Antique Knitted outlets Boy Doll, American, c. 1895, New England Cloth Doll

This is a late 19th. c. doll knitted entirely from head to toe and stuffed with cotton. In the first photo, he is shown with his friend who is available in a separate listing in my shop. This fellow's arms are separately attached, and his features embroidered. His hair is brown yarn and I absolutely love how wild it looks under his little red cap. He wears a red sweater that is missing its embroidered buttons, blue leggings with fading and lots of holes, red and black leggings and black shoes. He has some old darns to his sweater and the tips of his hands, but I think they gave up on his leggings. He is clean with no odor and is 18" tall. He was most likely based on a Nov. 19, 1892, Harper's Bazaar pattern for a knitted boy doll that is quite similar. The instructions advised the reader to use 4 steel knitting needles and guaranteed a "reliable set of instructions", but the reader could use different colors of wool or add their own embellishments. Apparently, outlets they were quite popular so there are likely other variations of him in collections. A black version of this doll is in the Essex Institute in Salem, Mass.