doll making founded meredith new hampshire u.s. 1955 1955 founder annalee thorndike headquarters meredith new hampshire u.s. area served worldwide key people annalee thorndike chip thorndike townsend thorndike charles thorndike revenue us 10 million number of employees 30 2006 website www.annalee.com annalee dolls inc. also known as annalee mobilitee dolls inc. and amd holdings inc. 1 2 is a company located in meredith new hampshire that manufactures collectible dolls . the company was founded by barbara annalee davis later thorndike who died in 2002 . at the company s height it filled over 14 acres 5.7 ha of land dotted with seven buildings containing 34 000 square feet 3 200 m2 of space and had us 15 million in sales with 300 employees . the popularity of annalee dolls led r. stuart wallace to write that the most famous manufactured item to come from new hampshire in the 20th century is the annalee doll . 3 annalee dolls have reached up to 6 000 at auction . in 2008 the company closed its museum and sold its meredith factory while as of 2006 there were only 30 employees . 3 contents 1 history 2 dolls 3 factory in the woods 4 references 5 external links history edit barbara annalee davis was born in concord new hampshire in 1915 4 and grew up at 113 centre street in the same city . 5 originally interested in puppetry as a young girl she began creating dolls at a young age along with a friend . when her friend went off to college in the early 1930s annalee as she was called continued to create dolls and began to sell them through the league of new hampshire craftsmen . she soon moved to boston and continued to sell her dolls most notably to s.s. pierce and co. 6 former annalee dolls gift shop in meredith new hampshire in 1941 annalee met harvard graduate charles chip thorndike . soon thereafter the two married and moved to meredith new hampshire where they raised a family and opened thorndike s eggs and auto parts which survived until 1950 . with the fall in price of eggs and poultry annalee wanted to see if she could make money selling her dolls again . the thorndikes sold off a section of the poultry farm and used the profits to create a small line of skier dolls . the line was a success and slowly the annalee doll factory in the woods was born . 6 this continued until in 1955 annalee mobilitee dolls was incorporated as a company . 7 during the 1950s stores in manchester and boston started buying annalee dolls to decorate store windows and annalee was hired by new hampshire to create dolls to be featured in tourism material . these dolls were on display at the eastern states exposition in springfield massachusetts and at the rockefeller center in new york city both to advertise the state . 7 these promotional dolls were extremely popular ; so popular in fact that by 1960 annalee dolls were being sold in stores in forty states canada and puerto rico . 7 in 1964 the day to day operation of doll making became too big for the thorndikes house . at this time they moved the operations out of the house and into a factory in the woods . 7 over time the factory expanded to eventually fill over fourteen acres of land dotted with seven buildings containing 34 000 square feet 3 200 m2 of space . 8 annalee dolls came into the spotlight again when in 1975 a new hampshire state legislator gave then president gerald ford a selection of dolls to decorate the white house christmas tree . 3 in 1990 annalee dolls became the headgear sponsor for christopher pederson a member of the united states ski team . the annalee logo was placed on all of his headgear helmets hats etc. and in exchange the company sold a special victory ski doll of which five percent of the sales went to the ski team . 9 in 1992 annalee and chip gave each of their sons townsend and charles 48 percent of the doll making company and in 1995 charles took control of the everyday operations of annalee dolls . 10 annalee corporate offices and outlet store in meredith new hampshire during the later part of the 1990s the market for collectibles began to fall and many companies began to outsource their operations . annalee was one of these companies . in 2001 all construction of dolls and other collectibles was outsourced overseas while the design and marketing departments stayed in meredith . 3 a short time after this switch in business model on april 7 2002 annalee thorndike died . 4 in 2008 after a string of lawsuits between the two sons of annalee thorndike over ownership of the company including a case heard by the new hampshire supreme court 10 annalee dolls was acquired by david pelletier bob watson and the imagine company of hong kong the company which builds the dolls . this same year the company decided to sell their factory in the woods . the winnipesaukee playhouse a small 84 seat theater located in the weirs beach section of laconia purchased the annalee doll factory site for 1.05 million dollars . the playhouse plans to renovate the property to create a tanglewood type of setting for their theatrical endeavors . 8 the plans are to move the theater from its current site in weirs beach to the site of annalee s former gift shop . annalee operates out of its corporate headquarters a former chicken farm building on site . 3 this same year annalee auctioned off a selection of dolls from their museum . 11 annalee dolls is planning on moving its outlet store and offices to the site of a former grocery store located in the old province common on route 104 in meredith and vacate the factory in the woods for good . the company hopes to be in its new location and open by mid july with the full move in anticipated in september or october . 12 annalee dolls creative director stated that with all the construction going on around us for the winni playhouse it was just time for us to make the jump to a new location . 13 david pelletier chief executive officer of annalee dolls claims that we can be wherever we want to be but since annalee dolls has been associated with new hampshire and especially meredith since its beginnings there was value in terms of continuity of identity in remaining in meredith . 14 the storefront annalee dolls is moving to contains 30 000 square feet 2 800 m2 2 500 square feet 230 m2 of which will be a retail store with the rest being offices and warehouse space . 14 dolls edit annalee dolls are bendable felt bodied dolls with a painted face that is similar to the face of annalee thorndike . 6 the dolls can range in height from a few inches to 6 feet 1.8 m tall . the taller dolls were usually used as store displays while the smaller ones were sold directly to consumers . 15 dolls can range in theme from elves to one of many different types of animals to clowns . 11 originally the wire frame inside the doll was crafted by chip thorndike while the rest of the doll was sewn and painted by annalee herself . chip also would create small wooden props such as skis ski poles boats etc. for the dolls to hold or appear to be using in some way . 7 starting in 1986 the label sewn onto each annalee doll included the year the doll was made . 15 as the company grew annalee and chip could not deal with the volume and hired workers to help create the dolls but in 2001 after a switch in business model the construction of dolls and other collectibles moved from new hampshire to overseas . 3 since annalee s death the dolls have been designed by designers who take inspiration from annalee s earlier dolls to evoke memories and sustain tradition . 14 these designers work in meredith at annalee doll headquarters which also contains sales and marketing departments as well as an outlet store . after design work is complete the dolls are built by the imagine company of hong kong then shipped back to new hampshire for distribution . when asked about the moving of operations overseas david pelletier chief executive officer of annalee dolls responded we ve always had home workers and the only difference is now they are 8 000 miles away . 14 in 1992 at the annual annalee doll society auction a 10 inch tall halloween girl doll created in the 1950s was auctioned off for a record 6 000 . 16 due to the high price and collectability of annalee dolls there have been instances of people creating counterfeit dolls . 17 factory in the woods edit the annalee doll factory in the woods was located on reservoir road in meredith . at the company s height it filled over fourteen acres of land dotted with seven buildings containing 34 000 square feet 3 200 m2 of space . 8 in addition to being the location where the dolls were made it was a major lakes region tourist destination including among other things shaded picnic and play areas a display of antique cars a covered footbridge the annalee doll museum and a gift shop . 5 the annalee doll museum was originally housed in a large building on the factory in the woods site whose exterior facade was a reproduction of then barbara annalee davis later annalee thorndike s childhood homestead . 5 in 2008 a selection of the annalee doll museum s holdings were auctioned off . at the same time the museum moved online to a digital form where one can view the dolls in the collection without visiting new hampshire . 11 references edit amd holdings inc. business entity . new hampshire corporation division . last report april 10 2009 8 00 00 am . accessed january 28 2010 annalee dolls inc. business entity . new hampshire corporation division . last report april 23 2009 . accessed january 28 2010 a b c d e f amsden roger . annalee downsizes outsources its way back to profitability new hampshire union leader . oct. 23 2006 . accessed january 17 2010 . a b frequently asked questions . annalee dolls inc. accessed january 17 2010 . a b c annalee doll gift shop and museum archived october 15 2009 at the wayback machine . . newhampshire.com . new hampshire union leader . accessed january 25 2010 a b c put on a happy face annalee designer reflects her dolls . the telegraph . december 17 1989 . accessed january 17 2010 a b c d e museum the dolls of annalee archived november 27 2010 at the wayback machine . . new hampshire historical society . july 22 2000 . accessed january 21 2010 a b c annalee property sold for playhouse . new hampshire business review . february 1 2008 . accessed january 17 2010 annalee dolls sponsors u.s. ski team member the north conway reporter . december 26 1990 . accessed january 17 2010 . a b thorndike v. thorndike 910 a. 2d 1224 nh supreme court 2006 a b c annalee sells museum dolls permanent dead link . playthings.com . june 3 2008 . accessed jan 17 2010 plummer erin . annalee outlet moving to former jackson star location . granitestatenews.com . june 2 2010 . accessed july 8 2010 august 24 2010 . accessed august 24 2010 a b c d kitch michael . annalee leaving homestead but not home town archived copy pdf . archived from the original pdf