Roddy Walking Doll

Name: Walking Doll

Made by and When: Roddy, 1950s

Material: Hard plastic

Marks: Roddy/Made in England (on the back)

Height: 13 inches

Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Black mohair wig styled in two braids with bangs (extra mohair has been added to each braid); amber sleep eyes have attached bristle eyelashes, smiling open mouth with two upper teeth and a molded red tongue.

Clothes: Redressed in period-appropriate clothes and shoes

Other: This doll has one of the three head sculpts used by Roddy during the 1950s – smiling face with two teeth and a tongue. The face is similar in appearance to the 1950s Saucy Walker sculpt used by American and English manufacturers. See examples of Pedigree and American Saucy-Walker-types in the gallery.

This doll is a head-turning walker. When the legs are moved back and forth, the head turns from side to side. Unlike other head-turning walkers, this doll’s head does not touch the neck area. It is connected to the neck with a metal rod with visible space between the head and the body which makes it appear suspended.  The head can be manually moved to either side. See the close-up headshots in the gallery images.

Gallery

From L-R, front row and back row: Roddy Walker, Pedigree Saucy Walker, and two American-made Saucy-Walker-types

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Published by DeeBeeGee

Doll collector, historian, co-founder of the first e-zine devoted to collecting black dolls; author of black-doll reference books, doll blogs, and doll magazine articles.

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