A little history and a lot of fun when you think about doll shops in San Francisco CA

It is great to find doll shops in San Francisco CA that can provide a little history to the collectible dolls you find.  Some doll shops in San Francisco CA include so many other types of merchandise, like toys, that they don’t know the history to any of the dolls or doll manufacturers.  That’s when some virtual, online stores are a good substitute for doll shops in San Francisco CA and elsewhere.

For instance, Better Everything can recommend Stella’s Treasures as a great virtual doll shop for San Francisco CA.  At Stella’s Treasures, she offers a little bit of history under most of her doll manufacturer categories – and, always adding to her site, she includes more details and selections, so her customers come back again and again whether they are interested in collectible dolls, accessories, clothes, parts, books, expertise, referrals,…or history.

Take the Ginny doll.  Her roots actually go back to 1922 when Jennie Adler Graves established her Ye Olde Vogue Doll Shoppe in Somerville Massachusetts, making doll clothes, dressing, and selling imported German dolls to a well known Boston department store, Jordan Marsh.  In 1948, Jennie introduced an 8 inch plastic doll, the forerunner to her Ginny doll.  Due to the popularity of this new doll, Ginny was officially born in 1951.  Ginny got her name from Jennie’s daughter, Virginia. By 1953, Ginny was so popular, Vogue employed well over 50 regular workers in their 15,000 square foot warehouse with over 200 part time people employed to sew.  Within a decade, revenue went from $250,000 to over $5,000,000 annually and everyone was trying to emulate the 8 inch Ginny, who had now become a staple in American households.

In 1972, the Vogue name was sold to the Tonka Corporation, in 1977, the Lesney Products Corporation owned the name, in 1984, Meritus Industries owned it, then in 1986, R. Dakin and Company owned it.  Finally, since 1995, the new Vogue Doll Company has worked to restore Ginny’s rightful place in the modern doll era, still preserving her “well-loved image, love of fashion, and fun attitude”.

And that’s a brief story about Vogue’s Ginny doll.  Quite the collectible little doll with all her clothes and dolls through the ages.  Of course, you can find Ginny dolls at Stella’s – along with many other great collectible dolls and doll-related things.  So, for doll shops in San Francisco, CA, when you are interested in a great selection along with a little history, whether written or from Stella herself, check out our recommended online doll shop, Stella’s Treasures.