Kimport Dolls

The brainchild of Arthur and Ruby McKim, the Kimport Doll Company of Independence,Missouri began selling quality foreign dolls through the pages of its Doll Talk for Collectors catalog in the 1930s. The catalog was illustrated by Ruby McKim and dolls were accompanied by pedigree pages giving further information about the country and costume of the doll. In addition to selling via mail order, Kimport also sold at travelling doll shows and large department stores in the US.

The McKims made great efforts to source high quality regionally made dolls. In the 1930's and 40's Near East Industries provided Kimport with dolls depicting Montenegro,Bosnia,Serbia,Croatia and Macedonia. A subsidiary of the Near East Foundation, Near East Industries provided work for refugees in areas such as Greece,Bulgaria and Turkey making traditional crafts. At 8 inches with beautifully hand painted faces Kimport offered the dolls including Yelena of Serbia,Yulka of Macedonia and Hamilear of Montenegro.

 

Alongside the Near East Industries dolls,Kimport also sourced dolls from  Jugoslavia from individual craftspeople around the country.

Supply was interrupted by World War 2 and it's aftermath until 1957 when Kimport received a letter from Yugoslavia's national handicraft society indicating dolls were available via the state operated collective or cooperative association, known as Narodna Radinost. So in the spring of 1957 Kimport announced on the cover of Doll Talk a shipment  of 'precious Yugoslav dolls.'

Doll Talk for Collectors Vol 11 Number 11  1957

The intial dolls Kimport received, as pictured above were approximately 8 inches high and made of stockinette stretched over rubber. Representing Dalmatia,Montenegro and Slavonia,these dolls still crop up today often with the label Rukotvorine (which means handicrafts) Zagreb, Croatia.

The catalog indicated more dolls were on the way and in the next edition, dated May-June 1957 ,Kimport was delighted to announce for sale female dolls from Serbia,Croatia and Macedonia with matching men. These dolls are of a different type to the initial three from Rukotvorine and are the line of dolls I collect and which are featured in this blog.

 

Doll Talk May-June 1957

The dolls were to prove a popular line for Kimport and the 1962-63 edition of Kimport Dolls From the Whole Wide World catalog says of the dolls:

All are outstanding dolls, rich with handwork, embroidery and braid. Features are attractively embroidered on silk faces, dolls are well made with real leather shoes.

Kimport Dolls From The Whole Wide World 1960-61 Edition

The Montenegrin Bride and Groom featured in that 1960-61 catalog were intially offered for sale in July of 1959 and often pop up in catalogs over the years .

Montenegrin Bride and Groom

 Yugoslavian dolls featured on the Doll Talk cover in January of 1972. The history of Kimport's dealings with Yugoslavia was canvassed and dolls from Serbia,Croatia,Macedonia,Montengro and Slovenia were offered with the recommendation to purchase the whole set:

It is the first shipment we have had from Yugoslavia recently, and who knows,in these turbulent times the tides of national policy could change once again and dolls such as this no longer be available,perhaps next time never again.

Doll Talk Jan-Feb 1972

Kimport was to wind up in 1985 but in the 1983 catalog of July-August the bride and groom from mountainous Montenegro were still being offered.

Doll Talk July-August 1983

A shipment from Zagreb,Croatia was offered for sale in November-December 1983 of Serbian male and female dolls. 

Doll Talk November-December 1983

Although the Kimport Doll Company is no more, many souvenir doll collectors continue to learn from the catalogs and gain pleasure from the beautiful quality dolls.