Thursday, March 19, 2020

Thrift Store Birthday Trip

 I hope everyone is staying safe and cozy at home as much as possible. Ken isn't working,as I said,since he is a waiter. Ivy and Fuzz are home.Unfortunately Emma,being a district manager, is still required to be out going from store to store. I worry about her. Today is my sister's birthday. Ken and I were planning to take her out to dinner and give her her gifts. But she lives a couple of hours away,so we decided not to travel,even if we weren't eating out. We'll have to delay her birthday party for now.
  As we are all limited in where we can (or should) go, and who we can see,I thought I'd send some reading material your way.
  I told you that the day before my birthday I went to a couple of antique stores and a thrift store. It was an independent thrift store,not Goodwill or Salvation Army.  It was manned,or rather, 'womened' by a couple of very old ladies. I was checking out the shelves and getting pretty discouraged when I spotted this girl.



I recognized her right away as an Ideal Shirley Temple.


You may have seen my post on my other Ideal Shirley's from the 50's. If not you can see it HERE. This girl is the same as my larger one.
She was pretty dirty,with a nick in her nose, and,I noticed later,missing her teeth. But look at her price.

The date is March 3rd. She'd been there for 6 days! And the thrift store is right next door to one antique store and just down the road from another one.
  Otherwise she seemed to be in good shape. A few days later I gave her face a quick wipe and already I could see quite a difference. 


This really was just a quick wipe with a baby toothbrush and Dial soap.  Still, you can see the clean next to the dirt around, (and in), her ears


Her ear has been chewed too,and she has marks or dirt filled scratches on her arm.
  Eventually I gave her a good bath and shampoo,and a scrub with a baby tooth rush and baking soda. I think she looks much better!




She does still have a problem with her hair standing up after being in that hairdo for who knows how long.



But when it is held down she looks good. Now how do I make it stay down?!



She does have one cloudy eye. And of course, she is still missing those teeth!



  I got a pile of cool records for me, Ivy,and Emma at that store too, for 35 cents each.
  I still have a couple of gifts to show you. I can't promise it will be every day, but while we're all in lock down I will try to post as often as possible to keep us all occupied and in a more cheerful state of mind. It's Women's History Month too,and I haven't done a post on that yet. See you soon! 

10 comments:

  1. If you're careful, you could try 'relaxing' the hair with a little hot water. Curls are always tricky to restore though.
    Signed, Treesa

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    1. I know I'm incapable of redoing her curls. I feel lucky she still has some because they're all she's ever going to have! I wish I had someone who could do it for me,because I can't even do anything with my hair.

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  2. Try wetting the hair and then holding it down overnight with an old, clean sock. Worked wonders for my old Kathy Cry Baby. Definitely a good find; can't beat indie thrift stores! Take care!

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    1. I think part of what's holding it up is that the hair underneath needs combed and flattened out. I am afraid to do it too much damage by combing it, as it doesn't look too bad as it is, and I'm terrible with hair. You take care too. Stay at home.

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  3. She's very pretty, what a great find!

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  4. She is very lucky that you rescued her. She will now have a nice home. She is already on her way to recovery.

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    1. The challenge now is that hair and finding her a dress.(I don't even hope for shoes!)

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  5. I have this doll, first used Ideals dot dress (too big), then preemie baby wear and American girl stuff, then went on-line for authentic movie costumes they were a little big but w/ the bright eyes one the coat was meant to be a little big.I was lucky the Bright eyes set came w/ a pilots cap so didn't have to bother w/ hair. Others I've had I rag curled(pin curled like her mum did, then bobby pinned it in place.My hubby got me this gal at a swap-meet for $25! Love this doll,Love your blog!

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  6. She cleaned up nicely! I can't remember how long restaurants were closed, so I'll just keep reading and hope I hear soon about the extra unemployment money that was supposed to come through.

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    1. It was closed for ages. Ken thinks he went back in June or July, maybe even later.

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Thanks in advance for your comments.