Hush-a-Bye Betty Doll pattern in sleeve - Laurie Cohen

Rectangular pattern sleeve, open top and bottom, illustrated on the front with a doll and the Laurie Cohen 'Hush-a-Bye Doll' logo, with the following words printed in red: 'Gladden the heart of Your Little Girl with a 19" Betty Doll from the Ever Popular L.C. 'Hush-A-Bye' Family. Happiness for Little Hearts. This pattern is true in every details to illustration. Instructions, Face and Pattern Enclosed. A Wartime Product.'

The reverse is illustrated in red with a pattern chart, labelled 'Lay enclosed patterns as illustrated on pattern chart below'.

Contained within the folder are two items. The first is a cotton doll's face, printed in three colours (red, blue, brown) on cotton, pre-cut to the correct shape, and tacked to a scrap card backing (in this case, a scrap of 'Peters' Ice Cream' printed card advertising the 1935 3-D film 'Audioscopik').

The second item is a folded pattern sheet, printed on one side in red, with instructions, measuring 715 mm wide x 473 mm high. The Registered Design number, 63040 is noted here. The instructions comment: 'Remnants or one of your last year's tub frocks would be suitable to use'.

Paper doll pattern made by Laurie Cohen Pty Ltd of Sydney during the Second World War. Cohen had joined his father's gift ware importing and wholesaling company (L C Cohen Pty Ltd) in the late 1920s, travelling to Germany in 1927 to source bisque porcelain doll's heads with the concept of assembling the dolls locally using cheaper celluloid limbs imported from Japan and soft cloth-filled bodies made in his factory. So successful was this notion that the company's entire focus soon switched to doll making and distribution. The trademark 'Hush-a-bye' was originally patented by Cohen on 31 May 1934, by which time the company was producing a line of almost 300 dolls of varying quality and size. In 1935 the company moved to larger premises on the corner of Day & Druitt Streets, Darling Harbour, with its factory in Paddington.

The company continued importing and assembling until the outbreak of the Second World War, when all imports from Germany (and later Japan) ceased. Cohen managed to source composition heads from Canada for a time, but by 1940 all stocks were exhausted, manpower provisions had pulled many staff from the company and Cohen was forced to rethink his strategy or cease production. The solution came by making moulds of German doll heads and producing the positive in latex and plaster.

Not able to meet demand, and restricted in the amount of latex available, Cohen started production of sewing patterns for dolls in about 1941/1942, producing this example - the 'Betty' 19 inch doll - and at least another style known as 'Susie' - an 18 inch example. The marketing of these patterns thus allowed dolls to be made at home from any scraps available to hand - such as 'last year's tub frocks'.

While Registered Design number 63040 applied to the use of dolls having composition heads, it also incorporated the use of the 'Hush-a-Bye' name and logo which Cohen registered on 31 May 1934, hence its continued use on the logo.