Before the Travelocity gnome, there was Dare Wright’s Lonely Doll, a series of children’s books published in 1957, which stars Wright’s childhood doll, Edith, and two teddy bears from FAO Schwarz. The Guardian ranked Lonely Doll as one of the top ten best illustrated children’s books of all time.
Wright passed away in 2001 but Fred Torres Collaborations in NYC is featuring her works though the end of April. Their life-like-ness is uncanny.