Doll-A-Day 2019 # 39: Connie's Collection:Family Corners Kurt and Nichelle

  Some of you who have read these post for a while may have seen mention of my doll friend Connie. Connie is elderly,but when I met her,she certainly didn't act it. She was a very lively lady with a lot to say and stories to tell,and a great sense of humour. She had a huge and varied collection of dolls.
  Unfortunately,a few years ago, Connie started acting a bit strangely. She repeated stories a lot and forgot things easily. After getting unnecessarily angry at me,I didn't hear from her for a couple of years. I tried to get in touch with her, but she had moved, and she didn't show up for her usual table at the tiny local doll show. Then a couple of years ago she suddenly called out of the blue. She seemed to have forgotten that she was mad at me. She said she had moved in with her daughter and was having to get rid of her doll collection. Did I want anything from it? I asked her how much she was asking for things. She said I could just have anything I wanted because she just had to get rid of it. I said sure, I would love some things she had. She assured me that she would call again and we would set up a time for me to go through things. Time passed and I didn't get another call. I couldn't find Connie's number,so I couldn't try to call her. I suspected the worst,or almost the worst: I thought Connie must have dementia. As time passed I thought I would never hear from her again.
  Then,last summer, I was in the next town,to feed Emma's cat,Cowboy, while she was away. As I was leaving Emma's street,I started to head back home. Then, out of nowhere,I thought I would turn the other way,a way I had never gone,to see if there were any yard sales. Less than a block from the end of Emma's street I saw what looked like a fairly big yard sale at a house just down from the corner. So I turned. When I got out of the car, I saw tables loaded with small dolls. There were at least two tables of dolls, and some in boxes under the tables. I started to go through the dolls. There was an awfully large amount of Nancy Ann Storybook dolls,Connie's favourite. The lady who was running the sale came over and we were talking. I mentioned 'a friend' of mine who collected dolls and how she loved the Nancy Ann Storybook dolls. The lady said all the dolls belonged to her mother,who had dementia,and she loved the Nancy Anns too. As she talked things started sounding familiar. I asked her what her mother's name was and she said "Connie". I mentioned my Connie's last name and asked if that was her mother. It was! These were Connie's dolls! Poor Connie did indeed have dementia. She was living with her daughter,in a nearby small town. (This was her daughter's friend's house.) She was much worse than she had been the last time I had seen her, but she was still happy and able to function and live at home. She was even able to keep some of her favourite dolls. I got her address. I sent her a Christmas card last year. I have no idea if she got it,or if she even remembers me.
  I bought a lot of Connie's dolls that day,a huge box full, in fact. I bought a lot of Nancy Anns. They were special to Connie and I think somebody needs to take care of them for her. Her daughter wasn't asking much for the dolls,and I could see some little girl buying them and tearing them apart. (It was a sign of Connie's failing logic that she had spent a great deal of time tearing the hats and original dresses off many of her Nancy Ann dolls and giving them new ones. That was painful to watch for a couple of reasons.) Of course, maybe Connie would have approved of little girls giving new lives to her dolls, even if they did end up ruining them. At the doll shows,Connie gave many dolls away to little girls. I remember her giving a whole Dawn case full of dressed Dawn and friends dolls to a little girl who just kept coming back to her table. I was thinking how fragile the legs are on those old Dawn dolls and how they would probably all be amputees by morning. Connie was just thinking how the little girl would enjoy them.
  So, with all those Connie dolls around,you'll be seeing some of Connie's collection occasionally. Like today for example.
  Today we're looking at these little people. They're from a series of dolls called Family Corners.

They are about 7" tall.

The premise of the dolls was that you bought individual dolls and played matchmaker,putting couples together. Their slogan was "Where you choose your own families and live happily ever after". That's a nice idea really. Instead of pairing up the dolls of the same race,kids could pair up couples they related to, or just liked together. That idea might go over even better today.

Emma had some of these dolls when she was a kid. (They're still lurking somewhere.)That would make them 90's dolls.They were actually produced in 1994. Emma was born in 1991,but these dolls sat around on the shelves of the local Kaybee for ages. She finally decided to buy herself a set years beyond 1994.

They were made by Mattel,and the female dolls resembled mini versions of Barbie and friends.
 

At least one set,which included a guy named Nicholas, included clothing that used the same fabric as a Ken shirt. Nicholas's shirt,or jacket,or whatever it was, was so huge on him that it actually fit an 8" Stacie doll. So of course Emma gave it to her Emma The Doll,who was made from a Bicycling Whitney.

  The guy dolls came in a package that doubled as a cardboard wedding chapel. They came in casual clothing,with a tuxedo, a nursery,AND A BABY. (These guys REALLY were anxious to start a family!)

The baby has molded, painted hair, with a rooted top part that is pulled into ponytails.

The female dolls came with a wedding dress,and a house. The boxes clearly stated that there was a baby included "for you,after saying "I do". They were trying to keep things somewhat traditional.

The houses consisted of four walls  that could be unfolded as play backgrounds. The nursery included a put together yourself cardboard playpen. The dolls had removable clothing,but their shoes and socks were molded and painted on.

Except for the poor guy. They didn't bother to mold him any socks. They could at least have painted them on. Hey Mattel,the days of Miami Vice were over by this time!

 

That's it for today. Tomorrow we'll take a look at another doll.