Vogue's Second Best Seller

By Lorinda Bateman

Say the name "Vogue" in any gathering of doll lovers, and chances are the response will be "Ginny." Ginny is the most popular and long lived of Vogue's dolls, and her creator, Jennie Graves is well known. Jennie rose from seamstress to doll costumer to the head of the original Vogue Doll Company. Not nearly as many people know, however, the identity of Vogue's second best-selling doll, let alone the name of her creator. Few know who the second best-selling doll is, despite the fact that this doll's production spanned 20 years, and many people also grew up with frequent exposure to this designer's literary works.

Eloise Burns was born on March 30, 1904, in Rochester, New York. She showed artistic talent at an early age and studied art and illustration at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1932. She worked in New York City as an illustrator of children's books for four years before returning to Rochester, where she married Stanley Wilkin. They had four children and resided in Canandaigua, NY. She resumed her career, after nearly 10 years, once again creating drawings for children's books and writing some of them. Many of the books were written by her sister, Esther Burns Wilkin (the two sisters had married two brothers). During her career, which spanned six decades, Eloise Burns Wilkin wrote and illustrated over 100 children's books.

A look at one of her illustrations from 1944 shows line drawings of thin children whose elfin faces give only a hint of the charming images that were to follow. She signed her first Golden Book contracts in 1945, but it was not until 1950 that she perfected her unique style. The images of babies and children, who flowed from her prolific hand, were realistically detailed, chubby-cheeked kids captured in wonderful action poses of childhood.

Even though she found much satisfaction in illustrating books, Eloise longed to create a doll that would allow the children who loved her books a full range of play. Using her few free moments, she worked on her sketches for many years, more than twenty according to her son, Sidney. She finally produced a clay model, which she dressed in baby clothes and brought to Vogue in the late 1950s, with the hope of having them produce it.

Her timing couldn't have been better. Several factors, including competition by knockoffs and a tight financial situation, had taken their toll on Ginny's popularity. Sales were down and Vogue was anxious to diversify its line. When Jennie Graves and her daughter Virginia Graves Carlson (for whom the Ginny doll was named) saw Wilkin's baby it was love at first sight.

Not only was the face extremely realistic with "squinty" eyes like a newborn, but the hands and feet, which Wilkin also sculpted, were exactly like those seen in her illustrations. Both head and body were weighted to be "floppy" like a young infant. Eloise Wilkin had truly achieved her dream of bringing her baby to life.

Vogue agreed to produce the doll just as Wilkin had designed it, using the molds for the arms and legs as well as the head mold. Then Vogue did something truly groundbreaking in American doll manufacturing: they placed Wikin's name on the doll rather than following the usual custom of including only the doll company name. Vogue chose the name Baby Dear and had a wardrobe designed by Carters, the well-known maker of children's play and sleepwear. By the summer of 1960, the doll was in production. At first, there was a problem with the topknot of hair that adorned the baby's head, and it was reluctantly replaced with a full head of rooted hair. The earlier dolls are now highly sought-after by collectors.

Baby Dear was a huge success and became Vogue's best selling doll. The Wilkin sisters also released a book titled Baby Dear in 1992. In 1965, the New Pretty Baby Dear doll was introduced. The legs and arms were those of the original, but Mrs. Wilkin did not design the rather generic-looking head with sleep eyes. Collectors do not consider these to be true Wilkin dolls. The original Baby Dear was also sold through 1968. In 1962, Mrs. Wilkin designed Baby Dear One, who represented a one-year-old baby. Vogue also redesigned this doll's head in 1965, and it was sold until 1980. In 1963, Eloise Wilkin produced the final doll of this series, Baby Too Dear, representing a two-year-old toddler. Although it had the distinctive Wilkin look and attractive clothing, it was not a good seller, perhaps because it was all vinyl and lacked the cuddly cloth body. This doll too is now a collector's prize.

In the late 1970s, when she was in her seventies, Mrs. Wilkin had two more of her doll designs produced, this time for Lesney which now held the Vogue license. Welcome Home Baby, again depicting a newborn, was made from 1978 until 1980, and Welcome Home Baby Turns Two was made only in 1980. Wilkin remained active and sought-after right up until her passing in 1987 at the age of 83. Her unique combination of literary and artistic talent is a rich legacy to doll lovers everywhere.