Special Editions Collection

Marcella and Raggedy Ann - 1988 Special Edition

Edition of 2500

Retail Price $395

I first heard of the story of Marcella on Paul Harvey's radio feature, "The Rest of the Story". It went something like this:

"It was a rainy day. The little girl had nothing with which to occupy her time so she ran up to the old family attic to play. While poking around, she came across an old battered doll with its face worn off. Delightedly, she carried her new-found treasure down to her father's studio. Her father, a well-respected political cartoonist, put down his work, gathered his little daughter in close and painted a bright new face on the floppy doll. The child and the doll became inseparable.

"It wasn't long after this that the little girl became ill. Her father left his work to sit by her bedside. It was during those long hours that her father began to weave those wonderful tales about the little girl's beloved doll and her other toys. The little girl, Marcella, died from that illness and her heartbroken father, Johnny Gruelle, carried that beloved little rag doll into his office and placed her on his desk where she remained for many years. Even though Marcella has been gone for over 70 years, the stories that her father told and even that floppy little rag doll herself have been loved by each succeeding generation. And the name of that rag doll? Why, Raggedy Ann, of course…and now you know the rest of the story." -- Wendy

Marcella Gruelle found the faceless doll in the attic. Her father lovingly painted its face, creating the very first Raggedy Ann. This 13" porcelain doll was sculpted by Wendy Lawton to commemorate Raggedy Ann's 70th anniversary. Raggedy is 4" long and lithographed by The Toy Works of Middle Falls, New York.

Lotta CrabTree - First Lawton Collectors Guild Convention

Edition of 125

Retail Price $395

Lotta Crabtree and her accessories are as follows:

The doll - distributed at the Wagons Ho Reception, Lotta is 14" tall with brown eyes and beautiful carrot-colored curls. She is dressed in a delicate stage dress of ecru cotton tulle, festooned with swags of ruching and trimmed with silk rosettes over a hoop skirt and eyelet pantalets. She has a matching bonnet and wears handmade pink leather shoes. She is packaged in a custom-designed carton with her playbill papered on the front and a carrying handle and ribbon-tie closure.

• A velvet-covered monogrammed miniature scrapbook filled with miniaturized photos and memorabilia of Lotta's
• Nightgown and nightcap
• Suede mules (slippers) made at workshop
• Complete traveling outfit and miniature copy of 1850 California Magazine
• Working miniature feather fan
• Handmade leather button boots, black stockings and tiny buttonhook
• Canvas and leather trunk to hold all of Lotta's accessories

A tiny porcelain doll on a cloth body sculpted by Wendy, dressed in lace with silk ribbons and packed in a wallpaper covered box with a tiny label.

A Baby Shower - 1993 UFDC Region 2 North Conference

Edition of 70

Price Included in Convention Package

This 9" cloth-bodied baby, with porcelain hands and head, is dressed in an intricately smocked christening gown and bonnet.

Flora McFlimsey - 1993 Special Edition

Edition of 250

Retail Price $895

"Miss Flora McFlimsey, of Madison Square,

Has made three separate journeys to Paris;

And her father assures me, each time she was there,

That she and her friend Mrs. Harris,

Spent six consecutive weeks without stopping,

In one continuous round of shopping;

-- William Allen Butler from the opening lines of Nothing to Wear

The poem "Nothing To Wear" is still as delightful today as it was when it first appeared in Harpers Weekly in 1857. Flora McFlimsey is dressed only in her underclothes despite the fact that she comes complete with a canvas and leather steamer trunk containing an exquisite trosseau. Flora is all-porcelain and is 11" tall.

Mary Chilton - 1994

Edition of 350

Retail Price $395

While she may look familiar to many of you, the story of Mary Chilton is a wonderful piece of history, and I can't imagine a better characterization for our Little Pilgrim. I have to give special thanks to Guild member, Lois Coffey for providing me with so much background information on Mary Chilton, both from her own library and from the Mayflower Society. Lois is a Mayflower Society member, and a direct descendant of Mary Chilton.

Through the Looking Glass - Second Lawton Collectors Guild Convention - 1995

Edition of 180

Retail Price n/a

Through the Looking Glass is dressed straight out of the Tenniel illustration. Wendy chose the Disney coloration for Alice; deep blue and bright white touched with pink to set off her blonde delicacy. Alice is 16" tall with porcelain head and hands on a thirteen-joint wooden body. The following souvenirs accompanied Alice at the 1995 Lawton Collectors Guild Convention:

• A porcelain-faced silk flower pin (attached to the name badge)
• A wooden hand mirror, engraved with the convention logo and date
• A bone china tea set, hand-painted with forget-me-nots by The Lawton Doll Company. The convention logo and date is fired onto the base of the teapot, creamer, sugar bowl w/lid, two cups and saucers.
• Alice's Pig Baby. Remember the Duchess' screaming baby in Alice in Wonderland? Alice took the baby to save it from the Duchess and to quiet its screams. As the screams turned to snorts and the snorts to grunts, Alice looked down to see that the baby had turned into a pig. "If you're going to turn into a pig, my dear," said Alice seriously, "I'll have nothing more to do with you. Mind, now!"

Josephine - 1995 UFDC Regional 2N Conference

Edition of 360

Retail Price n/a

Josephine wears a dainty white dress with blue hand-embroidery at the neck and tucking at the hemline, with a lace-edged chemise underneath. She wears slouch socks and brown leather shoes. Her sash is blue and white striped silk from France. The additional clothing available to those who purchased the Companion Piece are a hand-knit white 'popcorn' stitch coat, matching white felt cloche hat, and underdress with a white bodice and tightly pleated red plaid skirt. A matching hanky is tucked in the coat pocket and the hat is trimmed with the plaid.

Also included is Josephine's light blue party dress, complete with a hand-embroidered scalloped hemline and faggoting at the waist to hold the blue silk ties. Her special shoes are made of black leather and tucked perfectly in the gathered pocket in the trunk's lid. Quacky Jack is appropriately dressed in his best powder blue sailor suit with a white sailor's cap. Josephine stands at approximately 12" tall and is all-porcelain.

Tangerine Velveteen

(Special Redux Editions)

1996 Doll and Teddy Bear Expo East

Tangerine Kwanzaa

(Special Redux Editions)

1996 Doll and Teddy Bear Expo East

Tangerine Kwanzaa is a "redux" of the last remaining Kwanzaa dolls from 1994, and Tangerine Velveteen is a "redux" of the last remaining Velveteen Rabbit dolls from 1993. Both are dressed in Mary Engelbriet's playful "Tea Garden" fabric with a white cotton pique blouse, handmade black leather sandals and matching green straw hat.  

The Glove Marriage of Anneke van de Lijn - 1996 Special Edition

Edition of 150

Retail Price $1,895

Ship's Manifest

Anneke van de Lijn

Dutch East Indies Company

Holland to Batavia

Contents of Hand-Painted Wooden Dower Chest (8�" H x 6�" D x 6�" W)

• Mahogany casket containing the hand-sewn, jeweled kidskin glove
• Three hand-carved mahogany dress forms
• Gray silk gown
• Separate organdy and lace collar
• Vermillion linen skirt with batiste attached chemise
• Deep green basqued bodice
• Batiste night chemise
• Cotton sateen embroidered night basque
• Matching smocked robe de chambre

Anneke is porcelain and wood, and stands 18" tall.

Summer Days - 1997 First Lawton Collectors Guild Open Day

Edition of 100

Retail Price $395

A fitting tribute to The Lawton Doll Company's 1997 Open Day, Summer Days is dressed in a flowery chintz print of yellow over a ruffled underskirt. Her wide-brimmed bonnet and rose-red shoes complete the ensemble. Summer Days is all-porcelain and stands 14" tall. Only 100 were made.

The Merry Widow in Three Acts - 1997 Special Edition

Edition of 150

Retail Price $1,995

While casting about for the perfect subject for our second connoisseur offering, my friend, Mark Purcell, suggested The Merry Widow. For those of you who were at the summer Lawtons Open House, Mark was the tenor who entertained at the banquet. He also played the romantic lead, Danilo, in The San Jose Lyric Opera's Merry Widow last year.

I knew it would be the perfect doll - The Merry Widow in Three Acts. I wanted her to have the mobility of spring articulated wooden joints, so she could dance the Can-Can with ease. And her feet would have to be carved so that she could wear a heel on her shoe. I also wanted a bare porcelain neck, shoulders and arms to show off stunning gowns and jewelry. It required a whole new sculpt of upper torso and arms. The head is jointed under the chin, another first for us. Each gown had to be worthy of this Merry Widow. We decided not to count the cost. We think the result is nothing short of stunning. Here's a list of what is included with this set:

• The Merry Widow doll - porcelain and wood, 18" tall
• Three hand-carved wooden dress forms
• Batiste tucked slip
• Batiste tucked pantalets
• Padded bustle

Act I:

• Black Organza Ballgown embroidered with silk ribbons, seeded with jet beads
• Underdress of mauve bastiste
• Black feather fan
• Black leather strap heels
• Faux diamond earrings
• Faux diamond necklace
• Faux diamond tiara

Act II:

• Lavender Batiste Garden Frock trimmed in lace and ecru ribbon
• Garden hat trimmed in silk flowers and tulle
• Ecru slippers with bow trim and wooden heels
• Amethyst brooch

Act III:

• Grisette lacy underwear
• Merry Widow laced, boned corset
• Can-Can skirt trimmed with years of taffeta ruffling
• Black Can-Can stockings
• Leather lace-up high heeled Can-Can boots
• Ribbon tied enamelled rose pendant necklace
• Merry Widow Waltz gown of ivory dupion silk trimmed in ecru silk, embellished with pearl and silk embroidery.

Beatrice Louise

The Adventure on the Orient Express Luncheon, August 11, 1998

UFDC National Convention, New Orleans, LA

Edition of 310

Retail Price $ N/A

Beatrice Louise is a petite 9" tall on a hand-carved, spring-jointed wooden body. With coppery red hair and freckles sprinkled across her nose, she wears a hunter green linen coat and hat over a pleated dress. Exquisitely cobbled black leather ankle boots complete her ensemble.

A luggage set consisting of a leather train case and a round leather hat box, both adorned with stickers from Beatrice Louise's journey on the Orient Express, was also made available. Inside the luggage is a navy linen suit jacket to complete the pleated dress Beatrice wears, a velvet-covered scrapbook, a hand-embroidered sea foam green batiste nightgown, a one piece teddy, ecru stockings and a pair of burgundy leather shoes.

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