Tiny Trolls

These are some of the smallest trolls made back during the troll craze of the 1960s. Sometimes vended through gumball machines, these are carded variations, measuring just under 1 inch tall.

 

 

Stuffed Troll Dolls

Two of my favorite trolls are these 11 inch dolls made by Scandia House in 1965. Unique and charming, with friendlier expressions than a lot of vintage trolls, these feature vinyl heads on cuddly stuffed bodies. Relatively hard to find, these two are made even more special by their provenance: they came from the collections of Debra Clark and Pat Peterson, authors of the two classic guides to vintage trolls, the Troll Identification and Price Guide and Collector's Guide to Trolls.

Caveman Trolls

Perhaps because of the concurrent popularity of the Flintstones cartoon, many trolls appeared in the 1960s dressed as cavemen. 

Here are a few from my collection.

 

These 3 inch Uneeda Wishniks model the two most commonly seen caveman fashions: 

the furry loincloth and the animal print wrap.

Here's a very unusual large troll, measuring 8 inches tall
and wearing his original outfit. Made by the 

Bijou Toy Company in 1963,
his name is molded into his foot: "Neanderthal Man."

He's really unique: no other trolls look quite like him!

Vintage Troll Carrying Cases

Most 1960s trolls were small, only about 3 inches tall (not counting their hair). Their size and variety made them ideal for collecting, which in turn necessitated the purchase of a carrying case, and there were many styles available. 

Below are two of my favorites, both made by the Ideal Toy Company. The first is the basic model, while the second is the much rarer deluxe version, complete with a little cave and waterfall inside. Cozy!

 

 

Another style is this carrying case made by Bunallan, cleverly called the Troll Troveling Bag. It's usually found with its cardboard clothes box missing, so this was a particularly happy discovery. It also came with its original owner's trolls, and I've kept them all together.

"Lucky Shnook" Monster Trolls

These odd trolls date to the 1960s, and were made by an unknown Hong Kong manufacturer capitalizing on the troll fad. Their scary heads have led to them being referred to as "monster" or "vampire" trolls, but the mint-in-package examples reveal their true identity: "Lucky Shnooks." Never would have guessed that one...

1960s Trolls & Houses

Toy trolls had a wide range of real estate available during their 1960s craze. Two of my favorite vintage troll abodes are the Stik-Shack, a Polynesian-inspired creation made by Ideal, and the rarely-found Troll Manor, reminiscent of a hobbit-hole, cozy and just a bit twee. 

Below, two lovely Scandia House girls wave from Troll Manor's front yard:

A tropically colored vintage Dam troll hangs out in front of the Stik Shack:

The Stik Shack opens into a beach hut, with wonderful images of jungle and surf visible through the downstairs "windows", and a fantastic "pad" upstairs:

1960s Troll Cave House

Besides the fantastic trolls, manufacturers during the 1960s craze made several wonderful troll abodes, little houses that often doubled as carrying cases. These homes were usually made of printed vinyl over cardboard or, less frequently, a particularly crispy and unfortunately fragile variety of plastic.

This posting showcases the most commonly found of the troll houses, often referred to as "the Troll Cave". While common, it is nonetheless spectacular: the outside looks like an intriguing, inviting cave mouth, while the inside depicts an uncommonly cozy cavern, complete with a carved stone hot tub, a roaring fire, and comfy chairs. The Dam trolls below look very happy living here, and I find myself wishing I could shrink down to their size so I could hang out in the cave, too...

 

Scandia House Troll

1960s Scandia House trolls are known for their "big hair" and color coordination, and this one is no exception. She wears her vintage coatdress that nicely complements her green spiral eyes.

Dam Troll

Although I have no interest in the cheap, China-made trolls of today, the original 1960s trolls made by Dam, Scandia House, and Uneeda captivate me. The early Dam trolls in particular are quite artistic, with an almost sculptural quality, and full of character.

This little 3 inch troll is one of my favorites. An early original Dam troll, it sports a remarkable crop of turquoise mohair in an "Albert Einstein" 'do. Just a fantastic troll!

Troll Weather

In my part of the world, March is the month when winter very slowly and reluctantly gives way to Spring. When I was in elementary school, I stumbled across a story set during this tempestuous season, called Troll Weather. Troll Weather became one of my most beloved books, and I still re-read it every year.

Written by distinguished children's author Elizabeth Coatsworth and delicately illustrated by the equally esteemed Ursula Arndt, it tells the story of a little girl named Selma who lives on the shores of a Norwegian fjord. One day Selma, sent on an errand by her mother, takes a basket of food to the Widow Paulsson, who lives high up in the mountains. The weather turns wild, as frequently happens in March, and the Widow Paulsson tells Selma stories of the trolls, who revel in such storms. Selma becomes a bit obsessed with trolls as the story unfolds, and anxiously asks her older sister, Sigrid, for information. One of my favorite passages describes Selma taking out the family's pine cone trolls who are on display in the space between the inner and outer windows of the kitchen:

"On the sill of one of the windows facing the road stood the pine cone trolls, with their wooden faces and their big wooden hands and feet and their long gray lichen-colored hair. Their kingdom lay between the inner and outer windows and each year it changed. Sometimes they peered from caves among piled-up stones; sometimes they were in a mossy forest of little pine trees. This year Sigrid had stood them on a mountain of cotton-batting snow. Selma ran to fetch their box from the back of the cupboard. First she carefully put away the cotton. Then she paused with the man troll in one hand and the woman in the other, their mouse tails hanging down. She didn't put them in their box at once. The woman troll was smaller than the man and had a cotton handkerchief tied over her coarse gray hair. But otherwise, they looked alike. Their eyes were little and their noses were long and their mouths were crooked. Selma stared at the little trolls and the trolls stared back at Selma. When Sigrid went by, Selma said in a whisper, 'Are they real, Sigrid? Are there real trolls?' 'There they are, right in your hands,' said Sigrid, laughing. 'They are as real as bread and butter.' But that wasn't what Selma meant. Whenever she asked about trolls, Sigrid wouldn't take her seriously. At last, sighing and wondering, she put the pine-cone trolls safely in their box until, in November, the cold and darkness of autumn should bring them back to their narrow kingdom between the windows."

For some reason, this beautifully written passage just captivated me as a child. Like Selma, I became obsessed with the idea of a little family of troll dolls, living in small spaces within our house. Perhaps they could move into the pigeonholes of the roll-top desk, I reasoned, or the little cupboard above the sink that was too high to be of much use. Unfortunately, I had missed the 1960s troll craze by several years, and it wasn't until recently that I began amassing my own troll collection. This month I'll highlight some of my favorites.

I'll start with these two homely specimens, of a similar variety to Selma's pine cone trolls. Made in Scandinavia from native wood, rabbit fur, and pine cones, they offer a tangible link to the story of Troll Weather. What makes them even more special, though, is that they came from the estate of Pat Peterson, who wrote one of the best books on vintage trolls, Collector's Guide to Trolls, published in 1995. They can be seen on page 72, looking a bit fresher than they do now!

Vintage Norfin Troll

I love vintage toy trolls, but am partial to the earliest ones dating from the 1960s. This large 9 inch troll is a bit more recent (1977) but she represents a big moment in troll evolution: the creation of the Norfin model by Dam, the originator of the vinyl toy troll. Norfins were a huge departure stylistically from the first toy trolls, with cuter, more child-like faces and less rigidly posed, sometimes even jointed, bodies. Norfins are still being manufactured today, but they are now made in China of cheap plastic with brash, synthetic hair. This early Norfin was made in Denmark by the Dam Company of high quality European vinyl with a gorgeous mohair wig. She's still wearing her original felt tunic and hair bow, and is in practically unplayed with condition. Even though Norfins aren't quite my style, this was a special one, and a steal at only $6 from a toy show vendor last week.