Dashboard Doll

Before you start shopping... what exactly is a dashboard doll, where did it come from, and what is it used for?

What is a dashboard doll?
The dashboard doll is aptly named: it's a tiny doll, usually from 4 to 6 inches in height, that sits on the dashboard of your vehicle. Some of them move, some talk, but most are made to just stand there looking cool. The dashboard doll has an adhesive or velcro strip underneath its pedestal (if not, use glue or nails, depending on the condition of the vehicle you're putting them in), to keep the doll stable while you careen your vehicle through the minefields of the modern city streets. Their origins are from the dashboard hula girl of the 1960's, so even today most new models that are made, even the Santa Claus and Barack Obama versions, will have a grass skirt or board shorts, or a ukulele or other such Hawaiian-centric theme.

How is it made?
Rare, high-art forms of the dashboard doll can be carved in wood or made meticulously in other artist' materials, but mass production models are made either from porcelain clay or some form of resin (plastic). First a 'master' doll, with all its physical details, is crafted by a sculptor, then a doll mold is made from that. Resin or liquified porcelain material is poured into the mold, allowed to dry (or is baked, depending on the material), and then adorned with miniature clothing and finally hand-painted.

Different than Bobblehead Dolls
The dashboard doll is different than the bobblehead doll; bobbleheads are typically small-bodied dolls with large heads that are attached by an inner bouncing spring. When your car moves, even a little, these spring-mounted heads bobble around, making this an eye-capturing novelty, especially for kids to have fun looking at in the car ahead of them. Moving-head dolls have been around for hundreds of years informally, but the first official modern dashboard bobbleheads for your car were made in the early 1950's. They were usually of very recognizable sports figures, or rock stars like the Beatles, so people in the car behind you could have fun trying to recognize the bobblehead's face.

A certain symmetry and proportion
There are models of dashboard dolls that do have moving heads like bobbleheads, but don't have the big-headedness to be designated bobbleheads; dashboard dolls have always retained a certain standard of symmetry, and even when they are very cartoonish they still conform vaguely to more realistic proportions than do bobbleheads.

Battery-operated talking dashboard dolls are the latest incarnation of this automobile novelty, and they are usually based upon the latest hot TV cartoon characters, such as The Simpsons and Family Guy. Dashboard dolls come in many other forms, like funny animals, Santa Claus, surfer dudes and religious figures, but most of those forms still retain the Hawaiian theme... even if it's the latest US president wearing board shorts!

Read a little history next, or skip that and check out the many different dashboard dolls for sale, grab the ones you'd like to see adorn the dashboard of your ride!