Foam Rubber
A Foam Rubber example of one of the earliest of Peggy Nisbet's attempts at creating her own doll bodies.
One of the earliest materials Peggy Nisbet experimented with, in her attempts to find a material suitable for the construction of her own doll bodies, was foam rubber, and we suspect that it may have been supported on a wire frame or armature. (Exact construction details are not available to us).
Foam rubber doll bodies were made for Peggy by a company called "Dean's Rag Book Co"; although exact dating information is sketchy, we believe that these doll bodies were possibly only in use from 1954 to 1955/56.
We don't know too much about this process, but foam rubber was used by other toy companies to make the "Bendy" toys that were popular into the 1970's.
We only have one such doll in our collection - Over time, the rubber loses its flexibility, and can crack or crumble. (In fact, in the later stages of its deterioration, it can resemble a hard, stale biscuit, which will powder to dust, or turn to crumbs, if handled with anything more than the greatest delicacy of touch).
Our one example, shown below, is approaching her 60th birthday, and is holding out pretty well so far!
News
21st September 2023
Important Announcement
My dear wife, Christine, passed away on the 8th December, 2021, after 8 weeks in hospital. I was by her side, when she slipped away from me peacefully, with no pain or suffering.
Chris had been struggling with a slow decline in health, associated with a progressive, untreatable, and ultimately terminal lung disease, and finally succumbed to her old adversary, Pneumonia.
We had been friends for 55 years, together as a couple for 50 years, and married just a month short of 48 years, when she died.
This website was Chris's idea, and I did all the technical stuff, to make it work. After news of Chris's passing reached her close friends in the doll collecting world, I was deeply touched and gratified to hear their tributes to my dear wife, and I must thank them all for their kindness and support. Ultimately, it was her doll friends that gave me the courage to continue with the website.
In the months before her eventual hospitalisation, Chris had outlined a number of additions and changes she wanted to make to the website, and it is my intention to honour those wishes, and to implement the changes we had considered, over the coming weeks and months.
I must apologise to all those who have written to us via the website, only to have your emails go unanswered. Unfortunately, the email system had been hacked aroung the time Chris was going into hospital, and many emails must have been lost, as a result.
As you might imagine, I felt completely broken by Chris's loss, and it is only now, almost 22 months after her passing, that I have felt strong enough to even look at the website again.
My aim is to continue with the website, and to implement Chris's aims for her many new ideas as soon as I can. In the meantime, I have hopefully got the email system sorted out, and I will attempt to answer any enquiries as soon as I can, and to send replies with the same high degree of accuracy that a reply from Chris would have had.
From now on, I will be flying solo, whilst my co-pilot and guide will be soaring much higher, (though she is always in my heart, and in my thoughts).
My thanks to all our website visitors for your continued support
Dave (also known as Arthur), and Chris, (my lost love, Guinevere)
Christine Poulten
25th December 1949 - 8th December 2021
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