The Terri Lee doll was modeled after a real four-year-old girl from Lincoln, Nebraska. Violet Lee Gradwohl and her niece, artist Maxine Runci, designed the doll after Runci's toddler daughter, Drienne. They named her Terri Lee after the nickname of Gradwohl's daughter. For Gradwohl and Runci, Terri Lee was designed to be a durable companion, a friend who could be carried everywhere, which is exactly what many little girls did with their Terri Lee dolls between 1946 and 1962.

The 16-inch Terri Lee dolls have a plastic or composition head and chubby-toddler bodies. Notable characteristics of a Terri Lee doll include dimples; a closed mouth; big, painted eyes; elaborately detailed clothing; and a fabric daisy on her wrist. Some came with a Girl Scout or Brownie outfit. The doll’s most important contribution to doll design was Gradwohl's patented Celanese yarn doll wig, which could be washed, brushed, and styled.

Eventually, the Terri Lee Company made the doll a brother, Jerri Lee. The model for the male doll was the same as for Terri Lee, and the pair often wore matching outfits. The com...pany also produced a Tiny Terri and Tiny Jerri; African-American dolls named Benji, Patti Jo, and Bonnie Lou; and baby dolls named Linda Lee, Connie Lynn, and So-Sleepy. The Terri Lee Company also made Hispanic and Eskimo dolls, Guadalupe and Nanook. All sold well but the company’s only celebrity doll, Gene Autry, was a bust with children.