Peggy Nisbet’s “Peg Top” dolls do not have any connection to clothes pegs –The “Peg” referred to is one or more wooden dowels used in the construction of the dolls, and for joining the various parts of the doll together.

The name, “Peg dolls” Came to be synonymous with the simple lathe turned wooden dolls from the Gröden Valley in the Alps.   Many Peg Dolls were, in later years, imported undressed from Holland – their young owners would make clothes for them using any scraps of fabric they could find

These wooden dolls were first issued as "Signed Introductory Editions for Special Category Members Only".   Introduced in June 1979, these dolls came in two body variations - Solid wooden arms and legs, (which allowed the dolls to be posed standing up, or with wooden hands and feet, attached to floppy fabric limbs - naturally enough, these dolls could only be displayed seated.

Many of the Peg Top dolls shown here are prototypes, distinguished by their round "cricket ball" heads.   Later production models had slimmer oval heads, which made them lighter in weight, and safer to play with in the hands of young toddlers.

When they first went on sale, the Peg Tops with solid limbs cost £9.00, ($25.00), and the floppy limbed versions were on sale for £8.50, ($24.00)

The inspiration for many of these dolls came from Nursery Rhymes - but some of the characters, (like the clowns and the scarecrow), must have been inspired by other childhood memories - perhaps the Circus, and the tales of the scarecrow Worzel Gummidge.

There are several other Peg Top dolls not represented here, and as with many Nisbet dolls, over time, they may have had changes of costume, to further confuse their identity, when wrist tags are lost!

The doll pictures will auto run as a slide show in the window above.

Press F5 (function key 5 on your keyboard), to re-start the slide show.

Alternatively, you may control the slideshow manually – follow the steps below :

• Place the cursor at the bottom of the window to access thumbnail and navigation control bar
• Click on the “?” (question mark) symbol (bottom left hand side of the control bar) for a detailed explanation of the controls
• See a full screen slideshow by clicking on the “Square with Arrow” symbol (2^nd from right on the control bar)
• Use the keyboard arrow keys to move forward and back through the slideshow, as desired
• Use the “ESC” key to leave full screen mode