Some History on the Bleuette Doll

Hello everyone, I have received several e-mails asking me information on the Bleuetttes Dolls so I've decided to post the history of the Doll, I will try to do a diferent Doll every week, so here it is for week one, (Bleuette's Dolls).

Bleuette commenced production in 1905 and was produced continuously until 1960. Because Bleuette dolls were created to be sewn for by French girls, the size of Bleuette dolls is standardized. From 1905 to 1933, Bleuette dolls were 10 5/8" tall. After 1933, the dolls were 11 3/8" tall. Early Bleuette dolls always have bisque heads, with dolls made later having composition heads. All Bleuettes have fully-jointed composition bodies.

Bleuette was born specifically to be a premium for little girls who bought a subscription to “La Semaine de Suzette,” a popular magazine for French girls. The magazine offered Bleuette to all subscribers, and promised patterns for her in each issue. Over the years, many hundreds of patterns were created for Bleuette.

Bleuette has become immensely popular with antique and vintage doll collectors who love to sew. The incredible variety of patterns produced for the doll through "La Semaine de Suzette" has certainly fueled Bleuette's popularity, but her perfect size for costuming has also contributed. Prices for Bleuettes have skyrocketed in recent years, with many early dolls bringing several thousand dollars at auctions and on eBay, and original Gautier-Languereau outfits bringing several hundred.

Bleuette is certainly one of the "it" dolls of the early 21st century! Although she is a particularly French creation of the 20th century, she has found legions of modern fans in the United States. Since many antique and vintage doll collectors cannot afford the original Bleuettes, many talented dollmakers have created detailed reproductions of the dolls which can themselves sell for several hundred dollars each.

At doll conventions, separate Bleuette get-togethers and events are frequently held, and a magazine about Bleuette, "Bleuette's World" is published bi-monthly in the United States.
Identifying Bleuette is done mostly through the size of the doll as well as the markings of the doll, which include the SFBJ 301, SFBJ 60, UNIS France 301, and UNIS France 60 marks; bodies are generally marked with 2 on the torso of the doll and 1 on the sole of the feet. Collectors often forget that all dolls of Bleuette's size produced by S.F.B.J and UNIS France are not Bleuettes.

Hope everyone enjoy having some information and history on the precious Bleuette's Dolls.

Thank you for reading my Blog and have a wonderful day.