora’s manufacturer is not named like Kestner and Handwerck.
An 18 inch kid body Floradora doll sold for 75 cents in 1911 at “The Fair” in Bisbee, Arizona. In 1914 Floradora kid body dolls sold for 75 cents and up in Montana. A 21 inch kidlyne Floradora doll sold for $2.98 for the Christmas season in 1920 in Rock Island, Illinois.
Floradora Jointed Body Dolls Sold
Simpson Crawford & Co. in New York advertised the Floradora jointed doll in 1906. One wonders if it was a kid body with the jointed bisque knees or a true composition jointed doll body. I wonder this because a letter from the Golden Rule Bazaar out of Salem Oregon in 1912 mentions “Floradora jointed kid body dolls.”
Who Was Floradora?
The name Floradora may have derived from a popular musical comedy on Broadway occurring at the turn of the century when the Floradora dolls appeared in 1903.
A Floradora Estate Auction Find
I enjoyed finding a Floradora in her original factory outfit including her matching hat. She came from an estate sale auction out of Indiana. She even had her original shoes and socks. This was a first Armand Marseille doll I have found in my experiences with her original hat. She had the incised mark FLORADORA on the back of her head making it easy to identify her.
**See some other antique German doll marks here.