Many of the collectors and people who have purchased the beloved Naber Kids from me on e-bay, have asked me so many questions that I feel I need to copy this information from Mr. Naber's newsletter of October 1996, Volume 5, Number 10.

It all started in 1970 when H. P. Naber owned the store "Fur Tranders"on 831 4th Avenue in Anchorage Alaska.  The very first creation was 'Big Nuni' of the company called 'Nunivak Doll' and sold under the name of Fur Traders after the store H.P. and wife Betty Jo owned in Anchorage.  There he began to carve the first dolls for his company later called 'Nuni Doll Company'.

Why, you ask did he call his first company Nuni?  Mr. Naber's original dolls were actually called "Nunivak Dolls' after the Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea.  You see, initially H.P. used a lot of reindeer fur for outfits on the original dolls. (There he mainly sold to the tourists.)   The fur he used came from the reindeer on this island, where a large herd was known to live.  Local Eskimos ate the reindeer meat, (known as Alaskan Caribou), but they had no use for the reindeer fur.  The reindeer's fur was hollow and would break off when worn, therefore, not suitable for making any kind of clothing or mukluks.  These furs were tanned in Seattle, near to where H.P. carved his dolls, enabling him to easily purchase it for costumes.  So in honor of the reindeer of the Nunivak Island, Mr. Naber named his company and dolls "Nunivak".  Soon the residents of the island expressed objection for this naming  since the dolls were not made on the island, Mr Naber named his company and dolls.'Nuni' respecting their wishes.    during this time H. P. Naber produced #1001- Big Nuni #1 in 1970, #1002- Big nuni #2 in 1971, #1003 Big Walli #1 in 1971 #1004 - Lucky Billy in 1971,#1005 - Little Nuni in 1972 and #1006 - Eskimo face masks in 1972 under the Nunivak name.  Then soon thereafter he quickly outgrew the space at Fur Traders and moved to another location.  This was on International Airport Road in Ankerage and set up small factory.  The dolls made then were #1007 - Tami in 1973, #1008 - Silly Sally #1 in 1973, #1009 - Silly Sally #2 and #1010 - Silly Sally #3 in 1973, #1011 - Chechako in 1974, #1012Sourdough in 1974, #1013 - Eskimo Yo Yo in 1974, #1014 - Zipper doll in 1975, #1015 - Little Wali in 1975, #1016 - Tom in 1974 and #1017 - Sally in 1974.  Tom and Sally were the last made under the Nuni Doll Company name.

This company was later sold to Mr. William Lee who owned a company called Kiana which made totem poles out of the similar resin solution Mr. Naber's doll parts were made of.  As a matter of fact later Mr. Lee's company even made some of the doll parts for H.P.  Mr. Lee decided to make H. P. an offer to buy the Nuni Doll Company.  In 1975 H. P. agreed and signed a non competition agreement, not to make any dolls for 5 years.  That was fine with H. P. since he wanted to stop making dolls for a while and see the rest of the lower United States.  He sold the company, packed up his family and moved to Florida where he bought a hotel in Cedar Key called the Island Hotel, built in l837.  One of the oldest hotels in the State of Florida.  They did very well and learned much about the business, mostly that they never want to own one again and would rather be a guest.  Cedar Key was a great experience until 1979 when the Nabers decided to move back to Alaska.  Since the 5 years were up and H. P. could now happily go back to making dolls again.  It was in 1980 that H.P. started the new Naber Doll Company.When the 5 years were up and the Naber family moved back to Alaska, H.P. didn't have a place to do any carving of dolls.  He set up show in the garage of his friend Bart Eisner, a house painter who allowed H.P. to work there while he was at work painting houses.  H.P. set up his tools and carving there and began to produce various dolls and Sillikins.  These were each carved one at a time because H.P. had no way to reproduce them yet.  The process was slow but he was able to make 3 to 4 dolls a day.  His wife Betty Jo would make the outfits and would peddle them at ski resorts and tourists areas.  This was the hard way back from the bottom up.  Many people own these dolls, especially Barts wife who has quite a few of them. 

The wood used was yellow cedar but that made these carvings very dark.  After carving they were varnished and it was the varnish on the yellow cedar that made them that dark.  Their hair was carved because burlap was not yet available.  The costumes were mostly Eskimo parkas and each signed on the back of neck.  Also, interestingly enough most were girls.  They had not been named at that time and are therefore extremely rare.  They are not even listed on the Naber doll history lists.  These were made from 1979 to 1980 and approximately 20 to 30 were carved, but actual count was never kept. 

The first named and numbered dolls started at the Naber doll company were #2001 - Lilli in 1979, #2002-Lalli in 1979, #2003 - Leni in 1979, and #2004 - Loni in 1979 began on Denali Street in Anchorage, Alaska in 1980 when H. P. Just got back from Cedar Key, Florida.  These were actually designed in 1979 and began to market them in the early 80's.  The next were #2005-Billy Face in 1980  #2006 through #2008 & #2013 Sillikins in 1980, #2009 - Susi Face in 1980, #2010- Little Brother in 1980, #2011 - Big Sister in 1980, #2012 - Chief in 1980, #2014Baby Ball in 1981, #2015- Baby Bag in 1981, #2016 - Big Tundra Tonya in 1981 #2020 Igor in 1981 ##2021 - Little Rosa in 1981, #2030 Mini Mo in 1981, #2034 - Lona Lisa in 1982, #2040- Plaster Sculptures in 1982, #2041 - Puffin in 1983, #2045 Walrus in 1983, #2050 Big Susie in 1979, #2053 George in 1983, #2054 Sally in 1983 and #2062 Mia in 1983.  All of these were made in Homer, Alaska at the Naber Doll Company location , when the Nabers moved from Denali Street around 19981.  An interesting story goes along with this period in time.  While H.P. Naber canvased for stores to market his treasures he went into a mall in Anchorage looking for yet another dealer to sell his dolls.  There he met an English woman who had a rare collectibles doll store.  Once again H.P. began to beg her to sell his dolls.  She said, ever so politely that his dolls were so ugly that her clientele would not buy them.  He was persistent and came back with a better look and tried again to convince her to sell his dolls in her shop..  The owner, in her vary best English manners, decided to show him the hottest item she was lucky enough to get.  They were the very popular and extremely rare 'Little People' made by Xavier Roberts from Cleveland, Georgia.  Looking at these babies in a crib, H.P. found them extremely ugly, with their hand sculptured soft bodies.  Oddly enough these babies could only be obtained by adoption.  Worst yet was the extremely high price of $90.00 each.  At that time, Mr. Naber was having a hard time getting $40.00 for his Naber Dolls.  Ironically enough the ugly babies later turned out to be the famous Cabbage Patch Kids.  Still,  H.P. couldn't understand who  would want to spend so much money to collect dolls.   Xavier Roberts later sold the rights to the Kelico Toy Company who proceeded to make billions with these dolls.  The collecting idea slowly formed in H.P's head that, that was the way people liked it.  In the beginning H.P. didn't number his carvings or give certificate of authenticity, he just wasn't aware this was the best way to do it. 

After the experience of the Cabbage Patch dolls. (still living in Homer, Alaska) H.P. thought the way to go was to offer his designs to the toy companies.  In 1983 H.P. decided to seek out a company and packed all his doll stuff and went to California, Chicago and finally Hartford, Connecticut where head quarters of the Kelico Toy Company was (home of the Cabbage Patch Kids).  First he made an appointment with Betty Jo Savage, Vice President of new product development at Kelico.  She was the person who discovered the Cabbage Patch Kids.  Thrilled and thinking this was his big breakthrough, H.P. went to her office with full confidence.  After passing through multi securities and swearing to secrecy of what he saw, he presented his carving.  You see, H.P. was convinced his Sillikins would take off real big for the funny little creatures they were.  Well, Betty Jo Savage was not interested in them at all then he pulled out the Eskimko dolls.  She quickly smiled and said he had a very distinct talent for carving but she was looking for something different.  The Kelico Company was looking for a replacement doll for when the enthusiasm for the Cabbage Patch Kids burned out.  Mr. Naber said okay he would go back to Alaska and design something very special just for her.  Unfortunately, while returning to New York, H.P. was pick pocketed at the airport and lost all his money.  All he had was the return plane ticket in his bag of dolls.  Not to be discouraged, H.P. slept in the airport and traveled around in cabs but paid the drivers with his dolls, since that was all he had besides the plane ticket.  Most did  not mind and accepted these funny little creatures gladly. 

Back in Alaska he began work on three new dolls, Tia, Mia and Tim (World Citizen Gestalt Dolls) - Gestalt a German word meaning the outline of a figure--- or the psycology theory meaning 'the whole is more then the some of it's parts' by Sigmond Freud.   H. P. felt that would say what he felt...the whole doll is more than the some of it's parts.  Previous attempts were loosely jointed dolls name George and Sally and they were quite successful.  But Tia Mia and Tim were the first World Citizens to have a passport and free travel the earth and throughout the universe.  Their passports even had their pictures on it and a little pouch to carry it in.  Their hair was carved and each smartly dressed, Tim in his suit and girls in smart classic dresses. Was sent to Betty Jo Savage in Conn. and her response was very overwhelming and she said when she opened the box and saw the 3 dolls they took her breath away.  She was so impressed that she promised to take them to the next meeting of the Board of Directors, new products meeting and pitch them.  After the meeting , a week later, H.P. received a disappointing letter saying the Board decided against the dolls and were not in favor because it wouldn't reach the right age group that they were aiming for.  The dolls were then sent  back.  Surprisingly, H.P. later heard that Betty Jo Savage resigned shortly after this presentation.  Maybe due to the fact that all of a sudden the Cabbage Patch Kids became world travelers and had passports, which was exactly what H.P. presented for his World Citizens.  This may or may not have been a coincidence but H.P. did not dwell on it nor blame it on anyone.  That ended the Kelico incident and later he heard that Kelico Company filed bankruptcy and was no longer in business.  The Cabbage Patch Kids were sold to the Good Company and Xavier Roberts still maintains the original rights to the Cabbage Patch. 

The world Citizens Gestalt- Tia, Mia and Tim were a short run from 1982 to 1983.  These dolls were the finest Harold P. Naber even made and he is very proud of them.  Only 30 of each were ever made or sold which makes them extremely rare.  The original issue price was $120.00 and was quite expensive for their time.  All this was pre-Naber Kids and a very exciting time for the Naber family.