Ontario, CA -- (SBWire) -- 02/24/2014 --The History of Bobblehead Dolls: Let us start with all those different names by which these attractive dolls are called. They are known as bobble heads, bobble head dolls, bobbing heads, bobbleheads, moving heads, nodders, nodding heads, wobblers, nodding heads, but 'Bobblehead' is the most popular and commonly used name of these charming collectible dolls amongst all other names.
Now let us know what exactly a bobblehead is:
BOBBLEHEAD: Generally a 'Bobblehead' doll can be described as 'a type of collectible toy which is also known as nodder or wobbler, being designed with its head often oversized compared to its body and a spring or hook connecting head with body', so that a light tap can make the head to bobble, as the name itself indicates.
Though the present day bobbleheads originate in Germany, but the bobbleheads themselves have been around for a really long time. There are records of ancient China, Japan and India producing these string dolls in bamboo and terracotta etc., and in case you were wondering, yes, and their heads bobbled already back then. Tanjore dolls are considered as the best example of bobbleheads in ancient India, which has continued till now.
Tanjore dolls: A Tanjore doll is a type of the traditional Indian bobblehead or roly-poly toy made of terracotta material.
Its center of gravity and total weight is concentrated at its bottom-most central core all the time, so as to present a dance-like continuous movement with slow-damping oscillations. Hence it comes back to its normal seating position automatically after being tilted/disturbed anyway.
Round-bottomed toys are unique, but other standing types are also available. Traditionally, these toys are handmade and their exteriors are painted to an intrinsic sense of humor. Nowadays, they are also being made in plastics.
So some or the other ways these bobblehead dolls that were produced in the ancient China, Japan and India can be considered as the precursor to the German style of bobble head that is prevalent today. The German bobble head dolls were made of ceramic and began production in the late 1700's, early 1800's. The term nodder originates with these early German dolls.
Bobble head dolls were first believed to be referenced in 1842 in the short story "The Overcoat" by writer Nikolai Gogol. The story is also known as "The Cloak" and has been adapted to film and stage.
The entry of bobbleheads into popular culture took place during the 1960s when sports leagues in the United States created series of them, especially around baseball and American football. The style and material of these bobbleheads was significantly different from the ones we'll be referring to in a moment. Back then they had cherub-like faces, simple blocks for a body and they were made of paper-mache.
Period of popularity:
Throughout the 1960's, bobblehead dolls were very popular and the reason for the popularity was the first ever mass promotion of the bobblehead dolls that was done for Major League Baseball's World Series.
But unfortunately the tremendous popularity created by the first ever mass promotion was restricted to almost only for a decade and the craze for the bobblehead dolls was decreased from the early 1970's to the 1980's, because of the new collecting craze of the people.
Though the craze for the bobblehead dolls was decreased, but it was not ended, in fact, it was just a little break in the journey of the bobblehead dolls towards the peak of popularity in the world of unique and artistic gifts.
The bobble head doll seemed to be deemed a 20th century relic by the turn of the century, but it was again the Major League Baseball that again brought back and rejuvenated the bobble head doll from pop culture oblivion.
This rejuvenation process of the bobbleheads was done in style by all most all famous sports teams of those days by having the ceramic bobbleheads of their most popular players to attract the sports fans and thereby to promote the sports.
Especially the Baseball teams of the United States have played a major role in the process of rejuvenation and popularization of bobblehead dolls, as they began to offer the most attractive and durable bobblehead doll made of ceramic, as a promotional item for their fans.
So this positive and sincere effort to promoting the sports resulted in a whole new era of bobblehead craze and ultimately the bobbleheads became one of the most popular and eagerly sold items of those days.
Then onwards these bobble heads were amongst a new trend, as they were created with a solid plastic mold with an additional facility for the bobble head to speak by pressing a button.
The most popular current styles of bobbleheads are made of solid, durable plastic, poly-resin, and flocked. The flocked style bobble head incorporates a plastic shell covered with fuzz like flocked layer on the outer shell.
So the bobbleheads have remained popular since their reintroduction in pop culture in the late 90s, because of the increasing demand for the licensed, animal, and sports bobble heads raged, due to the love of various animals, their compact size, and the ability to place the bobble head on the car dashboard or back window.
This way the bobbleheads reached a new peak of popularity in the world Of unique and artistic gifts, in the early to mid 00's and have remained a primary retailer products and one of the world's greatest and unique gifts ever since.
Contact Info:
Address - CustomBobble Online Shop
USA Tel: 1-347-416-6070
Canada Tel: 1-866-623-1893
Website URL - http://www.custombobble.com
