Saturday, January 26, 2019

Doll-A-Day 2019 #26: Betsy Clark Babies

  Today's doll is this tiny guy.


He's a Betsey Clark baby.


He was made by Knickerbocker in 1976.



He's just under 2 inches tall if he stands on his toes,and even smaller sitting down.(And since he's made in a sitting position,he will be.)


The baby looked like this in package.

   Betsey Clark was an artist whose drawings of messy haired children in patched clothes got her thrown out of several art schools,but were licensed by Hallmark in 1962. Her art is sometimes confused with Precious Moments. I like Betsy Clark much better though.
 
Betsy's theory on her less than perfectly groomed children was, “Children don’t sit around all the time with every hair in place and big grins on their faces…They wear clothes with patches, they play, they get a little dirty.”
  Her art was very popular in the 1970's,appearing on Christmas ornaments,wrapping paper, books, plaques, puzzles, and any number of items. I still have a Hallmark datebook from when I was a kid in the early 70's,which I saved for the Betsy Clark cover. There were also several Betsy Clark dolls made. In addition to the 6" dolls that this baby came with,there were plush dolls with vinyl head and hands,all vinyl baby dolls,rag dolls,and small, cloth 'Little Bobby and 'Little Betsy' Hallmark dolls with bead eyes and thread hair. I have a pair of those I bought as a kid,which I'll pull out some day. There was even doll furniture and a dollhouse.
  I also have these other tiny babies,which seem to be made from the same body mold as today's guy.




The faces are different though,even from each other.
 

The bodies are so much alike, and yet there is a slight size difference in the arms. The one doll has noticeably smaller arms.


The ears are all different. 
 

The hair pattern is different too.


I'm not sure if they are other Betsey Clark babies, or babies from another line. I used to think they were Holly Hobbie babies,but as far as I can tell, the Holly Hobbie babies had straight,gingerbread man legs and less realistic bodies than these babies. Anybody know anything about them?
  See you tomorrow for another doll.

7 comments:

  1. I like the drawings you showed by Betsey Clark. They do look Hallmark-ish.
    Was the little guy sold alone or in the package you showed?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As far as I know the baby was only sold with the Betsey Clark doll shown in the package. Those dolls were about 6" tall, about the same size as the Holly Hobbie dolls from the same era.

      Delete
  2. Tiny little things!
    I am with Betsey Clark though, all my dolls have untidy hair, climb trees and are never really neat and tidy! I always say I want them to be like 'real little kids' and let's face it, in the main most little kids get messy when they're playing! As for her being thrown out of art schools, WOW! These days I suspect she'd be in good company as so many artists go for the more 'relaxed' style!
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree.Tidy is nice, but there's something to be said for realism too. I think another issue was that she always drew the same things the same way. She said something about it usually being necessary to be able to draw different things to be successful, but it hadn't hurt her drawing the same thing all the time. I guess if it's the right thing,it works out!

      Delete
  3. I didn't know about her but now that I do, I like Betsey AND Precious Moments. lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've done a post on a larger Betsey Clark doll. Have you seen that one yet?

      Delete
    2. I stated in 2013 and am finally in 2019, but I have seen so many now I am not sure. LOL Checking your side bar, I will probably get to her today.

      Delete

Thanks in advance for your comments.