It has been more than five years since I wrote a post about Christine, the walking doll that I received when I was about four years old. In that post, I wrote that I did not know for sure who had made Christine as she was unmarked but I believed that she was either a BND or a Roddy. Since that time I have seen a couple of dolls on eBay described as BND but I have yet to find a book reference or a picture of a brand new boxed one. A swing tag or a box would help to ID her positively.
The subject came up again last month while Naomi was on holidays in Adelaide. One day she went to a big antique place and found a doll that she told me looked a lot like Christine. She sent me a photo and the doll looked exactly like Christine, but with blonde hair. Not only that but her dress was just like the dress that Christine used to have except that Christine’s was pink. The doll and another which I’ll talk about in another post came home with Naomi. Here are the girls together.
Naturally, we started to talk about who made them again and Naomi found another picture of a doll tagged BND on eBay. BND, by the way, stands for British National Dolls. This company was based in London between 1930-60 but so far I haven’t found out a lot more about them. They made a lot of dolls and I would love to know more about the company history.
One piece of information I did run across was that BND supplied dolls to Marks and Spencer’s for their “St Michaels” brand including one called “Dollie Walker” in the 1950s and early 60s. I did an internet search for “BND Dollie Walker” and came up with an earlier version of the doll which was all hard plastic. These earlier hard plastic dolls were marked BND on the back of the neck. Perhaps when they switched to the vinyl heads they stopped marking them. BND doll clothing was never tagged but apparently, their original shoes were marked BND London. I am pretty sure I never saw that on Christine’s shoes, however. I have managed to find a picture of one of these dolls with her box which is clearly marked “Dollie Walker”. I will keep trying to find a picture of a boxed transitional doll who is like Christine and her new sister Caroline but I think that we have solved the mystery.
Caroline still needs a wash and a bit of a tidy up and when I have done that I will take some more photos of her.
This has also made me think that the smaller all vinyl doll I have who looks rather like Christine may also be a BND. They made a similar looking doll called Marilyn who has different hair but the same body and face. I’ve left a picture in the links. See what you think.
Sources:
Worthpoint photo of BNDTransitional Walker
Worthpoint photo of BND hard plastic Dollie Walker
Vectis auctions photo of hard plastic Dollie Walker with box
Dolly Sisters Down Memory Lane page about BND walkers
Worthpoint photo of BND all vinyl “Marilyn”
Dolls, Dolls, Dolls 
All very interesting. I will have a go at finding out about the BND factory too. If I get lucky I will pass on the links. You never know!
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It’s as though Christine got a sister or found a cousin. I’m really impressed by your research and the breadth and depth of your collection.
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All I could find so far was information given by sellers. I’d love to learn a bit about the company as well. They were not as big as Lines Brothers who owned Pedigree but they did make a lot of dolls.
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My lovely Dad used to work for British National Dolls. He worked for them in London, then they relocated to Ramsgate, Kent in 1960 and we meet bed with them. Needless to say, I had a huge number of dolls and clothes when I was little! Wish we still had them.
I do have a couple of very fragile dolls from an Italian manufacturer, that the company marketed, but the best dolls were the ones that BND made!
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I bet you did have some lovely dolls. Some of the hard plastic walkers were very pretty but I have special fondess for the transitional ones because that’s what mine is.
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Correction…..”moved with them”
Apologies on behalf of autocorrect!
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I thought that’s what you meant. I’m sure Ramsgate was a pleasant change from London. Where did you live when you were there?
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Sweet dolls. So thoughtful of your sister to have gotten a friend for Christine.
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Yes it was. She always manages to find me interesting dolls.
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She has a very sweet face, reminds me of a doll my mum has with curly hair… I don’t know who she is though and I don’t think she is the same. Makes me want to do some research.
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Maybe you should. It is often interesting and fun to try and track down dolly history.
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Hello, I read your interesting post and thought you might like to know that the BND (British National Doll) company was founded by E. Ainley in London in 1928, and, rather like Pedigree, run by three brothers. Initially the company produced china-headed and composition dolls, but after the war they switched to hard plastic. As with many other British toy concerns of the time they obtained moulds from America, which explains why so many British and American dolls appear identical. Dollie Walker and Babykins were probably their most popular dolls. Eventually, the company sold most of their dolls through Marks and Spencer, which led to their downfall because in the early 1960s they were suddenly told that the stores were no longer going to sell dolls. By then, BND had lost most of their other outlets, and so the company were forced to close. I interviewed E. Ainsley’s son a few years ago, and heard the story.
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Thanks so much for sharing Susan. I knew some of it but not about the moulds from America though it doesn’t surprise me. I wonder who Dollie Walker’s American twin was?
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