Everyone has at least heard of a Kewpie Doll. Most have little information of one of the last century’s early worldwide fads. We at The Backwoods have listed on Esty an original jointed Kewpie Doll. Let’s look at the history of this well-known icon.
The Kewpie doll is associated with illustrator Rose O’Neill. O’Neill invented the character of the Kewpie for a comic strip published for the Christmas 1909 Ladies Home Journal. She explained the character of the Kewpie as, “a benevolent elf who did good deeds in a funny way.” The comic strip became a household name. Because if its popularity it was used to advertise many products of the time.
In 1912, O’Neill was approached by George Borgfeldt & Company, a toy distributor to license the making of the first Kewpie dolls of bisque porcelain. The popularity of the doll spread all over the world with the largest markets being the US, Australia, and Japan. In the United States, with the royalties, copyrights, and trademarks associated with the Kewpie doll O’Neill was able to amass an estimated $1.4 million, which in today’s dollars would be worth a whopping $35 million.
Rose O’Neill believed in many social causes of the early 20th century including woman’s right to vote. To that end, she illustrated souvenir programs distributed at marches, postcards, and posters- some involving Kewpies for the National American Woman Suffrage Association.
At the end of her life, due to her philanthropy and excessive lifestyle, she died penniless in 1944 at the age of 69 from heart failure resulting from stroke induced paralysis.
Please take the opportunity to go to The Backwoods Shoppe’s Etsy page to see our Kewpie Doll listing and other fun and unique finds we have available.
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F.A.C.T.S. from The Backwoods 