Hula Girl Dashboard Nodder

Ever since Hawaii became a popular tourist attraction in the early 1900’s, the Hula Girl has been a symbol of Hawaii. Visitors loved to collect the Hula Girl Doll and bring her home as a souvenir or gift for friends and family.

During the 1920s and 30s, some of the earliest hula dolls were made of bisque or redware, a clay material lacking any glaze. She was hand painted and wore a grass skirt and a flower-patterned halter or a lei made of cloth flowers strewn across her chest.

In the 1940s and 1950s some of Hawaii’s best artists, like Delee, Julene & Hakata, took to creating some of the finest Hawaiian hula dolls of the time. These are still some of the most sought after hula dolls by Hawaiiana collectors today.

In the 1950s, the Hula Girl Nodder or Dashboard Doll was created. The influx of American soldiers into Hawaii during World War II, along with the visiting tourists after the war helped make this doll one of the most popular souvenirs of all time. In fact, the Dancing Hula Girl Dashboard Doll became so popular that factories in Japan capitalized on the craze and began producing them in bulk.

The doll was made of plastic and had springs in her legs so that she could wiggle her hips as the car drove along. She was made in different versions and sizes, with the ukulele pose and the hands in the hair pose as the most common. The original Hula Dashboard Doll had a hole in the bottom where a magnet could be inserted so that the doll could be attached to the metal dashboards of cars in the 1950s. California surfers and beach-goers were the first to carry on this fad, and the Hula Girl Dancing Dashboard Doll officially became a part of American Pop Culture.

The Dancing Hula Girl Doll is still a popular dashboard accessory today, although she is attached with double sided tape instead of a magnet. She still wiggles her hips and holds her ukulele and will always bring a smile to the faces of those who see her.

Check out our website to see the Dancing Hula Girl Dashboard Doll available in different colors and poses, along with the Hula Guy Dashboard Doll.

Posted Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 8:08 am EST by Nicole
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