Background  ---  About US         

                Welcome To Tennessee Antique Dolls

......Yes  in business since 1976......  An antique doll shop in Basel /  Switzerland , for  more than  twenty  years..... and still exited to buy and sell dolls !

 I discovered in the middle of 1976   the fun with selling and buying Antiques.... Flea-      markets become very popular and real Antiques were displayed by shine and rain on the streets..... a new trend for young people buying the "used stuff" instead the designer  furniture.....

My focus was right away on the dolls ! A very exiting time with very busy weekends  : Flea-Market in Paris ,   doll auctions in London ,   doll - shows in Frankfurt and Berlin. What has  started as a hobby  becomes very soon a business..... opening  an antique doll   shop  was a challenge  !  My highlight : visiting the United States of   America , first time  in 1983 !              .... after many years a dream comes true.......   and business continue very successful  in  the United States Of America

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    Annalise  and Mori  Nohrudi                                                                 

Tennessee Antique Dolls was founded in May 2003 when we relocated to the   beautiful State  of Tennessee. Shortly we found over the Internet the right places to go  go for shows   and we met  some doll dealers and nice people , with some still staying in touch and some are good friends .  We are Members of NADDA  and Members of UFDC

  We provide a wide variety of antique dolls in all price ranges and weekly we update our website........

  All dolls are carefully inspected and we guarantee our descriptions !  100 % satisfaction  and  a two days  return policy  .

Please request additional information and pictures before buying  !

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  Since five year we are working very successful on ebay .... great experience  and fun......

                Member of UFDC ( United Federation of Doll Clubs

         Member of NADDA ( National Antique Doll Dealer Association)

                                 Nous Parlons Francais

                                  Wir Sprechen Deutsch

    Doll History :

Germany was the most important and the traditional country for making dolls and toys in   the  years from 1820 to 1930. The region Sonneberg  ( Thueringia and Waltershausen ) provided work in this industry to most of the people living in this area. The German doll makers quickly  achieved  a world leadership position in this industry , also as the leading doll heads producer. Doll-bodies and doll- heads were made from different materials , for example :  Wood , Wax  , Paper-Mache  and porcelain.

The most successful doll makers are very well know among collectors and include :    - Simon & Halbig ,  - Johann Daniel Kestner  , - Armand Marseille , - Heinrich Handwerk , -  Franz Schmidt  and many other small doll factories. The famous producers of the character dolls : Kaemmer and Reinhardt located in Waltershausen  and Gebrueder Heubach in Lichte. These character doll look like children because they were made after children's portrait. The Kestner Company produced a very high quality  and his bisque heads  had a very light and creamy porcelain , 90 %  of the production was sold and sent to the United States of America.

In the years of World war l  the United States couldn't import merchandise from Europe   and many smaller  doll- factories in Thueringia had to close their business.

French Doll Maker  France also started very early in 1840 to make dolls heads from porcelain . The French created the Fashion doll , know as " POUPEE DE MODE " and these kind of dolls were designed for adults to be dressed and displayed in the cabinets    and on the Piano of their homes as decorations . The most successful makers were Emile Jumeau and Casimir  Bru and their merchandise  is still extremely  sought after by today's doll collectors . The French doll makers were very famous and they won several silver     and gold medal's for their designs. These famous dolls were dressed like real Lady's ,   in silk and other expensive materials with handcrafted in-house workmanship that ensured   the highest quality dolls.

 American Doll Maker    World War 1  drastically restricted imports to the United States from Europe. To meet domestic demand the US was obligated to make it's own toys and dolls   or to find a alternate market and provide substitute dolls . The US  deemed   the Japanese market to be attractive  . Japan has produced porcelain dolls since 1921 ,  however the quality was not comparable to German bisque dolls, although the doll heads were comparatively inexpensive.                            

 A very famous  American doll- and toy maker was Albert Schoenhut  which has   immigrated from Goeppingen , Germany , he was the first doll maker which was working with wood , his Humpty-Dumpty Circus with all the animals made from wood and were     fully jointed , become very popular

Subsequently , many small doll businesses started in  small town's , and dolls were               " homemade" from cloth , painted with oil-mixture. At the time, these cottage -industry    doll makers never considered that one day their dolls become famous and sought after by collectors in the late 20th century. Many of these dolls now often appraise for several thousand dollars at auction !

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Annalise Nohrudi                              

  EMAIL :        dollmania@live.com              

  PHONE :       ( 423 ) 323 7044