Doll-A-Day 2017 #283:The Original Drowsey

  The title of this post may confuse some of you. On the other hand, some of you may think you know what it means, and you'd be wrong. What? Well let me explain. If you're thinking I mean the original polka dot Drowsy doll,which came out in 1964,as opposed to the reproduction polka dot Drowsy,which came out in 1984, or the Mattel Classic Collection Drowsy polka dot reproduction, which came out in 1999,you'd be wrong. What? Ok, let me explain to those of you who,when you think 'Drowsy', think polka dot Drowsy. Drowsy, known for her pink pajamas with white polka dots,originally came dressed in kitty cat pajamas.

This doll came out in 1964. Maybe the polka dot one came out the next year?

Her pajamas have a fake 'trap door' in the bottom.

The Caucasian version came in these pink kitty cat pajamas, and the African American version came in blue kitty cat pajamas.

It says here she's 17" tall. She seems smaller.

This version of Drowsy has a frilly collar made of the same fabric as her pjs,and no cuffs,instead of the eyelet lace collar and cuffs the polka dot version has.

I wanted a Drowsy badly when I was a kid. She was one of my top three desperately wanted,but never gotten dolls.
 

Look at that face. They don't call her 'Drowsy' for nothing.

The other two were Mrs. Beasley, and That Kid. (As you may have seen in previous posts,as an adult I managed to remedy both of those situations too. If not, you can see those HERE and HERE.)

I eventually got a 1999 Drowsy reproduction when Ivy was a baby,(as well as getting Ivy one.). I ended up finding a couple of vintage ones at yard sales too. They were so much better than the blandish reproduction. But I didn't know there was a Kitty cat PJ version at first. I became familiar with the kitty version, but I  had never seen one in person until I found this girl at a yard sale.

She was a mess when I found her. The lady running the sale said Drowsy had been found in her grandfather's barn.PoorDrowsy was nasty and dirty, and had mouse poop on her. But she was a quarter,and she needed rescuing.

I took her home and took out her voice box,(There was even mouse poop inside it!),washed her...and then washed her some more. She soaked in detergent water for a day and night. I finally got her clean.

She's a little skinny because I haven't put her voice box back in yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I washed and conditioned her hair and combed it. It was pretty scary looking before I started, but she came out nice.
She had some pink marks on her face, but I got most of it off.

My girl doesn't talk any more, but when she did she said these phrases: 'I want another drink of water','I go sleep now. Night night.' ,'Mommy,I'm sleepy.', 'I wanna stay up!'.'Mommy,cover me up.','Mommy love baby?','Close your eyes Mommy.'

I don't know if you can read this, but her tag says, "I talk! Drowsy"

Drowsy is one of those classic 60's Mattel dolls,with the turned up nose and rosy cheeks. In fact, her head has been used for several Mattel dolls,and they don't all look like Drowsy. We'll be looking at some of those dolls this week. See you tomorrow.