Ginny Dolls: Jennie H. Graves

Ginny was created by the founder of the Vogue Doll Company, Jennie H. Graves, from Sommerville, MA. The business was originally a "cottage industry" business run out of Mrs. Graves house. She sold a variety of bisque, composition and hard plastic dolls through the 1930s and 1940s, for which Ms. Graves designed most of the clothing, In 1948, she decided to create an 8" plastic play doll, and the Ginny doll was born. Ginnys remained hugely popular throughout the 1950s, and was carried by major department stores such as Gimbels. The Vogue Doll Company also came up against two large problems in the 1960's. First, the philosophy of the company was to NOT advertise on TV. Second, there was Barbie, who was capturing the hearts and play time of little girls everywhere. As a result, Ginny's profile with little girls became smaller and the popularity of Ginny waned.

In 1995, well-known dollmaker Wendy Lawton and several associates bought the rights to Ginny Dolls and the Vogue Dolls name, and Ginny as a quality doll was back. Wendy has been Ginny's design director ever since. The dolls became all hard-plastic again, and the costuming inspired by the original Graves designs of the 50's. Today these Ginny dolls have become very popular and admired once again.
     - Ginny Dolls, The History of Vogue, Inc.