Doll-A-Day 2019 #343: Elly May Clampett

Today we're visiting with an old friend from the 60's. She's this lady.

She's Elly May Clampett.

Elly May was a character from the popular TV show,"The Beverly Hillbillies",which ran from 1962 to 1971.

The cast of the original Beverly Hillbillies. Elly May was portrayed by Donna Douglas, far right.

She is made using the retro Barbie sculpt.

Not just the face,but the body too.
 

I think they made new molds for the retro Barbie dolls,because the original molds were no longer usable.

They got a lot of things right with this doll,including her jeans and rope belt...

 

...her unnaturally fitted button up blouse...

...and her twin ponytails with pink ribbons.

One thing they did not get right is her shoes.

Elly May wore penny loafers,not wedge heels. I'm sure her character would have objected strongly to them. Elly May was definitely a Tom Boy,and you can't chase 'critters' in wedge heels. I realize you also can't keep penny loafers on those high heel Barbie feet. But still...

Her jeans are so tight that this is as far as she can sit down!

   Elly May is from the 2010 Barbie Collector Pink Label series of dolls, which also included Samantha from "Bewitched", and Jeannie, from "I Dream of Jeannie",both also in the vintage Barbie sculpt. (You can see Ivy's Jeannie doll HERE.Elly May is hers too. And yes, she loved both shows.) I think it would have been a good idea for them to also have done Lisa,from "Green Acres",who was played by Eva Gabor.

Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor,Zsa Zsa's little sister, in "Green Acres".

Not as iconic maybe, but she was made to be portrayed by a Barbie doll.
  Elly May has been a doll a few times. The first time was in 1964, during the run of the show. Officially the doll was called Calico Lassie,but she bore a striking (and unlicensed), resemblance to Elly May. Her hair was in two ponytails,and she wore a fitted button up shirt, and jeans with a rope belt. The doll was available as a mail-in offer from Kellogg's Corn Flakes. She looks similar to Ideal's Tammy, the Horsman dolls of the era,like Mary Poppins,and most of all, Shelley by Eegee. (You can see my Shelley HERE.)

 

The second Elly May doll was sold in 1997,when Premiere/Exclusive Toy Products,who do a pretty  good job with their male dolls,made a really ugly Elly May for it's three doll "Beverly Hillbillies" line. (The other two dolls in the series were Jed and Jethro.) Premiere/Exclusive Toy Products made several dolls I have featured on the blog,including Ingrid Bergman from "Casablanca", Laurel and Hardy, and the Gilligan's Island dolls.
   The Beverly Hillbillies was still popular when it was cancelled in 1971,when CBS decided to cancel all of it's 'rural programming',in what was to become known as the 'Rural Purge'. This included "Green Acres", the 'Andy Griffith Show' replacement, "Mayberry RFD",and "Petticoat Junction, which had already met it's fate the previous year. The idea was to do away with the programs set in a rural environment, and replace them with more sophisticated shows.Trivia: Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, and The Beverly Hillbillies were all connected, and many of the stars of the shows appeared on the other shows. Green Acres and Petticoat Junction were all based around a town called Hooterville. The Beverly Hillbillies were from a nearby area, and showed up on the other two shows ocasionally. Bea Benederet,the voice of Betty Rubble and Lucille Ball's first choice for the role of Ethel Mertz,originally appeared as Jethro's mother,Mrs. Bodean,on The Beverly Hillbillies. Eventually the character was dropped,and Benederet went on to Petticoat Junction as Kate, owner of the Shady Rest Hotel. 

 Donna Douglas passed away in 2015, at the age of 82.
   That's the doll for today. Tomorrow we'll look at another doll. Remember too, that review of a new doll is coming soon!