Help Me Solve the Mystery of the Strawberry Beds..

    When I was a kid my sister got a set of Barbie sized beds. They could be used as bunk beds or twin beds, (which was how we always used them).They were made of a marbley sort of swirly 

light gray and white plastic  and they came with these strawberry print pillows...

...which are all that's left of them. I think the beds and spreads must have been given away when my sister gave away her Barbie New Dreamhouse. For years the pillows were all I had to remember the beds by. Emma has used the pillows since she was little on her doll Emma The Doll's bed. But a while back I bought some stuff at a doll auction, and buried in a box of doll clothes I found THESE!

The bedspreads! From the shape they must have had rails at the side part of the way down. I didn't remember that part.

  One of them was nice and one of them was stained, but after washing and using Stain Devils on them, (Yes! Stain Devils again!) they look pretty good. I just wish I could replace the beds. 
 

A closeup so you can see the lace and the strawberries better.

I have no idea who they were made by. I've Googled any combination of words that might help me find them, with no luck.They were sold in the mid 60's, probably around 1965, the same year as Barbie's New Dreamhouse. If anybody out there recognizes this stuff and can tell me who the beds were made by I would appreciate it.If you have a pair to sell at a reasonable price, I'd appreciate it even more!

Doll-A-Day 290: GI Joe

Yesterday was Veteran's Day, and today's doll,(Better call him an 'action figure'!) is GI Joe.

In fact, GI Joe is where the term 'action figure' originated.

I got this guy recently at a garage sale. He's exactly like the GI Joe I have from when I was a kid. (Except his owner didn't have a sister who shaved his scar off with a razor blade.)

However, this guy comes with a few extra wounds.

He has the hard head and red hair like mine, but a different uniform.

This is my childhood Joe, which I named John, since my sister got to name hers Joe.This is what he always looked like when I was a kid. All that posability isn't all it;s cracked up to be when you're too little to control it!

Hasbro debuted GI Joe in 1964, and the line up included figures based on all four branches of the Armed Forces.

"America's Moveable Fighting Man" ironically his clothes are made in Japan and the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. Check out that price: $2.99!

In Britain Joe was called Action Man, but the same molds were used.

The 12" line was discontinued in 1976.In 1982 Hasbro shrunk Joe to 3 3/4" tall! Eventually the 12" figure was brought back. Joe moved away from the strictly military to the random adventurer. Fuzzy has a Joe that is very Indiana Jones inspired.

But back in the early 60's Joe was all about soldiering.

"GI" originally referred to galvanized iron. It was during World War I that the letters GI were used to stand for 'government issue' or 'general issue'  in reference to soldiers and air men's equipment.During World War II GI Joe became the standard nickname for any member of the United States armed forces.
See you tomorrow for another doll.

Doll-A-Day 94: Little Girl in Flowered Raincoat

  Well, Ken seems to have fixed the problem and I can take the pictures off the camera again!
  Today's doll is one of those cute little 60's dolls that you probably only see once and think "That's a cute doll.", but could never find again, because no one knows who made it.

She's about 6 inches tall,chubby, with a big head. I had several dolls similar to this one when I was a kid.

I don't remember where I got this doll. It was in the last few years. I love her raincoat.

The raincoat is made of thin, soft vinyl.

She is only wearing undies under it, and shoes and socks.

She has strawberry blonde hair and freckles.

Tomorrow is another Skipper Saturday. See you then.
***Read the story of how this girl found a home and was 'reunited' with an old friend, by starting with the comments and then going HERE.***

Doll-A-Day 8: Mike Hazard,One of the Best Presents I Never Asked For

  Today's doll is Mike Hazard,Double Agent by Marx toys.

The International Top Secret Operative! As long as nobody reads this box!

  Of course these days he would be called an 'action figure', but the term hadn't been invented yet back when he was made.  Mike is 12" tall, and has the same type of hard plastic jointed body as the Best of the West figures, like Johnny and Jane West. My cousins had them. But Mike was better!
  I got Mike for Christmas, I think. He's one of my favourite things I got as a kid that I didn't actually ask for. At least, I don't remember asking for him. He's just the type of thing that I would have asked for though. If I didn't ask for him, whoever picked him out did a great job!

'Blow up luggage'! Who could ask for anything more?!

  From what I can find, he was made from 1966 to 1968.So I was somewhere between 4 and 6 when I got him. It's amazing that I still have his box, and as many of his "Over 50 pieces of equipment" as I do.

He had so much cool stuff. There was a  false beard,a mask,a wig, glasses,a false nose with attached glasses,various hats...

Anybody remember Michael Caine as the spy, Harry Palmer?

Corn Flakes? I guess even a spy has to eat.

...a bullet proof vest, guns, a bazooka!,a transistor radio that transforms into a gun!, a camera, hand grenades, a key ring with detachable keys,a stiletto that fitted into a secret holder on the back of his tie!,a gun you could put together that had a telescopic sight, a secret listening device,and two, count 'em,TWO exploding cases!

There was a brief case and a Gladstone bag. Both used real caps and 'exploded' when thrown or dropped.(Setting the snap on that brief case could take off a finger! It was like a mousetrap! I loved it!)

Ok. I've got a gun! Somebody set the snap on this briefcase right now!

  Actually it was really hard to set that briefcase, especially without snapping yourself. I usually asked Mom to do it.

  The briefcase concealed another knife. And he even had a tape recorder in the inside of his hat!

    And of course, the obligatory trench coat, (with hidden pockets!).There was so much stuff, and much of it was so tiny, it was almost impossible not to lose at least some of it. Those bazooka missiles particularly were hard to find once you'd shot them off.

Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and a really cool attache case booby trap!

  I was a child of the 60's, and spies and secret agents were all the rage. My sister and I watched The Avengers, Mission Impossible, The Man from Uncle, and even The Girl From Uncle. We played spies. I even had a tiny trench coat,which I called my 'spy coat', and which I paired with an old felt fedora that came from who knows where, which scratched my forehead, (and occasionally drew blood), with the loose wire in it's band. In my fedora and Spy Coat I went on many a mission in the confines of my house and yard. I also have to confess to going on secret missions in first grade. I would ask to use the restroom, which in my tiny school of only 4 classrooms, (Two kindergarten and two first grade.), was in the basement, along with the tiny 'cafeteria room'. Alone in the basement I would peer sneakily around corners and use my communication device: a metal coin holder. Mike Hazard was right up my alley.
  Of course, they wouldn't make a toy like this for kids now days.All the guns and knives and exploding cases with dangerous caps and super snappy devices a kid could get hurt with. Plus Mike even smoked, and came with cigarettes, a lighter, and a pipe, which also transformed into a gun. But you know, I grew up with these kinds of toys, and I still have all my fingers and have never killed anybody or smoked in my life.
  Fuzzy loved Mike Hazard. When he was very tiny he asked, "Can I play with your Kazard?" Whaaat? "Your Kazard.Can I play with your Kazard?" It took a while to figure out he was asking about 'Mi - KeHazard'. (He thought I had called him 'my kazard'.) He played with him carefully and I think we may have lost the last bazooka missile, but that was it.
   Emma and Fuzzy both wore the Spy Coat on their missions too, when they were small. It still had (and has), in the pocket, a plastic bubble gum machine key on a necklace that I used on my missions. Ivy alone remained free of the 'Spy' trap. I have since reclaimed the Spy Coat and packed it away, in case any future agents want to go on a mission.