Doll:Schnickel - Fritz

When the A. Schoenhut Company first introduced its doll line in 1911, it included both child and infant dolls designed by Italian sculptor M. Graziano. The two fifteen-inch infant dolls in the collection, Tootsie-Wootsie and Schnickel-Fritz, had fully-jointed wooden bodies. Both had lifelike and animated, though not necessarily "pretty," character faces. Schnickel-Fritz appeared a bit older and more mischievous than Tootsie-Wootsie. The company, however, decided to discontinue both of the original infants in 1912, replacing them with infant and toddler dolls designed by Harry E. Schoenhut, son of the company's founder Albert. Harry reportedly modeled the dolls after his young nephew. The new dolls, while still realistic, had more muted expressions. The line continued to evolve, and in 1917 Schoenhut introduced "walking" infants and toddlers with special wire hinges in their legs that allowed one leg to spring forward when pressure was applied to the standing leg. In 1921, Schoenhut's first sleeping eye dolls appeared; they could close their eyes when laid down. Harry's collection remained in production until 1928.