Doll-A-Day 162: Growing Sally

  Today's doll is one of my childhood dolls. She's Growing Sally, by Remco.

Growin', as we called her when I was a kid, was made in 1968.

She has a special feature: She 'grows up'. She comes with two wigs and two outfits.

I appear to have misplaced a shoe over the years.

She's 6" tall, but when she 'grows', (Her body extends at the waist with a simple pull.),she becomes half an inch taller.

Growing Sally at 6" tall...

...and 6 and a half inches.

There must be a lot of years in that half an inch, because she goes from a little girl with ponytails, to a sophisticated grown lady in a satin evening gown.

"Stop! In the name of love..."

The grown Growing Sally always made me think of Diana Ross when I was a kid.

Actually she looks more like Mary Wilson, but Diana Ross was the only Supreme I knew by name when I was six.

The Supremes, Florance Ballard on the left, Diana Ross in the middle, and Mary Wilson on the right.

In any case,I was definitely getting The Supremes from that dress and hair. 

 

Her dress got ruined when I took her to my Grama's in a blue briefcase my Dad gave me. On the way there the blue inner pocket melted paint on Growin's dress, and the forehead of one of my other dolls. At least Growin' could change her dress!

The wigs just slip on and off. The little girl wig has a white ribbon on each ponytail and one on the top of her head.

  The African American Growing Sally came in this little girl dress. It doesn't seem to be long enough for her though. It looks a bit like a Heidi dress. Heidi was also made by Remco, which could account for the similarity.

There was also a Caucasian version of Growing Sally. Unlike the African American doll, she had molded hair, so when she was without a wig she didn't look bald, or weird. I just realized I didn't take any pictures of Growin' without her wigs. Oh well. She would have been embarrassed...

 The Caucasian Sally had a white grown up wig and a red yarn little girl wig, instead of the black haired wigs my girl has. 

She has a much less realistic, cute, silly freckled face that reminds me a lot of the type of dolls I bought quite often when I was a kid. I'm not sure I ever saw her then though.

I loved my Sally though.

Poor Sally had a bit of trouble standing for her photo shoot: When Emma was little she and I spent an afternoon playing with Growin'. Ken came home from work and tried to take part. In trying to make Growin' sit down he broke her left leg off.  (He also blew the transformer on my childhood train set, and overwound my sparking snowplow.Can't let him play with anything!)

See you tomorrow for Skipper Saturday.