Kewpie Dolls My Latest Curiosity

I was researching another important character in Missouri history when I came upon the story of Rose O'Neil and the Kewpie illustrations. Since then I have been curious about the Kewpie Dolls.

"Rose was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on June 25, 1874, Rose grew up in an environment where creativity and artistic talents were encouraged by her parents. At the age of 14, she entered a drawing in a contest being run by the Omaha World Herald and won first place.

A few years later, Rose moved to New York to reside with the Sisters of Saint Regis. She was hired by the popular magazine, Puck, and before she reached her 20th birthday, Rose O'Neill had become America's highest paid female illustrator. At this point in her life, she married for the first time and the union was an extremely unhappy one. Her husband repeatedly absconded with Rose's earnings and spent them on himself rather than allowing her to use the money to support them as well as her family. The marriage ended in divorce.

This was followed by a second marriage to one of Puck Magazine's editors - a man with an unpleasant disposition. Again, the relationship ended in divorce and Rose went back to live with her parents in 1907.
During what must have been a very sad period in her life, Kewpie was born. The legend goes that while Rose was taking an afternoon nap, she dreamed that tiny cupids visited her, and were, in fact, bouncing around all over her blankets. She awoke and dashed to her drawing board and the illustrations that resulted were the very first Kewpies." This information is from http://www.dollkind.com/kewpie-doll.shtml

"The Kewpie doll first made its appearance in 1909 in illustrations drawn by Rose O’Neill and printed in 'Ladies’ Home Journal.' The Kewpie Pages became increasingly popular, and O’Neill began producing Kewpie Kutouts, which were paper dolls printed on front and back that were accompanied with stories. Due to increasing popularity and demand, figurines and models of the Kewpie were made from this illustration in 1913. Joseph Kallus was the sculptor who put together the first three-dimensional depiction of the doll. The name "Kewpie" is derived from the name "Cupid." This name was chosen because of the doll’s resemblance to the Roman God of Love. The Kewpie doll has been continuously manufactured since its introduction in 1913." This info. is from http://www.ebay.com/gds/Kewpie-Dolls-Buying-Guide-/10000000177627396/g.html 

Here are some photos and illustrations of the Kewpie:

Rose's Illustrations

Some of the first Kewpie Dolls

Some clothed or about to be clothed Kewpies

Some more illustrations                   

Some more very cute Kewpie Dolls

I just love the expressions on each Kewpie's precious little face. They are so adorable. They were the first mass produced toy. I can understand why they were so popular.

I found this information on Google where are many more images of Kewpie Dolls.

Moving 2014

It was interesting for me to live in this historical building. When I live in a city I love to find out the history of that town. North Kansas City has a rich history and so does the Sear's Building which is now the Northland Lofts. We lived on the 6th floor and our 7 large windows faced east. We witnessed some spectacular sun rises and weather situations from our lofty view. The building showed some wear and tear due to it's age. In "Bridging the Century The Story of North Kansas City" The Author Gus Leimkuhler writes, "Foundations of a City  In 1912 the first major plant, The Sears Roebuck Building, was erected at 715 Armour Rd. Other than the flour mills, the nine-story structure was the tallest building in NKC, and it still dominates the skyline today." He also writes, " Originally the Sears Building was a storage and catalog warehouse for the national retail company, and it served that function for 12 years. But it had other duties too."
"In 1918 US Army recruits were quartered there while they underwent training in the Rumely Building." The Rumely Building was just to the east of the Sears Bldg. on Armour Road. 

"Sears moved its operation across the river after World War I, and another mail-order business, Bellas-Hess, moved in, utilizing the building as a clearinghouse, a warehouse and a manufacturing facility." as per Gus.

 National Bella-Hess

(former National Cloak and Suit Company)

After Sears left:

"Meanwhile, around 1910, a company dating back to the 1800's, called National Cloak & Suit, (which legend says was based out of New York City's Greenwich Village), changed its name to National Bellas-Hess, and went into a period of prosperity, achieving sales of $40 million by 1928.   Bellas-Hess acquired the Sears building in North Kansas City around 1924-1925." I found this info. on the following site

http://www.examiner.com/article/bellas-hess-catalog-retailer-used-sears-warehouse-longer-than-sears-did

 "Bridging the Century The Story of North Kansas City" The Author Gus Leimkuhler further writes, "Several businesses shared the Sears Building at any one thime. In 1926, it was occupied by bag manufacturer (Percy Kent Bag Co. Inc.) and used as storage by both Corn Products Inc. and Hooven & Allison Cordage Company." The photo above was in Gus's book also.

I read somewhere that a huge Antique Store was housed in the Sears Bldg. just before the building was converted into loft apartments in about 1996.

So this is some of the history of The Sears Building and our former residence. We lived there only a year but it was an interesting year indeed.

We are so excited and surprised that we are able to start buying the 1973 split entry house in the Wilson Acres Subdivision at the southwest end of Excelsior Springs, Missouri. The renovation is an ongoing process. We are making headway.

The front of our Fine Street house.

When we were moving in we had to fight off stickery bushes at the entry way. They were the first things to go. We then moved reddish lava rock from the garden bed and Jess tilled the soil. Jess then pulled out the two bushes and removed the bars from the basement window. We then bought tulips and planted them. We still have the other garden area at the other side of the step. We have more bushes to move out along with the lava rock and removing the bars from another basement window. Then more tilling and planting. It will look so cool.