Dancing Sweetheart Dolls

Dolls are dancing. Didn’t you know about it? Then now I will tell you about them.

Some days ago  I got a very pretty doll. I have never met such pretty faces and therefore decided to find information about the manufacturer and the history of this doll.

These dolls are usually not labeled or their labeling does not tell us anything anymore, today. Some of these dolls are only rarely found at auctions.
They probably live in doll collections or stand on shelves slightly forgotten. Let’s remember them.

Sweetheart as a logo (verbal and picture) was officially registered on October 14, 1971, in DPMA (German Patent and Trademark Office), class 28 (dolls in national costumes, winding (dancing) dolls, mechanical toys).
Dolls and other toys with this logo were produced earlier, it is only the official date of its registration.
Now this company is no longer there. The sign was removed in 2001. The owner of the brand is August Knoch KG. The toy factory Knoch August KG (Knoch August KG Spielwarenfabrik) was located at Wallstr. 2, 96465 Neustadt bei Coburg, Germany, still displays its recognizable logo on the building..

Neustadt bei Coburg is, in fact, one of the largest toy manufacturing centers in Germany and this company is just one of many, far from being the largest and most famous. It was founded in 1923 and existed until the 90s. The founder of the company August Knoch was in charge of the company until his death in 1950, and since then and until 1995 the company was headed by Georg Messner, the husband of his daughter Carla.
Now the company is engaged in the production of garden sculptures, but in the museum of the company, you can see a photo with the history of production.

Since its foundation, Knoch August KG has been producing small souvenir dolls in national costumes (Trachtenpuppen), which were driven by a built-in flywheel mechanism, performing a kind of dance, spinning around its axis. The greatest demand for these dolls was in souvenir shops – they were dressed in various outfits, among other things, in national costumes of different countries and regions.

One of the puppet models was sold in a magnificent wardrobe by Dora Kuhn, where there was also room for a replacement wardrobe.

I guess my doll’s story started in the ’50s. It was at this time that the company began to produce plastic dolls.

I found a lot of pictures of packages and costumes. I hope you will be interested to see this puppet abundance.

Also, my doll has one of the options of attachment and mechanism, simple and ingenious, breastplate with a head cast separately. This apparently made it easy to complete the doll.
At the same time, a characteristic thickening appeared on the dolls’ legs, imitating a sock.

Turns out my doll is the most popular mold. Six inches tall. The doll was dressed as a Black Forest resident. But of course, I changed her into a new dress.

The company, during its work, has a lot of beautiful dolls and toys. And perhaps this doll will not be left alone.