Yard Sale Jackie

I found this Franklin Mint Jackie at a "yard sale". Actually it was in a dark shed, sitting on the edge of a table. I made a lunge for her. I paid $10 but it was worth it to me (and since ones in a box sell for upwards of $100 it may have been a very good buy). I was sad not to be able to afford the boxed Jackie and JFK in their inagurual clothes, but was thrilled to get Jackie in her silk taffeta wedding dress. I had to soak the lace veil as it had discolored at the bottom. Now it's all looking great to me!

Midwest Old Threshers

Some of my 8" dolls were able to participate in a doll talk given by the curator of the Bussey Doll Museum. Glenna was gracious to add them to her presentation about small dolls. You can see some of her many incredible tiny dolls in the box to the right of my much more modern dolls. I took Ginger, 1953 strung Muffie (in blue in the trunk), 1956 Ginny in yellow, another strung Muffie in pink print and polka dots, 1953 Madame Alexander Alexanderkins, modern articulated MA Wendy, and a bent knee walker Alexanderkins. The blue, yellow, and green dresses were ones I'd made. The Muffie in pink print and polka dots was purchased in a box in an antique store for $5. Her arms and legs had fallen off. She also has pretty brass barretts that I was cleaning and forgot to put on before our excursion.

Did I get bargains.....?

This is a Madame Alexander Little Women Beth in hard plastic with the Maggie face and she's a walker. She has the large hands with the separated fingers which were used from 1950-1951. I saw this doll online at the starting price of $9.99. I was the only bidder and was hopeful that she would be a doll I could restore. Her face was described as pale. I could see from the photo that her lips had lost color and that her right eye looked darker. After unwrapping her I lifted her to take a sniff and was really sad that there was a strong odor. My husband described it as smoky. I thought it was cheese-like. It wasn't vinegar-like or rotten egg-like and couldn't be smelled through the packaging, which I've heard of. I should have sent it immediately back but..... I washed the very dirty, smelly clothes in my usual borax/detergent mix along with Lysol. Her lovely wig got a Lysol bath as well. I noted that the color was mottled on the left arm and leg. The right eye seemed to have a stain which might be rust behind the eye(?). The doll was cleaned with Lysol, her lips and cheeks were made up, her hair was styled and she was redressed and placed in isolation on top an old cabinet in the kitchen which now holds an old child's stove in need of restoration. I will be checking her often and may have to seal her, inside and out, which might involve some breakage as the walker is in great shape and the arms and legs are on tightly. I'd also have to remove the metal parts from the eyes and glue them in place before sealing the inside of the head.

I purchased this Madame Alexander 11 1/2 Little Women Marmee doll with the Lissy face at an antique store in Wisconsin this weekend. I paid about $4 over my self imposed rule because these dolls are seldom seen at a price I can afford. There was an orange stain across parts of the face which I hoped to remove, as well as slight dark marks on a cheek. The clothes were pretty dingy as well. The apron and underclothes cleaned up pretty well. I damp sponged the taffeta dress as it's not a good idea to soak those. I have most of the stains off the face. I'm going very slowly as I don't want to damage her. So, I guess this is sort of a before photo. ........................................................................................ I have taken some chances on ebay and sometimes been very pleased and often times disappointed. A doll once came without one of it's two unattached arms and the seller said he surely put it in the box. A Little Women 70's Meg had a tear in her underskirt and a cloudy eye, which I hadn't noticed in the photos. The Josephine doll which accompanied her had a badly torn dress. And oddest of all, I bought an 8" Alexanderkins in a Spanish outfit which I have never seen elsewhere, with a lovely edging to the shawl. I could tell from the photos that she had triple stitched hair in a curly flip and not the hairstyle of the Madame Alexander Spanish dolls. And I could tell that she had center tie shoes which I'd seen listed as 1956. The problem was that I didn't see that her bent knee walker legs splayed out in a sitting position. I had to take out her hooks and improvise to get them to hang in a normal position. She looks beautiful now but I have no idea what to do with her so that her legs don't dangle. On the other hand, I bought a vinyl head Muffie with no problem when it was described as having been glued together at the crotch (these dolls often are just slightly offset at that seam). I paid very little for any of these dolls. The jury is still out on whether I got a bargain on these two.

Ginny in his pocket

My husband came home from work the day before Father's Day and guess what he had stuck in his shirt pocket?? An incredible little '55-'56 Ginny straight leg walker doll! Of course, now I wish I'd grabbed the camera before I shrieked and grabbed the doll. I have tried for a couple of years to win one on ebay at a price I consider reasonable (cheap) and this certainly was that at $2. She didn't look like this at the time, and again what was I thinking in not getting a "before" photo. The hair was messy and part of the bang was stiff with glue. There was some dried glue at the sides of the face, also. Now, she's clean and her hair is mostly in the original style (a bit fuzzy in spots) and she's wearing a Bon-Bon style outfit I made from some vintage nylon dotted swiss which I found at a yard sale. (I got a lot of this fabric in pink, aqua, white, peach, and yellow, in dotted or floral flocked.) And I want you to notice that I tatted lace trim for the sleeves and neckline. I'm proud of that!!!!!!! I hadn't tatted in years!!

The yard sale Ginny was wearing a cute little pink floral print outfit with a gold tie at the neck so I was beside myself about that. When looking at the tag, however, I discovered that it was a Nancy Ann Storybook outfit. I have since found it, I think, in a black and white photo in the Encyclopedia of Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls on page 287 in a black and white photo of a 1957 ad; and on page 343 Miss Nancy Ann and Little Miss Nancy Ann wear this print in a dress with a green tie. There are pink polka dot panties with the dress which may or may not be original to the dress. So, this is now being worn by a Muffie whose hair didn't seem to fit with any I'd seen until yesterday. I saw one with the identical color of mid length wavy hair, listed as having been owned by a prominent UFDC member, and wearing a pink polka dot cotton dress with puffed sleeves and ruffled trim. So, I'll do a dress for mine now in pink polka dot nylon with a pale pink under slip. I must reveal that this Muffie came to me as a head and torso. She's using another dolls arms and Madame Alexander bent knee legs for now. I got these in an ebay auction thinking they'd come in handy and they all are in use, sadly. The vinyl head Muffie to the left is in another dress from the yard sale dotted swiss fabric. I recently bought her shoes at an antique shop for $1.25. And, again, the Muffie on the right is a strung doll from about '53 and may have been meant as a boy. I know I need to cover the wood in this cabinet. It's not good for the dolls to sit on it for sure.

Here's my articulated Madame Alexander Wendy in a fitting and in her new dress from the yard sale flocked fabric.

The Doll Convention

I attended my first local doll convention last Saturday, held at a museum, and I had a great time!! The sales area was incredible for a local show. It was far more than I expected. I saw so many beautiful dolls that I had only read about. I felt the prices were quite reasonable considering the quality, but I didn't spend much. I won a raffle for the Chase doll and was I ever excited!! I also won a door prize. Each attendee received a souvenir doll at the conclusion of the conference and we were all gifted with UFDC magazines and a Doll Castle News as well as a necklace for our dolly. The programs were given by a former President of the UFDC (Composition Dolls and Tonner Dolls) and a regional director (china dolls). We were also able to view the doll museum, housed in the buildings. I took some photos before the start of registration as I was there early with some of the helpers. The curator of the doll museum drew the winners of the raffle. Here's my Martha Chase company doll. It is made of painted cloth. A wooden ball and stick are covered with tightly stuffed stockinet and the cloth is covered with paste and paint. Production of these dolls began in the late 1800's and they were also made as teaching tools for hospitals. This doll is possibly from the 1950s. I need to do more research. Also, I bought an Effanbee French Pierrot. I found it appealing. Maybe because of a daughter in France. :-) The Minerva tin head came from a free box in the sales area. .

A mini lesson in Ginger

The Cosmopolitan Doll and Toy Corporation first manufactured the 8" Ginger in 1954 in Jackson Heights, NY. It's believed that the company was founded by Kathryn "Kitty" Kay, who had been a saleswoman for the incredibly popular Vogue Ginny dolls. Ginger was also sold in Sweden and was used by several other doll companies who used the purchased Ginger bodies for their own promotions. Gingers were not marked and are most easily identified by the arm hooks. They also have circular mold marks at the wrist and the head seam goes through the middle of the ears. They came with either small, medium, or large eyes. Their clothes I have always found very stylish and the first Ginger booklet credits "Simone", a celebrated designer, for Ginger's clothing. The doll itself and her furniture were supposedly designed by Belle Kogan. Here I have a big eyed Ginger who is near mint, with beautiful coloring, wearing a dress which I have seen in an ad for Fab detergent. If you sent in a boxtop and $1 you received a doll or an outfit. The outfit looks exactly like the pink dress with blue trim and the pink hat in the ad. The seated doll in brown taffeta I believe to be a small eyed Ginger. She needs a new wig. Her dress is one that a Little Miss Ginger (8" teen doll) was wearing but I have seen it on a Ginger in photos. The Ginger in pink I am less certain about. She has the same look and is approximately the same size. She looks shorter because of the other doll's stand and shoes. She has the same mold marks on her wrists and the arm hooks are those of a Ginger. Her legs have the walking mechanism but the walking post either broke and was removed or was never inserted. Her hair is glued on mohair. Also, her feet were painted with white "shoes" although she has toes! Just not the same quality, but I had to rescue her and was curious about her feet. She was wearing the red dress but it was pulled across and pinned in the skirt. The dress is very narrow in the waist. I'm including the photo of the Ideal Shirley Temple in the Dimples coat and hat outfit because I got it at the same flea market as the Ginger (?) in pink.

May Doll News

I've acquired a few new dolls and other fun collectibles at auctions, flea markets, and yard sales. So, here we go:

At a local thrift shop I bought this unmarked dime store doll in an Eskimo costume that I thought was cute. The Chinese doll is all tightly stuffed cloth, even the separate fingers. It has a small ribbon shaped sticker that says Award, Made in Taiwan, Republic of China. I got her at a yard sale along with the Navajo doll with the handwoven shawl. I spent $3! The light weight plastic doll (possibly celluloid?) in the ethnic costume was purchased at a flea market.

The Nancy Ann Story Book doll at far left was so dirty that I felt she was a bad buy at $3 but I wanted to try and rescue her. Her face was so dirty that I rubbed it gently with a Magic Eraser. I have since sadly discovered how easy it is to wipe off the eyebrows and eyelashes on these dolls, even if you think you're not rubbing hard. I'm not sure if she had eyebrows to begin with she was so dirty. I thought that her dress was hopelessly faded. However, the fabric is irridescent taffeta, woven with raspberry and gold and it changes color more dramatically than any such I've seen. Lovely! It did have one round hole which is covered by a fold of the dress. Soooo worth the price. Next is a Deluxe Reading doll. Is this a little sister to Penny Brite? Her face is pale. These were purchased at a yard sale at an old antique shop. The Duchess brand Shamrock doll was bought at a thrift shop. She is in better shape than any other I've seen. The Precious Moments is from a yard sale.

A cousin purchased this doll for me at a yard sale. She was quite dirty and was having a nightmare hair day. Now she's looking really cute. I'm still trying to find info on these dolls. I see them sometimes on ebay but can't find out any dates for them.

I couldn't pass up this baby buggy with the Coronet hubcaps and crown logo. I got a great buy at a flea market.

Effanbee Honey walker and Frey Co. Dolls

I purchased this Honey walking doll at an auction this weekend. I spotted her in a group of larger rubber dolls and when I picked her up her legs and head moved. Effanbee was on her back and neck. I knew she was Effanbee's special walking doll but couldn't remember the name at the time. She was in the corner where the auction was to start and I quietly asked the auctioneer if he would sell her separately as I didn't want the other dolls. He picked her up as the first item for bid for the day and no one else wanted her. Her upper layer of hair was sticking up, the rest of her hair was pulled back and pinned with 6 cute doll sized bobby pins. There was a very dark oval on her forehead, of unknown origin, which cleaned off leaving only a shadow. Her eyes and walker work beautifully and her fingers and toes are all there. Her color is quite nice. There is some loss in the cheeks, but the pretty multi stroke eyebrows are present as well as the delicate pink on the knees and the backs of the hands. Her main problems are the lack of most eyelashes on her right eye and some dirty scratches on the tip of her nose. I couldn't get that clean so I pressed mineral makeup into the scratches for now. She's wearing the undies, socks, and shoes she came in plus a blouse I had from another sale (possibly an item handmade for a Toni).

No one wanted the Frey Manufacturing Co. rubber baby doll either and I changed my mind on her because of the lovely clothes and cute rubber shoes. She was quite dirty and felt terrible to the touch. Her clothes were very soiled and the dress is still a bit stained in places, although unripped. Under her pink taffeta panties was a pink plastic or rubber diaper cover with pink bows, still soft to the touch.No one wanted the Frey Manufacturing Co. rubber doll baby either and I changed my mind on her because of the lovely clothes and cute rubber shoes. She was quite dirty and felt terrible to the touch. Her clothes were very dirty and the dress is still a bit stained in places. Under her pink taffeta panties was a pink plastic or rubber diaper cover with pink bows, still soft to the touch. I have only found one other Frey doll online and the date of the doll wasn't given. It is surely pre 1950's because of the use of the rubber body with, I believe, a hard rubber head. This doll was fairly well cared for or it wouldn't have survived without a single crack or tear. She has a wooden connector between her head and body to ease the turning of her head.
I have only found one other Frey doll online and the date of the doll wasn't given.
I had fun using my vintage clothes line and doll sized clothes pins.






These are some doilies, hanky, and a cuff and collar that I got wadded up in a box at another auction.

Ready for spring

Vintage Ginny now has a peach colored ensemble--sundress and matching sunhat and panties which I made in one morning. She's all ready for Spring. Her hair has been fluffed. My early strung Muffie is wearing midnight blue taffeta. I'll either make matching panties or possibly use a generic pair I just bought on ebay which were advertised as old store stock.




My Ginny wearing polka dots was purchased yesterday for $1.38 at Goodwill. She had no clothes and was a bit dirty. Her hair was mussy. For dolls which aren't valuable antiques I have had great success using those magical eraser cleaners. One swipe will remove dirt that you might otherwise have to scrub with a stronger cleaner. I also used undiluted fabric softener on the hair. I combed it out and then rinsed thoroughly. Again, this shouldn't be used on a valuable doll without at least testing first--or asking for professional advice. I have read that it can change the hair color on certain old Barbies. But, I have always had outstanding results with it. She now has an outfit I made.
The Ginny in the center is from 1968. She is vinyl and is the most unusual of the little girl dolls of her year and is all complete with her original outfit, socks, and shoes. I purchased her in an antique store for about $7.
Bent knee Ginny again models her new peach outfit.

Dolls from an auction

These are all but two of the dolls I recently bought at auction. It was a disappointing day in many ways because the dolls I most wanted either went for prices out of my reach or I felt they would and stopped bidding. I still need to research whether or not a Lissy faced Alexander doll might be unmarked. The clothing wasn't marked either but the bidding started high and went from there so... I dropped out early since I didn't know exactly what I was bidding on :-). Two Vogue Jill dolls in their case with extra clothes went for over $80. I was amazed at the prices for old Barbie cases and clothes. My mom wasn't much for saving many of my early dolls as moving around with the Army doesn't allow for it. I do have a couple of big baby dolls. A person who had saved a large collection of their first Barbies might be able to turn that into money for a car. LOL.
At this auction I did get a bag of broken dolls for $4, and a little box of baby dolls for the same price. The three dolls leaning on the photo frame and the one sitting in front were in the bag and they've been worked on already!
The one in front is a vintage Vogue Ginny bent knee walker, made from 1957 to 1962. (It isn't from 61 as those were all green eyed with freckles.) She needed arms and a wig, as well as the lower part of the left leg. I felt she should be blond based on a stray hair or two left on her little bald head so I used curly craft doll hair to make her a wig. I later picked the ringlets out into a fuller style. I had a small selection of doll arms to choose from. Someday I hope to get vintage arms, a lower left leg, and a vintage Ginny wig. Stranger things have happened. It probably won't be by buying them on ebay as the parts and wigs for dolls go for almost as much as a vintage doll in nice shape!
The doll leaning on the frame dressed in white with blue stripes and red apples is, I think, a small eyed Ginger. She was missing only her wig and her arm hooks are consistent with what I've seen pictured on old Ginger dolls. I made her wig from mohair roving.
The dolls in blue and red are the same maker but I don't know who the maker is. Their feet are blunt, as though they have molded shoes which are unpainted and unshaped except for a line at the top. The one in red had her own wig. Both needed replacement arms. The doll in blue has a longer mohair wig which I made.
These four dolls are all in dresses which I made.
The doll in yellow is a skinny Ginny. She came in a bag with this dress and some other clothes and shoes, and I mainly wanted the clothes and shoes. Again $4.
I don't really collect baby dolls but I knew one was a Madame Alexander and thought it would be fun to have--and the price was right. The bigger baby doll is a 12" Vogue Ginny baby (which I didn't realize until I got to the car). The Sun Rubber Company doll is also marked with the name Ruth Newton, the designer's name, and is from 1957. The 9" baby is the Madame Alexander Sweet Tears. I made the diapers on the Ginny baby and Sweet Tears, altering a free pattern I got online.
Well, the auction was a learning experience. I learned a few things about doll collecters and finally got an old Ginny. Although she's not all there, who among us is? LOL!

This was the doll I paid the higher price (for me) for at the auction. It's a limited edition Ginny made for the Gigi's dolls and Sherrie's Bears shop in Chicago. It's a 1988-1989 doll. I also have a another of their dolls, a Gigi's favorite Ginny who is dressed in blue with a white apron. She has her teddy bear with her. www.gigisdolls.com if you want to look and wish.

The Muffies

I was excited to find a Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls California Muffie listed on ebay last month as a "California doll" under doll parts. She's in the top photo in the blue dress and the red bow. She was missing the word Muffie on her back because that word wasn't on the 1953 strung dolls. These early Muffies also had no eyebrows painted on. Her coloring is wonderful. Her hair is still fairly full but is short, although there were a very few longer strands. I'm not sure if the hair was cut. It's quite similar in style to that of the Davy Crockett Muffie. However, all of those which I've seen are the later walking Muffies with eyebrows. For now she a bit of a mystery but I'm keeping her dressed as a girl with bobbed hair.
The ponytail Muffie in the striped dress is a walker with a vinyl head from about 1956. The walker Muffie in the red dress came without arms and legs, which I now know are VERY difficult to find and quite expensive when you do. Her arms are from a Muffie clone and her legs are Madame Alexander. The walker Muffie in the plaid dress has curls which I sewed onto her wig base. She had very sparse hair. She also has an orange skin tone which is either from age or from cigarette smoke in a former home, depending on which article you read about this problem.
I made all the dresses shown in both photos. The solid cream colored dress and the solid light blue dress are silk. The lavender and grey plaid is taffeta and the gold is lame.

Christmas 2012 and the Tucson visit

Christmas was wonderful this year!
I saw everyone at some time in December which made the month special. Being together is what Christmas is all about, but I'm glad for my children who have their own happy and lovely homes to be in at Christmas time--one of my three prayers/wishes for my children since they were small. The photos and slides say it all.





And I need to go back to early December in Tucson because somehow I missed getting on photos of that great trip and visit!! It's always fun to visit Charles and Dawn!