Adopted a new doll—question about hair care and origin

Dear doll moms, big and small,

My 43-year-old niece gave me one of her dolls. She’s probably around 40 years old, is about 50 cm tall, and has beautiful long hair. I think she looks like an angel with her pretty blue eyes. She was warmly welcomed, adopted, and is now named Sophie.

This is how she arrived at my place.



And of course, I dressed her right away in that pretty, colorful outfit. It fits her perfectly. Doesn’t she look cute in it?



Now I have a question for you. Unfortunately, her hair is very matted. Do any of you have a tip for me on how I can make it look nice again? I’d really rather not cut it off.

Another question is: Does anyone know her origin or what she’s called? She has a stamp on the back of her neck. To the left of it is the number 45, and to the right, 15. Unfortunately, I can’t make out the stamp—I’ll try to take a picture of it.

Warm regards from the doll mom, Monika

I’ve always washed doll hair carefully with mild detergent; then it was easy to comb out again.

Thanks, Veronika. I assume shampoo would work too, right?

Yeah, that should work too. Use just a little bit and be careful at first—you’ll feel right away if it fits.

Monika, shampoo works best. It’s important that you wash the hair only with cold water. You can also use a little fabric softener when rinsing. When combing out the hair, always start at the ends and work your way up carefully. Don’t pull on it!
Don’t blow-dry the hair—let it air dry, even if it takes a while. 

That’s probably a Zapf doll. My oldest daughter and her colleagues used to receive dolls like these as Christmas gifts every year at the workshop where they were learning the tailoring trade; back then, they sewed the bodies for these dolls on commission for Zapf. One of her dolls could be the twin of yours, Monika

Best regards, Inge

Ruth, thank you. Yes, I’ll give that a try. I probably would have started it differently. It’s definitely worth making her hair look nice again.

Inge, I suspected it was a “Zapfpuppe.” That’s great that you even know how they’re made. I think she’s very pretty, anyway. And she’s looking forward to lots of new dresses. :-)

That could be a “Flöckchen” by Zapf.
I had one like that about 40 years ago—I got it for Christmas. And then, unfortunately, it was stolen from me at a children’s party 🥺

If anyone else has one like this and wants to sell it, I’d be very interested!

I’m not sure how it works with dolls, but when searching for old Steiff animals, I’ve often found what I was looking for on Etsy.

Flöckchen—what a cute name. That probably matches the doll’s age pretty well. She certainly looks adorable.

I’ll be sure to check out Etsy, too. Thanks for your help.

Oh, how lovely—our doll mom Moni has a “new addition” again.
Your Flöckchen really is an angel with those sky-blue eyes. I’m getting a little jealous, but my three doll kids are enough (space-wise).
She looks even cuter in her new outfit. You’re so lucky to have “been given” her.
How about a recent family photo of your dolls?

Warm regards
Andrea

Yes, Andrea, I’ll take a recent photo of the whole doll gang sometime. Sophie, the one I adopted, is really quite pretty. I just couldn’t say no… She’s already found two friends, too. :-) I’ll take a photo of the three of them.

It’s probably not Flöckchen. I looked her up online and found completely different dolls, but not this one. Apparently, she didn’t have a name. I found a lot of photos of her, though. In any case, she’s also from Zapf and is labeled 45–15.

Since we’re heading to visit the grandkids soon and have another trip coming up after that, I don’t have much time right now. Things will be better again by the end of September.