CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Googly-eyed doll

doll of a type popular in the early 20th century

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 5, 2025
Entity authorityQ86009931 ↗
Source-derived summary

A googly-eyed doll or googly is a doll of a type popular in the early 20th century. The dolls featured large, bulging eyes, often looking off to one side. Their heads were made of bisque, with bodies made from cloth, papier-mâché, bisque, or a combination of materials.

Researchers have suggested that the term googly-eyed originated from the German Guck Augen, meaning "ogling eyes".

Googly-eyed dolls are considered collectible and may be valuable.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Googly-eyed doll” as doll of a type popular in the early 20th century. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current 72-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Googly-eyed, doll and type can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as doll of a type popular in the early 20th century. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 5, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q86009931. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Googly-eyed doll”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Googly-eyed doll primary sources, Googly-eyed doll archive and Googly-eyed research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Googly-eyed doll”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Googly-eyed doll” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.