What I Got at the Doll Show

   Okay. I'm finally getting around to showing you what I bought at the doll show the other week. I was really good. I spent little money, and bought little things. They were some of my favourite little things though. 

  Let's start with these mystery dolls.

  When I picked them up I assumed they were Baps dolls. And you know I love Baps dolls. Then I noticed that their feet were different from Baps dolls' feet. The dealer explained that they belonged to her friend, who collects Baps dolls, and that they were Baps knockoffs. Then the friend showed up and confirmed that she had about 100 Baps dolls, and that these weren't Baps, but Baps wanna be's. The dealer had already knocked their price down before I got there, and knocked it down again for me. I thought they looked so much like Baps dolls, and anyway, they would be interesting as Baps knock off dolls.  So I bought them. But after looking up Baps dolls after the show, I think the dealer and her friend may have been wrong. I think they are Baps. The unusual lags and feet are just like those on Baps puppet dolls. The difference seems to be that the puppet ones have a rod in their feet, so these guys, if they were Baps puppets, should at least have a hole in their feet where the rod was. There are no holes though. 

  The other thing that makes me think they are Baps, is that on the bottoms of their feet it says, 'Made in US zone Germany', just like Baps puppets of the same era.

  The closest characters I can find are for the kids. They look like they are probably Hansel and Gretel. The Hansel and Gretel I found online are very similar, including Hansel carrying a bag like this, and Gretel wearing a head scarf and her arm was bent just like this doll's, only there should be a felt purse/bag hanging from it. I can't find a doll,or puppet that matches the lady though.

  The first thing I bought were these Caco dolls.

  The mom is about 5 inches tall.

  She's going to need her leg rewrapped. I can do that.

  They both have the lead feet but she has plastic hands. The lead feet means they are older. Her plastic hands tell me she's not as old as the kid though. Even my Caco dolls Kay and Jeffrey have plastic hands and feet, so they are younger than both of these.

  The little guy looks to be a boy, even though he's dressed in pink with blue trim.

  He looks small next to the mom, but he is probably the same size as Kay, or maybe bigger. He's way bigger than Jeffrey.

  He's really cute, but the hooded snowsuit look will limit how he can be used in stories, and in the dollhouse.  

  I found this little suitcase. It has to have come with a Bob Hope or a Bing Crosby doll, because it's covered with 'Road' movie travel stickers. I can't find the doll it might have come wth anywhere online though.

  It was only $3, and it had some stuff in it.

  For 50 cents I got a nice silk hanky. It is very thin, and would make a great curtain for a dollhouse.

  The Caco dolls were cheap. The Baps dolls were pretty cheap. And the last cheap doll I got, which would normally have cost me more, was this Tiny Town doll.

    You might have seen my other Tiny Town dolls. I only have a couple, which I got by accidental cheap prices, (I think it was accidental at the doll show at least. My first one was an Ebay purchase, and they didn't know what it was.)

  This one is a Scots doll, with all the traditional accoutrements.

  The faces were hand painted on these dolls. They are known for being painted by the same lady who painted the Nancy Ann Storybook dols.

  She has lead feet.

  The dealer made me a good deal because she said these dolls don't sell for what they used to. They still seem to sell for a good price online though. 

  And that's all I bought! I'm so proud of me! There were some things I was tempted by, but they were big, and I didn't need to spend the money. Ken will okay anything because he says he, 'wants you to be happy'. So I had to rein myself in. Yay me! And I still got three of my favourite types of dolls.

  Next time we'll see some yard sale finds. See you then! 

Doll-A-Day 2023 #347: Tiny Town Doll

     Today's doll is one I got at a doll show a couple of years ago. She's a Tiny Town doll.

Tiny Town dolls, which are from the 1940's, were hand painted by Alma LeBlanc, the same lady who painted some of the early Nancy Ann Storybook dolls.

  Tiny Town dolls are mostly about 4 1/2 inches tall.

She has a pressed cloth face, thread wrapped hands and legs, and lead feet, so she can stand. She's also wired for posability.

 

  I've seen this same doll online with a pink hat. That makes more sense, as the red doesn't really match. Maybe they got switched in play.

  I got this doll for an amazing price. I picked her out of a basket on a table at the doll show, and asked the dealer how much she was. The dealer said, "$2." Now, these dolls are not cheap. In good condition they can be worth quite a bit. So I said, "This one." and gave her a better look. She just said, "Yes, any doll in that basket is $2." I couldn't believe my luck! I got another doll from that basket too. I think it was the Lotte Sievers Hahn doll I posted yesterday! 

  You can see my other Tiny Town doll HERE.

  That's it for today. Have  a merry Christmas! See you tomorrow night. 

A Belated Christmas List

   I haven't been around for  while. As I've said before, it isn't as convenient to post when I don't have a computer of my own. (I have a cell phone, (without phone service) now, and everybody keeps telling me how I can do the blog on that. There's no way! I am terrible at typing on those things, and there's no way I can edit photos on there.) Also, I've been spending what time I can with Ivy, as she will be going back to college next month. As a consequence,  I am falling way behind in my posts. I never showed you my small doll show haul. I still will though. (I can't believe that was back in October! I didn't realize it was that long ago until I looked back to check on something!) I still need to show you Elasti Girl, from my Christmas presents, in more detail, and I made a very cool Goodwill haul recently. So I have a lot to do. But, it's like SNL character Middle Aged Man's gut: "I'm workin' on it!"

  I undecorated our Christmas tree, and I need to repack a few Christmas tubs to once again narrow down the main tub of things we put on the tree. I put even less stuff on this year than I did last time. I pretty much only put the following on the tree:

1. ornaments the kids made

2. ornaments with the kids' pictures, which are mostly ones they made at school

3. ornaments Unsentimental Niece made for me, or sold me when she was in Brownies

4. the ornament Emma sold for school

5. the Kermit ornament Lori bought me for Christmas about a million years ago, (70's or maybe early 80's)

6. ornaments our friend Kathy made for us when we got married, and our first married Christmas

7.  A couple of blown glass 'bubbles' that I love. I somehow ended up with two when Ken and the kids bought me one to replace one that got broken...but why are there two now?

8. mini stocking my mom gave me one year

9. sparkly ornament shaped gift tag Dad got on a Christmas present in the nursing home and gave to me. It was the last thing he gave me.

10. ornament my friend Lisa, (The one I visited in Texas), gave us when we got married

11. two ornaments I made in second grade

12. antique ornament Fuzz and I found on a thrown out Christmas tree on the way home from school one day when Fuzz was small.

13.our first Christmas together, first married Christmas, and first Christmas as parents ornaments

14. ornaments from Ken's sister Diane, including one that's a frame. I put a picture of Ken and all his sisters in it that was taken when we visited.

There's also the angel, and paper chains the kids made.

  That's most of the important stuff, right? I also snuck on a couple of my favourite ornaments, like the moon with a face I got at Harrods.When I find them I'll put a North Wind, and a snow fairy in the box. Those have always been two of my favourites.

Ken always insists on lots of lights. My rose shaped lights don't seem to work any more. I'll have to work on those. I do have the winged pig lights Emma bought for me because I love pigs though.

  I honestly didn't have any dolls on my Christmas list last year. I had recently fulfilled a couple long time wants with the Little Darling doll that kind reader Dorothy sent me, and the Savannah I got from TTBP Emily not long before Christmas. I really only have a few wants left. Most of those are hard to get or very expensive, so I wouldn't even ask for them. What are they? Well, if you have read any of my previous Christmas lists here on the blog, you'll know I wanted a Hamish, friend of Amelia Thimble. Well, I still do. 

He's quite pricey though. 

   I'd also still love to have a Helen Kish Lark doll. My favourite two are Creamcicle Lark, and Lark of the High Seas.

These are so far out of range I can't even see them!

  As I was telling Ken the other day, I still want a few more dolls to sort of complete a couple of collections. One collection is dolls made from the Drowsy head sculpt,(Like this one and this one and this one. There are also these ), and the dolls I still need are Teachy Keen and Baby Charlotte. The other collection is the talking, face moving dolls made by Mattel in the 60's. The dolls I need are Little Sister Look n Say, and Baby Secrets.

  I would love the Roldan doll I didn't buy at that last doll show,  and her Klumpe 'cousin', a girl with a suitcase. Of course, I would always love another Baps doll or Tiny Town doll, or more Caco dolls. I still haven't gotten my Animator's Collection Alice doll yet either.

I'm sure there are more I want if I think about it. (Of course there are!) Aready I'm thinking that I still would love to have Garden Patience, and I'd like to have a naked, bald Agnes Dreary to make into an Alice in Wonderland. (Look at the original illustrations. Alice was a grouchy looking kid.)

  I need to stop. I keep thinking of more!

  I promise there will be another post soon!

Doll-A-Day, Day 3: Tiny Town Doll Pat

  Here we are on day 3 and I'm still going strong! How long can this last? (I'm guessing until I am out of town for a day and forget and/or don't have time.) I photographed three dolls today though, so I'm getting a store of photos to fall back on. Is that cheating? I'm not going to do detailed write ups of all the dolls, so that will make some of the posts quicker to do.Plus I'll still have time to do regular posts that way.
  Today's dolls is a vintage Leena Lee Tiny Town doll.

 These are from the 40's and 50's. The characters all have names I think, but I don't know mine's name. ** UPDATE: Her name is Pat, She had a clover flower on her chest and green flowers on her hat. She is doll #3 from series 1.**  I've seen other dolls like her though, so I know she came with flowers on her hat. Hers are sort of...gone.

She's about 4" tall,and has lead feet so she can stand up on her own.Her legs and arms are thread wrapped,
 and she has a painted felt face.

I love the colour of her hair and her little painted face.

Her wire armature allows her to be posed.
  Her hair is mohair.
 

The dolls originally came in a box, with a booklet like this.

They were created by a lady named Alma Leblanc, who also painted the Nancy Ann Storybook dolls.I believe they were originally sold at a department store in San Francisco called The White House.
  They are usually a bit too pricey for me.I got mine in an Ebay lot I just happened across.It was a lot of furniture that wasn't nearly as old as she is, and she wasn't mentioned by brand or maker in any way, so she didn't get all the bids she would have otherwise, so I got her cheaper than she would normally have been. After I sold the furniture she only cost me about $10. Whoo hoo! These dolls can sell for over $100, depending on the character and condition. I wanted one, but didn't figure I could ever get one.But here she is, the Day Three Girl.Until tomorrow, people.