Glossary

Betty Boop Type: Usually small, all-bisque dolls with jointed arms, whose molded hair resembles the character Betty Boop. Hair is usually blonde or gold.

Bisque: Unglazed fired clay

Character dolls: Dolls that are shaped to be life-like. They can resemble adults, infants, or children.

China: Glazed bisque or porcelain with a glossy finish

Composition: A wood fiber product that is painted and crazes easily

Crazing: Tiny cracks in the finish and or painted layers of composition dolls. Crazing can also occur on china glaze.

Fixer upper: Sometimes called a "basket case" or "needs TLC." A doll that needs extensive repair.

Flirty eyes: Eyes that move from side to side.

Frozen charlotte: An unjointed doll, usually of china, with arms molded away from the body

Googly eyes: Eyes that look to the side and are large in proportion to the rest of the facial features.

Hard Plastic: Rigid plastic with no give to it. May be heavy or thin.

Hairline: Very thin crack in bisque or porcelain. May not go all the way through.

Immobile: An unjointed, all-bisque doll molded in one piece with arms close to sides

Makers' marks: Incised or raised numbers, letters, or symbols--usually on the neck, head, or back of a doll.

Mint: A doll that is just as it was when it left the factory.

MIB: Mint doll in the original box.

NRFB: A doll that has never been removed from the original box.

Original clothing: The clothing first worn by the doll whether factory made or home made.

All original: Everything worn by the doll is original to it.

Paperweight eyes: Glass eyes that bulge out of the sockets when viewed from the side. They cannot be set to sleep.

Porcelain: A fine type of fired clay.

Provenance: A doll's written history about its owners.

Reproduction: A doll produced by using an existing doll's mold.

Sleep eyes: Eyes that close when the doll is lying down.