America''s 1st Anatomically Correct Dolls
Li’l David and Li’l Ruthie by Horsman, 1975, are America’s first mass-produced, anatomically correct playline dolls. Each doll’s box contains a warning message to parents. (See the attached image of this message).
Li''l David and Li''l Ruthie were designed by Irene Szor, who designed dolls for Horsman from 1957 through 1986. For playline and other mass-produced dolls, it is very uncommon to know the identity of the designer. These 13-1/2in dolls have a one-piece, stuffed-vinyl body, painted hair and painted brown eyes. With the exception of their different anatomy and original outfits, they are identical. A punch-out birth certificate is included on the back of the box.
The dolls are pristine. Boxes show some wear.
These dolls were featured in my book: The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls which was published in 2003 by Hobby House Press, the first full-color black-doll reference book ever published. See the attached scanned image of their entry in the book.
