Large Norah Wellings sailor doll with SS Corfu on tallyband

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Norah Wellings

c. 1930 - 1960

Overview

Cloth sailor doll with blue velvet body sailor suit, black shoe feet, light blue collar with black ribbon, and cream coloured string across neck. Cloth face and hands in pale pink hues with painted eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth. White sailor hat with a black ribbon tallyband, having very faded writing 'SS Corfu'.
Label on underside of left foot: 'Made in England by Norah Wellings'

Historical information

Norah Wellings was a British dollmaker who was initially employed by the Chad Valley company before branching out on her own.
Norah Wellings cloth dolls were sold by most shipping companies on board their ocean liners, with the most common doll being the sailor doll featuring the name of the ship on its tallyband. They often also came with a life ring printed with the name of the ship.
Most of these sailor dolls were around 8 inches (23 cm) tall, but this one is a larger size (15 inches or 380 mm).

SS (SteamShip) or RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Corfu was launched in May 1931 and had its maiden voyage in October of the same year. She was operated by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company as an ocean liner before being requisitioned by the British Admiralty in September 1939 and converted to an armed merchant cruiser. She was used for the duration of WWII, ending her military service after bringing prisoners of war back to the UK from the far east. She was returned to her owners in 1947 and reverted to being an ocean liner.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00068

Item type

Collectibles

Figures

Souvenirs

Themes

Leisure > Toys
Social History
Transport
War and Conflict
War and Conflict > World War 2

Material

Cloth

Paint