April 12, 2010

Miss Twist. C'est Peynet




















My parents went to Paris for their honeymoon in 1953, and I was always lead to believe that one of the things they came back with was the Peynet wedding dolls.

It turns out the dolls werent made till later. Born in 1908, Peynet is famed for his books "The Lovers". However in the early 50s Galeries Lafayettes commissioned Peynet to produce a window display for them, the display was so successful that Technigom, a french company had the idea of producing smaller versions in latex, that measured 21cm.

What then followed was over 250 different dolls, that sold over six million. The boxed doll above is Miss Twist, that my wife bought for my birthday. The images below come from a small catalogue that belonged to my father.


4 comments:

lili scratchy said...

It's funny,because I'm french and I've never seen Peynet's dolls !!
The drawing of "lovers" is very famous here,but not the marchandising.
Thank you for showing us!!

jonny mendelsson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jonny mendelsson said...

Hi Lili
Thanks for stopping by! Peynets wedding dolls sat on a ledge at my parents house, for as long as I can remember, so when this doll turned up, my wife knew she had to buy Miss Twist. Im so glad you like her!

Cowboys and Custard Mercantile said...

Thank you!! You have solved a mystery for me.. I recently bought one of these dolls and felt it must have been designed by Peynet. Now I know!