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0 / 31 Fotos
Doll Hospital
- Hospital de Bonecas (Doll Hospital) was founded in 1830 in Lisbon, Portugal.
© Getty Images
1 / 31 Fotos
Doll Hospital
- Founded by Dona Carlota, the hospital still fixes and restores dolls to this day.
© Getty Images
2 / 31 Fotos
Doll Hospital
- There is also a museum in the premises, making it one of Lisbon's local attractions.
© Getty Images
3 / 31 Fotos
Madame Alexander Heritage Gallery
- The Alexander Doll Company was founded in 1923 by Beatrice Alexander, in New York City.
© Getty Images
4 / 31 Fotos
Madame Alexander Heritage Gallery
- The company opened the new exhibition space, "Madame Alexander Heritage Gallery" which showcases their handmade dolls.
© Getty Images
5 / 31 Fotos
Japanese life-size dolls
- A local resident Tsukimi Ayano makes life-size dolls at her house in Nagoro, Japan. The dolls are used to counter the effects of depopulation.
© Getty Images
6 / 31 Fotos
Japanese life-size dolls
- Life-sized dolls now outnumber humans 10 to one in Nagoro, Japan.
© Getty Images
7 / 31 Fotos
Japanese life-size dolls
- Tsukimi Ayano dolls populate the village and can be found everywhere. Here are some emulating schoolchildren in an elementary school that has been closed for years.
© Getty Images
8 / 31 Fotos
Kabul Dolls
- The Dolls factory is run by women, and most of its employees are widows. All dolls are handmade.
© Getty Images
9 / 31 Fotos
Kabul Dolls
- Afghan worker Zahra, dresses a President Hamid Karzai doll at the Kabul Dolls factory in Afghanistan.
© Getty Images
10 / 31 Fotos
Kaguyabina
- Women make Kaguyabina, a pair of paper dolls placed inside a bamboo container, at Matsui Kogeisha doll worksho in Kamigori, Japan.
© Getty Images
11 / 31 Fotos
Kaguyabina
- The dolls are made for Hinamatsuri or "Girl's Day." In the weeks preceding this day, young girls put these traditional dolls on display at home.
© Getty Images
12 / 31 Fotos
Girls' Day
- Craftsman Takeshi Itou makes other type of dolls ahead of Hinamatsuri at Kishimoto Ningyou doll workshop in Ono, Japan.
© Getty Images
13 / 31 Fotos
Geli Dolls
- A woman makes Geli dolls in Mexico City, Mexico.
© Getty Images
14 / 31 Fotos
Geli Dolls
- Geli Dolls was founded in 1976 and makes 50 new models every year.
© Getty Images
15 / 31 Fotos
Geli Dolls
- The company's dolls are distributed across several Latin American markets.
© Getty Images
16 / 31 Fotos
Sheela Chowdhary
- Indian dollmaker Sheela Chowdhary sits amid her dolls.
© Getty Images
17 / 31 Fotos
Chatty Cathy dolls
- Dollmaker Kelly McIntyre has boxes full of doll parts that she uses to make and restore Chatty Cathy dolls.
© Getty Images
18 / 31 Fotos
Matryoshka dolls
- Olga Kyryllova sells Matryoshka dolls made by artists from the Ukraine and Russia.
© Getty Images
19 / 31 Fotos
Rag dolls
- A woman makes rag dolls at the 2017 Agrorus international agricultural fair in Russia.
© Getty Images
20 / 31 Fotos
Rag dolls
- A woman makes a traditional Russian rag doll at a workshop in Sergiyev Posad, Russia.
© Getty Images
21 / 31 Fotos
Wooden dolls
- A woman arranges wooden dolls in a workshop, back in 1938.
© Getty Images
22 / 31 Fotos
Bolivian dolls
- Bolivian women sew dolls made of clothes in 1967.
© Getty Images
23 / 31 Fotos
Doll manufacturing
- Women working in a manufacturing shop attach the hair onto the heads of dolls, circa 1908.
© Getty Images
24 / 31 Fotos
Sandy Aasheim
- Sandy Aasheim poses with her dolls at the Belmar Museum in 1983. Sandy Aasheim is a certified reproduction dollmaker, and reproduced porcelain dolls mostly from the years 1850 to 1920.
© Getty Images
25 / 31 Fotos
German workers
- German workers stuff dolls with straw, circa 1920.
© Getty Images
26 / 31 Fotos
1928
- A woman sews dolls' heads onto cloth bodies in Germany.
© Getty Images
27 / 31 Fotos
Annette Harrision
- Dollmaker Annette Harrision at home surrounded by her porcelain antique reproduction dolls.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
Netherlands
- A dollmaker works at the Dutch center of animated movie-making, circa 1955.
© Getty Images
29 / 31 Fotos
See also - Island of the Dolls: Tour the world's creepiest place
© Shutterstock
30 / 31 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 31 Fotos
Doll Hospital
- Hospital de Bonecas (Doll Hospital) was founded in 1830 in Lisbon, Portugal.
© Getty Images
1 / 31 Fotos
Doll Hospital
- Founded by Dona Carlota, the hospital still fixes and restores dolls to this day.
© Getty Images
2 / 31 Fotos
Doll Hospital
- There is also a museum in the premises, making it one of Lisbon's local attractions.
© Getty Images
3 / 31 Fotos
Madame Alexander Heritage Gallery
- The Alexander Doll Company was founded in 1923 by Beatrice Alexander, in New York City.
© Getty Images
4 / 31 Fotos
Madame Alexander Heritage Gallery
- The company opened the new exhibition space, "Madame Alexander Heritage Gallery" which showcases their handmade dolls.
© Getty Images
5 / 31 Fotos
Japanese life-size dolls
- A local resident Tsukimi Ayano makes life-size dolls at her house in Nagoro, Japan. The dolls are used to counter the effects of depopulation.
© Getty Images
6 / 31 Fotos
Japanese life-size dolls
- Life-sized dolls now outnumber humans 10 to one in Nagoro, Japan.
© Getty Images
7 / 31 Fotos
Japanese life-size dolls
- Tsukimi Ayano dolls populate the village and can be found everywhere. Here are some emulating schoolchildren in an elementary school that has been closed for years.
© Getty Images
8 / 31 Fotos
Kabul Dolls
- The Dolls factory is run by women, and most of its employees are widows. All dolls are handmade.
© Getty Images
9 / 31 Fotos
Kabul Dolls
- Afghan worker Zahra, dresses a President Hamid Karzai doll at the Kabul Dolls factory in Afghanistan.
© Getty Images
10 / 31 Fotos
Kaguyabina
- Women make Kaguyabina, a pair of paper dolls placed inside a bamboo container, at Matsui Kogeisha doll worksho in Kamigori, Japan.
© Getty Images
11 / 31 Fotos
Kaguyabina
- The dolls are made for Hinamatsuri or "Girl's Day." In the weeks preceding this day, young girls put these traditional dolls on display at home.
© Getty Images
12 / 31 Fotos
Girls' Day
- Craftsman Takeshi Itou makes other type of dolls ahead of Hinamatsuri at Kishimoto Ningyou doll workshop in Ono, Japan.
© Getty Images
13 / 31 Fotos
Geli Dolls
- A woman makes Geli dolls in Mexico City, Mexico.
© Getty Images
14 / 31 Fotos
Geli Dolls
- Geli Dolls was founded in 1976 and makes 50 new models every year.
© Getty Images
15 / 31 Fotos
Geli Dolls
- The company's dolls are distributed across several Latin American markets.
© Getty Images
16 / 31 Fotos
Sheela Chowdhary
- Indian dollmaker Sheela Chowdhary sits amid her dolls.
© Getty Images
17 / 31 Fotos
Chatty Cathy dolls
- Dollmaker Kelly McIntyre has boxes full of doll parts that she uses to make and restore Chatty Cathy dolls.
© Getty Images
18 / 31 Fotos
Matryoshka dolls
- Olga Kyryllova sells Matryoshka dolls made by artists from the Ukraine and Russia.
© Getty Images
19 / 31 Fotos
Rag dolls
- A woman makes rag dolls at the 2017 Agrorus international agricultural fair in Russia.
© Getty Images
20 / 31 Fotos
Rag dolls
- A woman makes a traditional Russian rag doll at a workshop in Sergiyev Posad, Russia.
© Getty Images
21 / 31 Fotos
Wooden dolls
- A woman arranges wooden dolls in a workshop, back in 1938.
© Getty Images
22 / 31 Fotos
Bolivian dolls
- Bolivian women sew dolls made of clothes in 1967.
© Getty Images
23 / 31 Fotos
Doll manufacturing
- Women working in a manufacturing shop attach the hair onto the heads of dolls, circa 1908.
© Getty Images
24 / 31 Fotos
Sandy Aasheim
- Sandy Aasheim poses with her dolls at the Belmar Museum in 1983. Sandy Aasheim is a certified reproduction dollmaker, and reproduced porcelain dolls mostly from the years 1850 to 1920.
© Getty Images
25 / 31 Fotos
German workers
- German workers stuff dolls with straw, circa 1920.
© Getty Images
26 / 31 Fotos
1928
- A woman sews dolls' heads onto cloth bodies in Germany.
© Getty Images
27 / 31 Fotos
Annette Harrision
- Dollmaker Annette Harrision at home surrounded by her porcelain antique reproduction dolls.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
Netherlands
- A dollmaker works at the Dutch center of animated movie-making, circa 1955.
© Getty Images
29 / 31 Fotos
See also - Island of the Dolls: Tour the world's creepiest place
© Shutterstock
30 / 31 Fotos
The weird and wonderful world of the dollmaker
Here's what's so special about dolls
© Getty Images
The use of dolls dates back to ancient civilizations. From Ancient Egypt, to Greece, and Rome, kids were already playing with dolls made of clay, stone, wood, bone, etc. But it wasn't until the 15th century that modern doll manufacturing as we know it started in Germany.
Not every doll in the market might be as popular as Barbie, but dollmakers around the world do craft unique dolls. Made in different shapes using various materials, some of these dolls and the stories behind them are truly amazing. Browse through the following gallery and discover the weird and wonderful world of the dollmaker.
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