PLANET OF THE DOLLS: Doll-A-Day 2017 #204: European Chris

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Doll-A-Day 2017 #204: European Chris

It was a good and bad day today. First, let me back up and tell you about the rest of the weekend. I've been really tired all weekend. It's been so terribly hot,and we don't have air conditioning,even in the car! I didn't get much sleep, but I rousted Ken Friday and Saturday mornings (not too early),to go yard saling and get out of this hot house.We had a pretty nice couple of days,spent time together,ate out and visited another town for a change.Friday evening I had to take Ken to work so I could have the car to do Emma a favour. That meant picking him up at 2AM when he got off work. Even that wasn't too bad, because the ride in the car was cooler than the house! I was so tired I had to take a nap before doing the emma thing, and another nap before picking Ken up.Then I was up Saturday to go yard saling. There was so much on and off rain that most people didn't have their sales,so not much there. We never did find the one sale we went to a nearby town to find. However, I did find a Goodwill and they had all their records marked down to 25 cents. I found a Cliff Richard album Ken's sister actually doesn't have,(amazing!),and I now have EIGHT Nat King Cole albums for my faux daughter-in-law,Fuzzy's girlfriend Shanna. Their dolls were several different prices and some were a bit over priced. I did find a few I may share with you in upcoming posts,and a couple of surprises.I didn't take a nap Saturday,and I somehow got to bed late again last night.Then I had to get up to take Ken to work this morning. I needed the car because a few days ago my cousin Missy messaged me to tell me her brother was coming up for a couple of days and did I want to come to her mom's house Sunday afternoon to see him? Well I hadn't seen Tim since he was a teenager,and he's going to be 49 this fall! My dad and I spent alot of time with Tim and Missy's family when Tim and I were younger,and Missy wasn't even born yet,and when she was very small,before they moved away to California. Their dad was actually my cousin,but he and his siblings are so much older than I am that they always felt more like my aunts and uncles,and their kids felt like my cousins. So I was looking forward to seeing Tim again. I had to take a nap again when I got back from taking Ken to work,before doing a few things and heading to the family thing. I never take naps,but in the last few days I have become Queen of the Naps! I made it there, but the car was making noises.We had a nice visit, (and Missy's daughter made an amazing cheesecake!). I had to head back early to pick Ken up from work, since I had the car. On the way home the car overheated. I had to stop on the highway. A really nice Highway Patrolman stopped to see if I needed help,and stayed until I was on my way again,even standing in the pouring rain with me! I got back to town, but the car was still overheating,so we did not go to the Big City to see "To Kill A Mockingbird",like we were going to. It's one of my favourite movies and books, and we bought tickets to the summer movie series partially based on the fact that they were showing it. So that was disappointing. But at least the car cooperated long enough to let me visit with Tim and family. (The'do' was actually held at Tim and Missy's cousin's house,a cousin I am not related to, so it was really nice of their mom's family to take me in and make me feel at home. I knew or had heard of some of them over the years, but they all seemed to be familiar with my dad, if not me. Whenever somebody asked how I was related to Tim and Missy they inevitably responded to the answer with "Oh! Uncle Leroy's daughter!" They all called Dad 'uncle'! And they all remembered him well, even though it's been 30 years since Tim and Missy's mom was married to my dad's nephew!
Anyway!Today we're seeing a doll I told you I'd show you back when I got her for Mother's Day. She's Chris,Tutti's friend.

This is the European version of Chris.

Chris has been a part of our household for a few years now, but she didn't belong to me until this Mother's Day.

This isn't a Chris dress. It's a random dress I picked up somewhere. If anybody recognizes it let me know who it goes to.

Here's the tale: A few years ago we all went to a doll auction. Independently of each other. Ivy and I spotted European Chris in one of the lots. When we met up at bidding time we were both planning to bid on her. Ivy was at the age where she was starting to lose interest in dolls. She still wanted this Chris though. She told me what her maximum bid would be, so I agreed not to bid unless Chris went over Ivy's limit. Well, Ivy won the lot. She didn't know what she wanted to do with Chris though, since she was old and should be taken special care of. We agreed that I would put Chris in my glass case of dolls while she thought about it. Well, she pretty much lost interest in Chris as soon as she hit the case. Over the years I offered several times to buy Chris from Ivy for what she had paid for her. Ivy's a tough nut. She wouldn't sell because Chris was worth more than she paid! So poor Chris stood in the case, just the way she came:naked. We didn't have any European Tutti clothes for her,and Ivy had noTutti or Chris clothes at all. A few weeks before Mother's Day Ivy said she didn't know what she was going to get me. I once again suggested Chris would make a good gift. Well, this year she decided to relinquish ownership of Chris to me.

Chris was a Tutti friend,first sold in the United States in 1967.

She was available as a blonde or a brunette. Many of the brunette's have oxidised to a red colour. You can see my unoxidised brunette Chris HERE,my oxidised brunette HERE, and one of my blondes HERE. You can also see my other European Tutti friend, her brother Todd, HERE.

When Tutti and friends were deemed too dangerous to be sold in the U.S. due to wires that worked their way out of the soft rubber skin,they were discontinued in 1971.