Doll-A-Day 2019 #31: Zapf Doll

  Well, my shoulders are a bit better today. I had to have Ken press on them several times this morning,as the pain kept coming back. I could stand some pain, but this is severe pain when ever I move my arm at the shoulder. You do that a lot more than you realize, even when doing small things, like scratch your head,and it really becomes evident when it hurts to do it! I kept heat on my shoulders all day today,so hopefully all that will be working itself out.
  Today's doll is this little girl.

I doubt this is her original dress,but I think it was on her when I got her.

She's made by Zapf,but that's all I know about her.

If anybody knows her name,please let me know.
She's about 16" tall,with long light brown hair.

She has a cloth body,with vinyl limbs and head.

She has warm,brown sleep eyes and 'real' lashes,and little pink lips.
 

  Zapf dolls tend to have realistic,glowing complexions,and this doll is no exception. 
  Tomorrow we'll see another doll, and hopefully my shoulders will be cooperating!

Doll-A-Day 2019 #30: Pipe Cleaner Dolls with Spun Cotton Heads

  My shoulder is a bit better today. Of course, both shoulders still hurt,along with other parts,like my back and arms. AT least I can function today. It required Ken giving me the massage I learned from going to physical therapy, where they mainly just press on the muscles to relax them. I wanted to do some doll-in-the-snow pictures, but it's been about 5 below zero today,(Fahrenheit),and even lower with the wind chill! So,no..
  Recently I was getting something out of the top of my closet,when I spotted this:

This container, from some 'Chantilly' by Houbigant powder my mom had in the 60's,is full of small toys I've been keeping in there ever since Mom used up all the powder and gave it to me.
 

Today's doll is a group of small dolls that were inside.

These dolls are  made using pipe cleaner,wooden and plastic beads,with 'spun cotton' heads. (Somewhere I still have a spun cotton Jack O'Lantern on a toothpick that was in a Halloween cupcake I got in elementary school.) They're all somewhere about 4" tall,or slightly shorter. I found this one in another box of my old toys. He's from the same set as these.

They're from a kit my sister and I got for Christmas one year.

 Seems unlikely we got a joint present, or that my sister would have let me make part of the dolls in her set. Maybe we both got one. I only remember one set, but I could be wrong. I was pretty small. I know we got it in the 60's though.

We used up the entire kit that day! 

Spun cotton was used for a lot of vintage figures, like Christmas decorations.Some of those vintage decorations are quite valuable. They're such popular items that reproductions have been made,and are still being sold.

The art of making spun cotton items began in Germany in the 1800's. Cotton batting was hand molded around wire forms, and later on a lathe,using molds. During the Victorian era cotton fruits were popular Christmas decorations. Today,what is called 'spun cotton' is actually made of paper. Blank 'spun cotton' shapes can be obtained from craft suppliers,if you get the urge to make some decorations yourself. I found a site called Spunny's that has all sorts of spun cotton shapes for sale.
  That all for today. See you again tomorrow.

Doll-A-Day 2019 #29: Skipper in Ice Cream and Cake

  Sorry,but you're going to have to put up with another Skipper today. I used up the last of my already completely prepared posts while Ivy was home from college,and today I woke up with a bad left shoulder,hardly able to move my arm without intense pain.  So today I'm showing you a pretty Skipper doll in a Skipper fashion called Ice Cream and Cake.

Ice Cream and Cake is from 1969.

The outfit consists of the lacey blouse,blue skirt,pink vinyl belt.blue,lace trimmed bloomers/shorts,white soft flats,and she should have lace stockings.

This Skipper is a straight leg doll,with sort of ash blonde hair.

Her lips seem to be in mid fade. The edges are starting to turn white,which happens with Skipper and Skooter sometimes. The rest of her lips are kind of lavender.
 

As you can see, I'm missing a shoe and the tights. The bloomers are under there though. Trust me.

It gives her an interesting lip shade at the moment though. 

  I'm trying to take it a bit easy today and rest my shoulder and keep heat on it. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.In any case, there will be another doll. See you then.

Doll-A-Day 2019 #28: Poppie Fresh

  I'm very late getting today's post up. Emma and I took Ivy back to college yesterday,and when I got home I went straight to the bath tub and bed. I hate leaving Ivy at school, but before we left she was already given a big hug by her friend Esther and greeted by several other friends,so she's in good hands.
  Today's doll is one that will be familiar to many of you,but not necessarily directly. She's this girl.

She looks familiar,right? You probably know her brother a bit better than you know her.

In fact, you may not know her at all. Her name is Poppie Fresh.

Poppie Fresh was Poppin Fresh, The Pillsbury Doughboy's sister. (You can see my post on the history of Poppin Fresh and my Uncle Rollie toy HERE.)
There were other members of the family,which were not used in commercials,but were produced as toys. these included Grandmommer and Grandpopper,younger siblings Bun Bun and Popper, a dog,Flapjack, and a cat, Biscuit. You can see my post on Bun Bun and biscuit HERE.

Bun Bun,Poppie,Biscuit,and Poppin Fresh.

She appeared in  the early 1970's, and seems to have been faded out by the end of the decade.

The doll is dated 1972.

She was created, (but not designed), by a woman named Carol H. Williams,working with original Doughboy creator Rudy Perz.
 

Carol H. Williams

Poppie's tag line was 'The little girl with the big ideas'.
 

These dolls are notorious for collecting dirt stains and marks. Once it's on there. even dust is hard to remove to the point where they're white again.

This Poppie doll is 6" tall.

This size Poppie and Poppin Fresh dolls came on plastic stands.

Poppie advertised Pillsbury's sweet products,like cinnamon rolls. Her first product was danish.
 

It's been debated whether Poppie is Poppin  Fresh's wife or sister. This ad refers to her as his 'little helper',and her creator has referred to her as 'childlike' ,and  'a young girl',so I think she's his sister.

  While Poppin Fresh is famous for being poked in the belly,it was decided, after what Williams described as a 'huge discussion', not to allow such behavior with Poppie. Williams felt that it would be inappropriate to have a large male hand poke the stomach of a small girl who hadn't consented to it. Concerning the decision,Williams said in 2017, "We in no way wanted to normalize abusive behavior towards women". Was it ever considered abusive behavior towards the Doughboy? He seems to find it ticklish. You can watch one of her commercials HERE. (She seems to find it amusing when Poppin Fresh is poked and left with a chocolate finger print on his stomach.)
  Carol H. Williams is also credited with the tagline for the famous Secret deodorant campaign, 'Strong enough for a man,but made for a woman'. Williams rose through the ranks at the advertising firm of  Leo Burnett,where she created Poppie, becoming the first woman to be creative director,and eventually become the Senior Vice President. In 2017 she was accepted into the Advertising Hall of Fame,becoming the second African American woman,and the first African American woman in a creative position in advertising, to do so.(The first was Catherine L. Hughes, the founder of Radio One, the country’s largest African American controlled multimedia company.) Today Williams is the founder,president, and CEO of her own advertising firm,Carol H. Williams Advertising. That's no small feat,considering statistics from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported that fewer than 1 percent of executives in advertising, public relations and related services are African American women.
 

  Poppie is pretty much forgotten now, but she appeared on quite a few products in her day,like magnets,and as a small finger puppet version of today's doll. She's even been used for more recent products,like a salt and pepper shaker set with Poppin Fresh,
That's it for today. Tomorrow is just another doll.

Doll-A-Day 2019 #27: Dolly Darlings Honey

  Today Emma and I are taking Ivy back to college. (Sniff!) I will miss her terribly. We had a nice long visit with her this time, as she came home before Christmas. Still, it's hard to see her go back. Her next break is short, and she's so far away that out of the three days we would spend a lot of it on the road. We may not see her again until Spring! The weather has been very snowy,so I hope the roads are clear for the trip. Today's doll is a Dolly Darlings doll.

 

She's 'Honey',made by Hasbro as part of the Dolly Darlings line.

Dolly Darlings were made from 1965 to 1968. Early Dolly Darlings were called the Hatbox series, as they came in round plastic cases with clear lids. Later dolls (beginning in 1967) were sold on cards.
For example,our girl today. She would have looked like this.

She is apparently part of the Parytime series.

Dolly Darlings are 4" tall.

Most of them have those one dot teeth and tongues.

As you can see from the picture of her on her card, she's wearing her original outfit.

She has her dress...

....flower headband...

It's a bit frayed on the ends.

...and painted on shoes. Somewhere under that dress there is also a pair of white cotton undies.

I actually have two of this particular girl. The one on the right is only in her underwear, but she is a better example of the original colouring.

There are those undies. The fully dressed girl and her clothes were very yellowed. I soaked her, completely clothed,in the Stain Devils for nicotine stains. Her clothes came up beautifully. Even her skin pinked back up a lot.
  Dolly Darlings are jointed at the neck,shoulders,waist,and hips.

You can see her jointed waist just above her underwear.

Most Dolly Darlings have rooted hair,except for the lone boy,John.

You can see my redressed John HERE. You can see my other John wearing his original clothes HERE.

Yeah...that headband is unraveled. It was still pinned to her head before I cleaned her though. I took the pins out when I washed her hair.

Does anybody else think she sort of looks like Ally Sheedy?

Ok. Maybe not.

I thought she looked like a flower girl in this outfit.

  See you tomorrow for another doll.