The Narodna Radinost dolls from Yugoslavia were available to American doll collectors during the 1950s and 1960s from the Mark Farmer Company. The Mark Farmer Company of California started life in the 1940s and is usually associated with Jennie June the very popular reproduction china doll they began selling in the spring of 1949.
However the catalogues also offered a wide variety of dolls from around the world with a particularly plentiful number of Japanese dolls including Kokeshi and Hakatas. WIZO (Women's International Zionist Organisation) dolls from Israel, Maria Helena's Portuguese dolls and Navajo dolls made by America's first people can all be found.
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| Japanese dolls |
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| Male doll on left featured in the catalog below |
Of interest to me are the dolls from Yugoslavia which are described in the catalogues as being of unbelievable detail and hand work. Pictured above are an 8" male doll and a 5" female doll. The catalogues also offered the smallest Yugoslavian dolls in the 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 inch sizes. The use of photos has been especially useful in my quest for dolls and, coupled with the Kimport catalogs (
Kimport Dolls), the Mark Farmer catalogues have been a wonderful source of information and entertainment.
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Japanese dolls
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| Dolls from Israel, Portugal and the British Isles |
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