Centuries Of The Billiken Doll’s Charm
The Billiken doll was created for the purpose of bringing luck. The charm doll was the brainchild of American illustrator and art teacher, Florence Pretz, who applied a patent for the design on June 12, 1908 and it was then granted on October 6 of the same year. The image was said to have came from a dream but the name of the image was not particularly mentioned in the patent. Most speculated that the naming of the image was left to the manufacturers and distributors of the dolls which were The Craftsman’s Guild, The Billiken Sales Co., and The Billiken Company Chicago.
The elf life features and the smiling image of the Billiken were to give luck to the people who own the figure. Several Billiken products were then made after the doll became a fad. The first Billiken dolls were made by the Horsman Company in 1909 and it was a 12″ tall doll made of a plush body but with a head that was structured with Horsman’s “Can’t Break Em” material. Around 200,000 of the Billiken dolls were sold in just six months.
But the popularity of the doll did not just stop there. There were several Billiken products made such as banks, postcards, marshmallows, incense burners, charm tokens, and jigsaw puzzles. Some figurines of the Billiken had medallions under its base with the marking “The God Of Things As They Ought To Be” and the trademark would be either from The Craftsman Guild Highland Park Ill. or The Billiken Chicago Ill. The Billiken banks were also made by the A.C. Williams Co. which came out with two versions set on cast iron. The first one was the image of the Billiken seated on the ground and the other was sitting on a throne.
Also in 1909, several souvenir shops in Alaska had ivory figurines with the Billiken image. The first ivory figurine was carved by an Eskimo named Angokwazhuk who copied the image after a businessman commissioned him to create one. Soon enough, other carvers had ventured into the business and the figurines became a famous tourist souvenir item in Alaska. Due to the popularity of the image, the Billiken character found its way to Japan.
In 1921, the pointed ear Billiken character became the official mascot of Saint Louis University and St. Louis University High. Today even if the dolls and the rest of its products are not widely popular as before, the image of the Billiken is still very much present. The sensational craze it had brought may not be duplicated anymore, but the items especially the dolls are one of the most sought after vintage items by collectors.
