Many
of the tags on the early dolls were attached under the shirt,
behind the neck, on the back, on the bottom of the doll or even
glued to the base. Many never had tags.You have to remember, Annalee
and Chip had NO IDEA how successful they would become!
This
first tags were handwritten, possibly soon after she graduated
from high school in the mid 30's.
I
remember when I drove to NH in 1990 to show Annalee what I was
hoping to be an early Annalee. She said it definitely was and
she dated it as late 30's. I almost fainted! She mentioned that
the shirt on my doll was made from one of her old shirts and that
it was a girl. I asked, How can you tell it's a girl? She immediately
replied, “Boys have ears, girls do not”. She also noted that the
legs and arms were sewn to the body, that the majority were skiers,
she made the skis and that it had no internal wire frame. The
wire frame didn't come until she met Chip. He invented the wire
frame, thus giving them the name Annalee Mobilitee Dolls. As soon
as I got in the car, I jotted it down so I wouldn't forget.
Through
the years I got to know Annalee and Chip. Whenever I brought a
doll to show them, they would always ask: Where did you find this?
It was like they were asking about a "lost child".
Annalee
is around early-mid 50's, notice it has no
Meredith/ no copyright symbol .
Annalee
with Meredith NH - machine embroidered mid 50's
I've
also seen the same tag with “Patent Pending”printed on it.
Annalee,
with Meredith, NH and the copyright symbol , has
machine embroidered around 1958-1959
Annalee
Mobilitee Doll USA machine embroidered tag with the copyright
date . Annalee started using the copyright date in 1961.
Only one end of the tag was attached to the doll the other end
was pinked or zig zag.
The
majority of the dolls with the tags that I've mentioned thus far
will have yarn or feather hair.
Few
examples: baby angels; elves; boy building a boat; square dancers;
and skiers . The skiers will have natural color birch skis with
the Annalee signature on each tip. Chip told me one time how he
put them in a pressure cooker to soften the wood so he could bend
the tips of the skiis.
1962
- 1969: 3/4" folded machine
embroidered (woven) tag with the Annalee Mobilitee Doll, Meredith
NH wrapping around to the back with the copyright date. It is
very common that the last digit was sewn into the seam in the
late 60's. 196_
1970
- 1974: folded short satin, silky tag.
1975
- 1981 Spring: long, stiff gauze, Tyvek tag. The back
of the tag will read "DO NOT REMOVE THIS TAG UNDER PENALTY
OF LAW, ALL NEW MATERIAL, Ohio Reg. # 4904 Mass # T-83" This
tag is the one that most people cut off because it is so long.
1981
Christmas - 1989: short folded stiff gauze tag with the
Annalee Mobilitee wrapping around to the back with the copyright
date on the back.
1986
Christmas - 1989: same
tag but with the actual year as well as the
copyright year. The dates on the tag prior to this period are
date of copyright for the dolls head or body. The second date
indicates the year the artwork, head and or body were redesigned.
They do not necessarily identify the actual year.
1990
- 1996: folded machine embroidered tag. It will have
the actual year in bigger print than the copyright.
1997
- 1998 long folded machine embroidered
tag with a gauge tag sewn inside that states ALL NEW MATERIAL,
Do Not Remove This Tag, etc.
1999
- folded satin tag dated '99 with Made in Meredith, NH,
USA
1999
- 2001
Sponsor Store Exclusive paper hang tag along with price and bar
code hang tag.
2000 - 2001: folded satin tag with Made in Meredith,
NH , USA on back side of the tag, but no date.
2001
- last year Annalees were produced in Meredith, NH USA
Annalee
used a different fabric every year on her Christmas stockings,
Mr & Mrs Santas clothing, the reindeer saddles, vests on the
elves and outfits on the bunnies. Please use Fabric Identification.
FABRIC
IDENTIFICATION:CHRISTMAS
SPRING