My First Non-Barbie

Before I received Malibu Barbie and Ken for my 4th birthday, I had a non-Barbie 11 1/2 inch fashion doll. I had named her Melissa. 

As you can see, I loved and played with her until she fell apart. Her left arm disappeared in the late 70s, but I couldn't bear to part with her.

At one point she even had eyelashes. I can remember running my fingers over them. Those too are long gone.

The most interesting thing about her, in my opinion, is that her arms are of a soft vinyl/rubber material, while her body is hard, hollow plastic/vinyl and her legs do not bend.

In my doll play, she usually was the teenage daughter of Barbie and dated the Luke Skywalker doll. (Barbie was married to my Shaun Cassidy doll since Ken was no longer around due to a brother induced accidental beheading.)

Doll House Dolls

Yesterdays Miss Carroll's Doll Study Club meeting was about doll house dolls. I spent the evening learning about the history of doll house dolls and admiring the examples that were on display.

So, in honor of the meeting, I present my doll house dolls. 

Once upon a time there was a girl doll, but I finally threw her away when her head refused to stay on. (I know, I know, a hasty and unwise decision.) They were made by the German company Caco and I received them around 1978. Since they were a family of five, just like mine, I decided they were my family. It made naming the figures very easy.

On Christmas Eve, my younger brother, Billy, and I, slept in our sleeping bags under the Christmas tree. Billy was determined to see Santa. I was hoping that we would fall asleep so that Santa would actually come. At one point I heard noise and saw a shadow in the stairwell to the basement. I panicked, closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. I guess I eventually fell asleep. In the morning, not only did I get to tell everyone that I saw Santa's shadow, but I also got a doll house.

Billy also received dolls that Christmas (O.K., let's call them Action Figures.)

Here he is in his Spider-Man sleeping bag, holding his new Automated Spider-Man and surrounded by Star Wars figure packets.

Circus Clown

In 1974, I went to the circus with my father, my brother, and his Indian guides tribe. It was amazing. To a 3 year old child, the circus is full of wonder and magic. My dad let me pick out a souvenir and I picked out this clown. 

He was attached by a rubber band to a dowel, so that he bounced up and down when the stick was carried. His has jointed arms and legs that sway back and forth. The stick and elastic are long gone, but the clown itself is in great shape.

His right hand is no longer firmly attached to its arm, though a little hot glue or putty in the arm would take care of that.

As I grew older, I started to collect clowns and clown dolls. At one point in my teens I even had clown bedding! At this point, except for a few favorites, I no longer collect clowns. I have found my doll interest turning to dolls from the 60s and 70s, especially ones that I can dress.

Crying Doll

This is an adorable Horsman doll I found on Ebay about a year, or so, ago. She is about 15 inches long, made of hard, hallow vinyl, and has a mechanism so that after she drinks water she can cry real tears, as well as wet. She is marked 1974 and is a real cutie. 

She seems to be wearing her original outfit and is in fantastic shape. I would love to find out her name. (She looks a little like Buttercup, but is not her.)

Genius Baby, continued

As I stated in my last post, large baby dolls are convenient since they are able to wear actual baby clothes. The hard part in outfitting Genius baby comes with finding period appropriate wear. The Summer started out well, I found two adorable outfits at Kohls that could have been made in the 1960s.

In this first outfit, Genius Baby is all dolled up for Independence day in a cute red, white, and blue sundress with appliqued strawberry pockets.

For August, Genius Baby is wearing a madras play suit and matching hat while she plays with her toy ducks at the beach.

Suitable autumn duds have been a little harder to find. Hopefully I will find some soon, the weather is already changing.

Genius Baby

In June (July?) I went to the Frizellburg Antique Store and found this beauty. She is a 1960 Madame Alexander Genius Baby. She is 22 inches tall, all vinyl, has jointed limbs, and a strung head. She was a crier, but she no longer works. 

This was my first visit to Frizellburg, and I was impressed with the range of stock, I will definitely be visiting again.

The wonderful thing about this size doll is that she can wear 0-3 month baby clothes. It makes hunting for era appropriate clothing a lot easier.

Horsman Lullaby Doll

I have always been a doll owner and lover. Here is a picture of me with my dolls on my first Christmas. I haven't identified the doll on the left yet, but the doll on the right, hiding behind the Fisher Price chime ball, is a 12 inch Horsman Lullaby Baby. I carried her around throughout my toddler years until she lost her pull string and she started going bald. I was also fascinated by the holes on her torso to let the sound out, it looked so foreign. (bodies should not be full of holes.)

I eventually sold her and my Eegee Softina in a yard sale when I was a teenager. Who knew that 20+ years later I would come upon and buy a working, good as new version of her? She is even wearing the original pajamas. 

 She is marked 1968, though I have seen the same model marked as 1964, and I received it in 1971. Wasn't it nice when the same doll was sold in stores for years? Nowadays, if you don't buy a doll when it first comes out, it is soon out of production and off the shelves.