Tonner Dolls

Robert Tonner worked for Bill Blass for 18 years before starting the Tonner Doll Company in 1991, with an eye towards making a fashion doll that would rival Barbie. His first fashion dolls were jointed porcelain dolls. The Tonner Doll Company also made porcelain child dolls and then vinyl child dolls while Robert Tonner worked on his idea for a fashion doll. His first fashion dolls were the vinyl American Models, followed by Zoe, and then Julia. Tonner felt that there were problems with the lengths of various limbs in the American Model Dolls, Zoe, and Julia. He finally achieved his vision of his ideal fashion doll with Tyler Wentworth, whose backstory is that of a fashion designer.

Tyler Wentworth

In addition to fashion dolls, the Tonner Doll Company makes vinyl recreations of Betsy McCall, the famous paper doll from the 1950s. The Tonner Doll Company has also designed dolls based on characters from movies such as Titanic, the Harry Potter movies, and Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as dolls based on characters from DC Comics. Tonner has also created doll versions of Bette Davis, Ava Gardner, and Joan Crawford.

We are very excited to be able to feature a Tonner doll in the Spencer Doll and Toy Museum and will post pictures here and on Facebook when we receive it.

~Robin