Every serious vintage costume jewelry collector has come across a piece or two that is signed "11 W 30 ST INC" and has thought, "What an odd company name!"  Not many jewelry books reveal much information about the company.  And some collectors are surprised to know that 11 W 30 ST INC and Dodds (backwards "s") are one and the same manufacturer!

DODDS

Birth of the Company: 

In 1952, William Dodds and Company was a successful plastics industry located in Newark, NJ.  Responding to the United States jewelry boom, he chose to take advantage of the opportunity and opened a subsidiary with a partner.  It was called "Jewel Creations." 

Making Your Own Jewelry!

Dodds' ideas were to take full advantage of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and offer kits for Americans to make their own jewelry.  The kits contained metal frames and a package of brilliant Swarovski crystals in a variety of colors.  The array of colors offered allowed buyers to customize and personalize their jewelry.  The "jewelry maker" only needed a little time for the project, and glue!  The kits were soon very popular, and were sold in 25 stores across the country.

The Castings:

Non-intricate designs were drawn for the jewelry.  Rubber molds were made from the designs, and cast to create the metal castings for the jewelry kits.  The Dodds Company was located in the proximity of West 31 Street, with the manufacturing area at 11 W 30 Street.  The castings were copyrighted with either the Dodds name *or* the location address.

11 W 30 ST INC.

Various Signatures:

Many researchers have found that the castings are found with different signatures, as well as many pieces that were not signed at all.  Among the reported found signatures are:

• WEST 31 STREET
• 11 W 30 ST INC
• 30 W ST INC
• W 30 ST INC

Signed 30 W ST INC:                            Pendant Signed (c)11 W 30 ST INC:

Thermoset Plastic Pin Signed (c)11 W 30 ST INC:

DODDS JEWELRY!

Not all of Dodds' jewelry kits had rhinestones.  Quite a few sets had thermoset plastic (lucite) pieces and/or required being painted.  There are commonly found examples with thermoset beads and/or painting!

Holly Pin with Thermoset Beads Signed (c)DODDZ.

More Signed (c)DODDZ Examples:

The Dodds Cat:

At the height of the do-it-yourself craze, the most popular kit was the well-recognized and sought after Cat.  This came in pin size of just over 1.75 inches tall.  It has pear-shaped stone ears, a large head stone, a large belly stone, and a collar that could be filled with 4 round stones or faux pearls.  Because of the popularity of this particular kit, there are endless variations of colors to be found!

This cat could also be found with a "kitten."  It was a miniature of the larger cat, but the back is not signed Doddz.  The ears are usually smooth and concave.  They were often made into earrings, but some were found as a scatter pin set with the bigger kitty.

Dodds also made a cat face pin that resembled some Warner pieces.  This was popular as well, and came in many different color choices.

*BEWARE of ebay sellers that call some similar cat pins "unsigned" Dodds pieces.  This is to get your attention on searches, and fool the untrained collector into paying more for the pin.  If the pin's stones are PRONG-SET, it is NOT a Dodds cat.  Dodds pieces all have glued-in stones.  The Dodds cat also has "v" shaped whiskers - only two on each side.  Also, they will always have 4 stones in the collar - not 3, 5 or 6.

"Momma" Cat Pins Signed (c)DODDZ:

"Baby" Mini Cat Pin - Unsigned:                      Cat Face Pin Signed (c)DODDZ:

Dodds as Sole Owner:

Only the early Dodds pieces are found to have location signatures (11 W 30 ST INC, or variation thereof) on the backs of the castings.  William Dodds took over as the sole owner of the company in the 1960's, and used "Dodds" as the signature on all pieces.