Excellent Napier Art Deco festival performance; Nora Wellings HMV Rangitiki sailor doll

Mary O'Neill with pilots dressed in their Art Deco outfits. The Art Deco  flights were available at the Napier Airport during the Napier Art Deco festival in February 2012.

 Extract from interview with Mary O'Neill:
"Over the period of 25 years Napier has developed into the Art Deco capital of New Zealand.  Napier's history, architecture and annual Art Deco festivals today help define the character of our town. The festival attracted a big  number of  international visitors and it has become an enormous commercial success. At the same time this event  creates temporary jobs during the season.

HMV Rangitiki sailor doll

There are thousands of people on the streets of Napier during the festival dressed in their original outfits made especially for this event. Fashion designers attending the festival look  for inspiration and ideas. Fascination with Napier has resulted  not only  in an enormous commercial success, but also in building a tourism reputation. I am delighted with the insights of Napier Art Deco festival performance. In our doll museum the Nora Wellings sailor doll is an example of the 1930s Art Deco doll " said today  Mary  O'Neill.

Sami doll made in Italy in the 1960s

This is an example of an Italian doll with  a soft, flexible plastic or vinyl body  and celluloid head made in the  1960s.  Doll marks are inscribed on the back of a  vinyl body  of this  doll. The marks  show a stork holding a baby and letters Made in Italy.  

The doll mark of a stork carrying a  baby  originated in Germany in the early 1900s, however, these 2 doll marks are  not identical. Italian stork  carrying a baby doll mark  is  different from the German stork carrying a baby doll mark created  by  celluloid doll maker Jacob Jung in  early 1912. In both cases there is  a standing stork but the baby itself is different. In the  Italian doll mark the stork is carrying a baby wrapped in a bunch, the German stork carrying a  baby. The doll  stands 15 cm tall.
The Sami people  are of the  Arctic  origin. Today  Sami live in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.   The  doll portrays  Sami girl dressed in a felt cloth with silky  scarf. The colors of Sami girl clothes are the colors of the Sami flag. The girl also wears a white scarf over her shoulders.