Liddle Kiddles were introduced by Mattel in 1966.They were tiny rubber dolls with wire armatures, sort of like mini versions of Barbie's sister Tutti. In fact, some of them share Tutti's head mold.
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| Apple Blossom, like all Kiddles, has rooted hair, and is jointed at the neck. Her body and limbs are bendable. |
The Kologne Kiddles appeared in 1968.
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| They came in bottles, like cologne.Get it? The bottle opens all the way down, once the cap that holds it closed is removed. |
There were nine different dolls, all named after flowers.
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| Her green hair is supposed to be like a green apple, and the flowers in her hair are apple blossoms. |
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| Her hair is still in it's original set. |
Apple Blossom was produced in 1968 and '69.
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The line was discontinued in 1970. Kiddles in general were discontinued in 1971, probably for the same safety issues that ended the Tutti line. Kiddles reappeared in the 90's,made by Tyco.They had a different style body and different head molds than the classic ('Klassic'?) Kiddles. They just didn't have the same charm.
Still feeling lousy. I think I have an ear infection. Stop in tomorrow for another doll.
If I look at your doll, I see the year 1969 again. I remember that year so well! I knew back then, this would be the best year of my life, and it was :) No year could top it. Where did all the time go by...?
ReplyDeleteI was a little girl in a terri-cloth dress and wooden gymnastik-sandals, which was deep in love with Mr. Spock (and when he went away this year I cried as a little child), I wore the hair, as your doll has hers, and slept beneath my Mama (in a bed for married people -she was divorced), since I had left my crib. This was great! We listened to records before falling asleep, and she told us every evening in bed about her childhood, so very different from ours in that huge city. We never played in fields or jumped from high 'mountains' of hay like SHE did, it was like from a country far away, and in fact it WAS from far away, because where she grew up now the Communists did reign, we could not go and visit it.
One afternoon my Mother travelled with us for hours through Berlin, and suddenly, it was already evening, while the sun went down, we stood in a huge field.
I will never forget this moment. I do not know where it was, and now these last fields in Berlin are gone, too. But I often dream that moment- the wheat (or was it rhye?) which was higher than I was, and the sinking sun so far away above the very end of the world.
My Mother, smelled like appleblossoms and lilac and was the smartest living being. She knew everything, and she could sew dolls and make doll's houses and other toys from literally nothing. I adored her.
At the window in our bedroom, which was MY room at the same time, where my many dolls and my doll's house and my books where, my sister had her bed, and in the room next door my Grandfather lived and slept. I never went to him in his bed or so, it was HIS home, though we were as twins. But it was okay, I never was angry for not being allowed to go in, while the both doors were closed, I knew he needed his rest, and he was so happy in every second when he was awake to see me, as happy as I was.
We, he and me, saw everything together in TV, he explained me politics, we used to make loooong walks every day, and in fall we bought a kite (he could not build one, he was already too ill); we searched in the stores until we found 'our' steady model, and sometimes it took us hours. We never would have bought a 'false' one.
I know how the whoile world around had huge troubles, I know about Vietnam, about the student's wars in berlin, and about the Tate-LaBiaca-Murders. But I cannot believe it was the same time, the same planet. It was the time when the dolls where the most beautiful, the music was wonderful, and when the days seemed never be long enough to enjoy all the beauty and fun which existed for us children.
Please, if you find somebody which builds Time Machines... I want to go back in the very same second, and nobody will ever meet me here again.
You really should do a blog of your own, with all your reminiscences. You have such memories and a way with words, even with the few mistakes in your English. Why don't you consider it?
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ReplyDeleteWhat safety issues were those? I never heard of any-I have several Tuttis, and Kiddles & the curiosity is getting the best of me-Thank you in advance
The wires that make them poseable tend to work their way out of the rubber 'skin'. Sometimes they could be pretty sharp.In any case, you could poke yourself with them, so they were considered too dangerous for children. Tutti and friends continued to be sold in Europe and Canada for a few years, but the rubber they used was much thicker and tougher.
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