Home » Travel » New Hampshire » Annalee is a New Hampshire Doll

Annalee is a New Hampshire Doll

© Christina Coruth

Holiday shopping season is upon us, and for many, that means it's time to find the perfect doll or stuffed animal. Long before there were Beanie Babies and Barbies, a New Hampshire woman began to design and create unique dolls that would one day launch her into a nationwide business.

Annalee Davis was born in 1915. Little did Annalee’s mother know as she and her daughter sewed doll clothes in her Concord, NH home that one day, the name Annalee would be synonymous with quality dolls. As Annalee got older, her interest in making doll clothes grew into an interest in designing and making dolls. At first she made marionettes. Then she turned her attention to creating hand painted, felt dolls. Each doll was unique and was intended to live its existence in the clothing specially designed for it. Annalee used her hobby to help the family out by making extra money selling her dolls through the New Hampshire League of Arts and Crafts, which today is known as the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen.

In 1941 Annalee married Chip Thorndike of Boston. Chip was in the poultry egg business. He had a farm in Meredith, New Hampshire. Annalee and Chip made their living in the poultry business until the early 1950s when the poultry egg industry in New Hampshire fell by the wayside. It was then that they decided to draw on Annalee’s talent by starting a doll making business from their home, as well as the homes of others they hired. Chip invented a wire form, which allowed the dolls to be posed. He also made accessories such as wooden skis and boats. At first, the dolls were sold to businesses that used them as window displays. The New Hampshire Department of Vacation Travel hired Annalee to make a display that included 150 dolls as part of its tourism campaign.

By 1955, the business was officially incorporated as Annalee Mobilitee Dolls. By the early 1960s word spread of these unique dolls and Annalee’s customer base switched from that of businesses wishing to use the dolls in their advertising campaigns, to the general public across the USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico, as retail outlets began to sell the dolls.

In 1964, the Thorndike home was no longer large enough to support the thriving business and the operation was moved to another location in Meredith. The business has evolved as bunnies, mice, bears, and seasonal dolls and characters have made their way into the collection. Each generation of dolls and animals is as unique and distinct as each generation of people who purchase them.

The copyright of the article Annalee is a New Hampshire Doll in New Hampshire is owned by . Permission to republish Annalee is a New Hampshire Doll in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.