Doll:Mae Starr Doll

The Mae Starr dollI, made by Effanbee from 1928 to 1944, came with six phonographic cylinders that fit, one at a time, into the phonograph hidden in the doll's torso. The cylinders recited familiar nursey rhymes like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Old Mother Hubbard." The Mae Starr doll was similar to the Averill company's Dolly Rekord, which first appeared on the market in 1922. In 1912 doll makers Bernard Fleischaker and Hugo Baum pooled their talents and fortunes to form the Effanbee Doll company. Their success seems evident from the nearly 100 years of operation and from the scores of well-known and much loved dolls they produced like the Patsy line of dolls including her many, many family relations; the Dy-Dee Baby, the first of the drink & wet dolls; the Ann Shirley doll made at the time of the movie release of "Anne of Green Gables"; the American Children line of dolls desigend by the talented artist Dewees Cochran; and the doll made to resemble the celebrated heroine of the popular comic strip "Brenda Starr, Reporter." Effanbee produced dolls most notably from composition and cloth, hard plastic, and vinyl.The company made one of the first Mama dolls in 1918, and these sweet-faced, soft, and huggable dolls "with the human voice" encouraged little girls in nurturing play. In addition to the Mama dolls, Effanbee offered several infant and toddler dolls, like Mae Starr, made to be as lifelike as possible.