Skookum doll

Although considered collectible, they are not authentic Native American dolls, as they were designed and created by a white woman, and quickly mass-produced.

[3] Later that year, Mary McAboy began to market apple head dolls dressed in Indian costumes, and achieved rapid commercial success.

She publicized her growing business through western newspapers, and arranged a display at a women's suffrage office in New York City, gaining press coverage there.

But demand grew so rapidly that she moved to mass production techniques within a year,[2] and soon almost all of the doll heads were made out of composition, composed mostly of sawdust and glue.

[1] From that time on, the dolls were manufactured by Harry Heye Tammen in Los Angeles, and distributed in the east by the Arrow Novelty Company in New York City.

The dolls were made in a variety of sizes, ranging from small babies about 2" long, with an attached mailing tag, up to 36" high store display versions.