a history of the mannequin 1920-1940
Mrs. Lily Candy inserting 50,000 hairs individually into Dr Crippen's head
Gems Wax Models continued to develop their figures, using glass eyes and real teeth, refining the wax process and implanting real hair. A sister company, “The French Bust Company” had been created in 1912 to develop retail mannequin collections. These incorporated many innovative collections of the time, often reflecting social changes and current fashionable body shapes. The emancipation of women was just one of these expressions, later the jazz age gave more opportunity for collection direction.
The museum part of the Gems business continued to be successful throughout the 1920’s. In 1925 a fire at Madame Tussauds Waxworks devastated much of the museum’s collection and Gems were called on to assist with repopulating their collection.
Alongside wax figures, other manufacturing mediums were being developed. Plaster had some very definite advantages over wax. The figures didn't melt in shop windows, they were cheaper than wax, much lighter in weight and therefore easier to handle. Papier-mache was also very inexpensive, lighter (at around 100lbs per figure) and heat resistant. Its downside was shrinkage and getting wet: figures would literally bloat and disintegrate when damp! These cheaper options were taken up in larger numbers as the impact of the 1929 stock market crash told on the retail industry. The fashion and more abstract styling of the 1930’s worked well with plaster and papier mache (since both were difficult materials to achieve face and body detail on).
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