Valentine's Day With Chatty Cathy

At one time I became interested in collecting the Mattel Chatty Cathy doll and her family.  Sadly, I haven't paid much attention to Chatty in recent years.  I have to admit that the dolls I enjoy collecting the most are the dolls I grew up playing with and Chatty came out just around the time I had decided I was too old for dolls...1959.  (Note:  I was mistaken and I'm now living proof that you are never too old to play with dolls!)

Since I didn't get any Valentine's Day pictures taken this year I thought I'd share a couple of old Chatty photos.  

Here is Chatty modeling a Valentines Day dress that I made for her around 20 years ago.  I enjoyed sewing for Chatty because I found it so much easier than sewing for the small Vogue Ginny dolls.

Back in the old days there was an online Chatty Cathy group where I met other collectors.  I'm sure there are Chatty groups today but like I said I've lost some interest over the years.  Perhaps someday I'll be inspired again.  She is a very cute doll, but her talking  mechanism no longer works.  None of my vintage Chatty dolls speak.

Happy Valentine's Day!  Betty Martin

Doll Room Decorating

 I enjoy decorating my doll room with signs that I find on my travels.  Signs that say things I find very appropriate.  Here are a few:

This one isn't really a sign.  It's a coaster that I use as a sign because of what it said.

And this one is technically a button, but it says what I'm usually thinking!

Every so often I come across something online where a parent wonders if their child is too old to play with dolls.  Sometimes the child will be as young as 10 and often older.  Well, I'm here to reassure these parents that your child is never too old to play with dolls.  However, after a certain age it's better to call it "collecting" rather than "playing."  I'm 77 so I call it "collecting" dolls to most people.  I get enough strange looks just saying that I "collect."  Imagine if I said I "played" with dolls.

I do collect dolls but I find it boring when they just sit on a shelf.  I enjoy setting them up in different scenes.  I guess you can call that playing.  Yes, I still play with dolls!

Come out and play!  Betty

Saving Ginny Doll Number 2

 In my previous post I told you about the four Vogue Ginny dolls I bought on eBay and showed you the first one I restored.  I've had Ginny doll number two finished for a while, but just hadn't gotten around to writing about her here. 

Ginny number two really didn't require too much work.  She's a bent knee walker and was given a bath with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and her little dirt spots disappeared.  Her hair was a little messy but combed back into place quite well.  It was a little "fly-away" so I patted on some Armorall.  I learned about that treatment on a doll list some years back and have used it before.  She still has some "fly-away" ends so I might go back at some point and give her another treatment.  I already had the 1959 Ginny dress #1213 and decided she was the perfect doll for that dress.  It was missing the pink bow so I added one.  I'd really like to find the matching 1959 Jill dress #3233!  I have a thing for the matching Ginny and Jill outfits.

Here are a couple of before pictures:

And here is how she looks today:

Here she is with her sister from the previous post:

I showed you the bag of clothes and accessories that the seller so nicely included with the dolls.  (Don't you just love those kind of surprises?)  I've washed, ironed, and steamed a few of those things so far.  Here is the 1955 Ginny Bride outfit #64 from that bag.  It had a blue mark on the bodice but it washed right out.  The netting and lace were in very good condition.  I added white bows on the dress and veil and added a bouquet.  This is a reproduction Ginny wearing the outfit.

And here is the back of the veil.

I'm really not crazy about her bouquet but that's what I had on hand to use.  It might be replaced some day.

I've been working on a few other things (and goofing off) but I will get the other dolls restored soon.  Betty

Saving The Vogue Ginny Doll...One Doll At A Time

 Growing up in the 1950's I had quite a few dolls.  Every Christmas we got at least one new doll, but my favorite by far was the Vogue Ginny doll.  I remember sitting on my bedroom floor and playing with Ginny for hours.  I had the cardboard Ginny dollhouse and some furniture along with Ginny and her sisters Ginnette and Jill and her brother Jeff.  I also had lots of clothes for my dolls and I'm fortunate to still have many of those clothes today.  I still have one of my childhood Ginny dolls.  Back then most of my friends had Ginny dolls or one of the other popular dolls in the same scale as Ginny.  We even brought them to school sometimes and played with them on the playground.  Ginny was a popular childhood doll in New Jersey where I grew up.  In Texas I have never found another person around my age who even knew what a Ginny doll was which kind of surprised me.  I guess because Ginny was made in MA she was more popular on the east coast.

As an adult I became a doll collector.  Over the last 20+ years I've added to my doll collection, but the Vogue Ginny doll has always been my favorite doll. 

I tell myself that I have enough dolls and nowadays I don't even look at eBay daily.  Back in the old days I would look several times a day, but not anymore.   However, a week or so ago I took a look and spotted a BIN with 4 Ginnys for $80.  I think the shipping was around $10.  The seller only had a 4 after her name and no recent feedback.  Normally I would bookmark a BIN and think about it for a while.  Most times when I would come back the BIN would be gone.  For some reason this time I acted impulsively and did the BIN. 

Oh dear...I had immediate regrets.  What had I done?  I watched to see if the dolls would even be shipped.  After all the seller wasn't an active seller on eBay.  I followed the package until is said it had been delivered.  I hopped in the car and went to the mailbox and retrieved the package.  I brought it home and opened the package expecting that I had made a big mistake.  I took a look and almost cried.

 I have never bought a mint doll.  Most of my Ginnys are fixer uppers.  I enjoy give them new life and like to think that I'm saving a doll that some little girl really loved at one time.  It was a doll friend that told me once that these dolls are previously loved dolls.  Well, included in the box was a note from the seller:

I've never actually had a seller tell me that a doll I bought was their childhood doll.  I always knew the fixer uppers must have been played with (and probably loved) by a child in the 1950's, but in all probability came from an estate sale, garage sale, or even a doll show and the person selling it wasn't the original owner. The note almost brought me to tears.  (Am I crazy or what??)  These 4 dolls came from the original owner and now I knew I had to get busy and restore them.  They weren't really in bad shape for being around 70 years old.  They mostly needed to be cleaned, restrung, and their hairstyles restored.  Here are the 4 dolls:

And here's the bonus that the seller referred to in the note:

I knew I had to get busy and "save" these dolls!  Since the above picture was taken they've all had "baths" and been restrung.

This was the first one I decided to work on mainly because she looked like she'd be the easiest one:

Here she is after she was cleaned and the glue was cleaned off her forehead and ears.  (The Vogue Doll Company got a little carried away sometimes when they glued on the wigs!)  There were only a couple of marks on her one arm that I couldn't get off.  I thought about replacing the arm since I have some extras but then decided I'd rather keep her all original.  After all those marks mean she was played with by some little girl and I'm assuming loved.

I had to reglue her wig around the edges.  Then I got her dressed so she could begin her new life with me and my Ginny doll family.  I already had the perfect dress for her!  (The bracelet was in the bag of clothes and I decided she should wear it.)

Now I'm on to the second doll...the dark haired Bent Knee Walker.  She cleaned up nicely and I think I'll be able to just comb her hair back into place.  I've already fooled with it a little.

Most of the clothes in the bag were non-Ginny clothes although there was the Vogue 1954 pineapple dress and the 1955 wedding gown along with pj's, robes, nightgowns, a Jill leotard, hatbox and numerous shoes and accessories.  Most need a little work and I still have to identify some of the other clothes in the bag.  Needless to say I was thrilled with all of it.

The 1954 Painted Lash Walker needs a new wig and I have one that I can use on her.  The only problem that I'm having with her is that the glue won't come off her face.  This is only the second Ginny that I've come across in all the years I've been restoring these dolls that doesn't have a water soluble glue that comes right off with water and a gentle scrape with my fingernail. I looked online and tried a couple of suggestions but so far nothing has worked.  I removed her old wig so I can try some other things on her scalp to make sure nothing damages her face.  If I can't get it off I'll try and hide the glue with the replacement wig.

The blond Bent Knee Walker had some of the old rubber bands stuck in her hair.  I might wash her hair.  I haven't decided yet.

This will keep me busy for a while but I'll put up pictures as I get them all restored.  Before you know it they'll all be part of my Vogue doll family!  I like to think they'll all live happily ever after.  Betty

One Of My Moods

For many years I had one of my childhood Vogue Ginny dolls and most of the clothes from my childhood stuck away in the back of a closet.  I didn't realize that people collected dolls and thought others would think I was nuts if I put my Ginny on display.  While living in Oklahoma in the 80's I purchased a Vogue Jill doll, but I still wasn't really collecting.  She joined Ginny in the back of the closet for safe keeping. From time to time I'd ask acquaintances if they had ever heard of Ginny dolls and the answer was always no. Then the Internet came along and my kids introduced me to eBay.  I wondered if there could possibly be any Ginny dolls up for auction. Not really expecting to find any I did a search.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  There were lots and lots of Ginnys!  The rest is history.  Through eBay I bought from collectors and before you knew it I had Ginny doll friends.  My dolls were out of the closet! That was around 1998.

I am not a mint collector.  For example I don't care if I have an outfit from 1953 on a 1953 doll.  I just want my dolls to look cute.  I also make changes to outfits if I think something doesn't look right.  I have actually always enjoyed "playing" with my dolls and acquiring furniture and accessories for them and setting them up in little scenes more than just collecting dolls.  I've always said that there are many different kinds of collectors which I think is good for the doll collecting world.  

Unfortunately, I'm running out of new ideas for different holidays though.  I also get in moods from time to time where I find that I need to give my dolls a little break.  I've been in one of those moods lately so I thought I'd post some pictures from Valentine's Day 2020.  Fortunately, my dolls haven't grown or changed much in 2 years.

Do kids today still have Valentine's Day parties at school?  Back in the 1950's we always did so my dolls continued that tradition.

Happy Valentine's Day a little early!!!  Betty

ORGANIZING???

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've attempted to organize my doll collection.  This time I'm determined.  Recent Texas weather events left us in the cold without electricity (and water) after a deep freeze.  I had time to organize dolls.

 I had already started working on my vintage Vogue Ginny dolls before the storm.  I temporarily moved my Chatty Cathy dolls and laid out all my Ginnys where I could easily see them.

 

Then I took each doll and put a tag around her waist with the year, condition, etc.  I also attached a tag to the Vogue doll outfit she was wearing at the time.  (I have more Vogue outfits that I'll label at another time.)  I tried to keep the tags hidden under their outfits.

Then when the freeze came I finished working on Ginny and started on my vintage Vogue Jill and Jan dolls.  I did the same thing with them.  They now each have a label around their waists and any Vogue outfits are identified with a tag.  I've started putting them in a cabinet together.  (Note:  The Mouseketeer dolls are being moved to make room for the Vogue Modern Jills and the Vogue Reproduction Jills.  This is an ongoing project.

I try and keep all my vintage dolls behind cabinet doors to protect them from the light.  I know these pictures aren't great but I snapped them quickly while I was working.

I'll be moving on to my Vogue Jeff dolls next.  After I finish all the Vogue dolls I'll work on  other dolls but I wanted the Vogue dolls done first.  As I get older I want to have this all done so my kids will know what they have to sell someday.  I have never seen any Vogue dolls at estate sales here.  I've even asked the people running the sales if they ever have Vogue dolls and usually they don't even know what I'm talking about.  So, I've told my kids they'd probably get pennies on the dollar if they put them in an estate sale.  Ebay would probably be a better option.

One thing organizing has told me is that I really don't need anymore dolls!  If I do get a doll it will be because she's wearing an outfit that I've really, really wanted.  I'm out of space.  Since I enjoy setting my dolls up in scenes I have shelf space taken up with permanent scenes that I don't want to take down.  So, there's just so much room!

Now I'm getting back to work!  Betty