Large "Skookum" Doll with blanket wrap and seed bead necklace

Larger "Skookum" Doll with blanket wrap and seed bead necklace
ca 1930-1940

21" h

Skookum dolls are Native American-themed souvenir dolls, not authentic Native American artifacts, created by Mary Dwyer McAboy in Missoula, Montana, starting in 1913. Initially featuring dried apple heads, they transitioned to composition heads (sawdust and glue) by 1914 and plastic heads by the 1940s due to mass production demands. The dolls, representing various Native American tribes, were dressed in wool or felt blankets resembling Hudson’s Bay or Navajo styles, with wooden bodies, pine legs, and accessories like beads or feathers. Ranging from 2-inch miniatures to 36-inch store displays, they often had painted eyes looking right (symbolizing health) or rarely left (linked to misfortune by some collectors). Production, later managed by Arrow Novelty Company (1920) and H.H. Tammen Co. (1929), ended in the early 1960s. The term “Skookum” was marketed as meaning “bully good” in a supposed Siwash (misnamed Salish) language