My All Time Top Ten Posts as of January 2020

  Don't forget to check our Facebook page,(Except for you Dorothy.) for the latest posts, which include a really cute stop motion felt video!
  A while back I did a post reviewing my top ten posts of all time. I thought it would be interesting to look at that again and see if anything has changed. So what are my all time Top Ten Posts?
  Well the number one post hasn't changed. It's my post on Mrs. Beasley,her history, my life long love, and a Yard Sale Tale.

My Beasleys.

Who would have thought Mrs. Beasley would still draw such a mob?! I always wanted a Mrs. Beasley. Apparently, I'm not the only one with that obsession.
  The second place post is even more strange,because they are dolls I think few people have even heard of. They're Violet Pickles and Ruby Buttons.

Maybe the creator of Violet and Ruby is the draw. He's E.J. Taylor,a doll maker who decided to write and illustrate a book series, Ivy Cottage, on Violet and Ruby,two live rags dolls who live with Miss Biscuit, the old lady who made them. 

E.J. Taylor makes beautiful dolls,with a  lot of personality.
 

Or maybe it's just the words 'Ivy Cottage' that are the draw! If you Google Ivy Cottage a lot of shabby chic stuff comes up.
   The third place goes to my post called Happy Beatles Birthdays Part 2. I covered various things including Christmas ornaments and figures. Oh. And Tammy's shirt.

Up at number four we have Little Miss No Name.

She was one of my favourite childhood dolls. I still love her, even if Ken thinks she looks like Ignorance and Want from "A Christmas Carol" and can't look at her!
  Coming in at number five is an Ai doll,Bee Balm.

I've done posts on several Ai dolls, but none of them have reeled in as many views as Bee Balm. I have no idea why.
  Number six is another doll few people have heard of, so his position on the list surprises me. He's That Kid.

That Kid and Mrs. Beasley are the two dolls I longed for the most as a kid. I have three of these boys now, including the one I finally got that still talks! I did a post with video so everyone could hear him, since I don't think anybody has posted his voice online. My video doesn't seem to work, but one day I'll get that fixed. He did come with his box and instructions, so if anybody is interested you can see that post HERE.
  Number seven is another of my childhood dolls. She's Newborn Thumbelina.

My newborn Thumbelina,me, my mom,and my sister,Christmas day.

I asked for this doll one Christmas after spotting her at the local Hart's store. I think Mom and Dad must have bought her that day behind my back.
  Number eight is a strange little kid. If you thought That Kid was weird looking, check out this Ratti Tjorven doll.

She's one of those dolls that you like, but, on the other hand... A lot of people seem to like her though.
Number nine is a real surprise. But maybe it shouldn't be. Maybe it's because a lot of people my age remember Topo Gigio fondly from the Ed Sullivan Show.
 

On the other hand, it could be because, unbeknownst to me, he has been popular all around the world since before the Ed Sullivan Show, and he still is in many countries.
  It has just occurred to me that I should have started with number 10 and been counting down. Oh well. Too late now. So here's number ten. Another fairly surprising one. It's my post on Penny Brite.
 

Penny Brite was a doll made in the 60's by Deluxe Reading, but I don't know of many people that remember her, or collect her. I have my childhood doll, and my sister's...and a boat load of others now. (That's the boatload above.) I have posted another Penny, and a couple of clones, but this post tops those by a long shot.
  So those are my all time top ten most popular posts. I last did this in 2016. Most of the top ten from that list are included here, even if some of them have switched their places around. At least one dropped off the top ten list. Penny Brite wasn't even on it the last time. I wonder what will be the Top Ten the next time I do this.

The Unexpected Benefits of Blogging

  I hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving here in the United States had a great holiday. Ours was spent feeling ill, but we had all of our kids here,and that's the most important thing.
  One of the great things about doing a blog like this is that sometimes you get the chance to do a good deed and unite people with something they've been looking for. You may have read my post on the lady who found a replacement for her favourite childhood doll here on the blog.

                                                     (If not, you can read her story HERE.)

   Recently comments were left on my post on Ivy Cottage dolls Ruby Buttons and Violet Pickles by a couple of people wanting to buy Ruby and Violet dolls, and someone who had a pair of the dolls to sell.

 

I was able to get them all together, and if any of them are reading this, I'd love to know how things worked out.
  Once in a while I get offers of dolls too. Usually somebody offers me more of what I already have. I got lucky a few weeks ago though. A guy who read my post on Beatles dolls and figures in which I mentioned wishing that instead of having just a couple of the Beatles cartoon figures, I had the whole set. He messaged to say that he had the boxed set. He was looking to downsize and get rid of a few things. It had been a gift, and he wasn't concerned about making big money on it. He just wanted to pass it along to someone who would appreciate it.

  Well I appreciated it! The whole set! Up till now all I had were Ringo, found in a clearance aisle, and Paul, found at a yard sale.
  My husband, Ken, has always complained that I am too trusting. I was about to  offer to send the Beatles guy a check when I heard Ken in my head saying, 'This guy might be pulling a con and not even have the set.' I was worried about offending Mr. Beatles, but I asked him for a picture of the set  with a certain specific addition to make sure it was his picture and not one stolen from the internet. Luckily he completely understood and wasn't offended. He sent the picture, and also suggested that he would trust me, so I didn't have to trust him. He would send the set and I didn't have to pay him until it arrived. That had to be sincere! The set arrived, as  perfect as could be.

  He had actually not even asked for enough shipping! It was packed with bubble wrap and four super soft plush border collies. The dogs were advertising items from the place he works. Coincidentally, Ken collects advertising items, my friend Lori loves dogs, and Fuzzy's girlfriend Shanna loves soft floppy plush toys. So the doggies have found homes already. I immediately sent a check for just over the amount he asked for, to cover that extra few cents shipping plus a few cents. It all turned out really well for both of us!

Doll-A-Day 56: George Harrison

Today we take a break from the Yard Sale Tale and celebrate what would have been George Harrison's 71st birthday with the George Harrison figure by Hamilton.

These dolls are approximately 10" tall. They're all pretty good likenesses.I've seen a lot worse.

They have a problem though, which you can see on George here.The legs sometimes turn red.

But I love the guitars and the drum set.

The bases all have the name of the appropriate Beatle on them.A stand screws into the base. George gets short changed, as usual: John and Paul's stands both have a hole for a microphone stand. George's doesn't.(Ok, he usually shared with Paul, but still. What if you just want to display your George doll? They were sold separately.)

George Harrison was born on this day in 1943. Earlier this month was the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' first performance on American TV, which means George was just short of 21 years old at the time.

 He was the first Western musician to use Indian instruments in a pop song,when he played a sitar on The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood". Although he is always looked upon as the lesser of the three song writing Beatles, (Ok, so Ringo wrote a couple.), George actually wrote the second most covered Beatles song. Something,(which Frank Sinatra called "The greatest love song of the past 50 years", and wrongly accredited to Lennon and McCartney!), has been covered at least 150 times. It's one of my favourites.

 Although John is generally regarded as being the funniest Beatle, I think George had the best sense of humour.He was genuinely funny himself,and was a big comedy fan. He loved Monty Python, even funding "Life of Brian" just because he wanted to see the movie, and so becoming a movie producer. George once said he would almost have preferred being in Monty Python to being in the Beatles.

Well, he almost made it. (Scene from Life of Brian, with Eric Idle, George,Michael Palin, and John Cleese.)

Well, thankfully he was in the Beatles. But just to prove what a sense of humour he had, how many people would appear in a parody of their life?

George as a reporter in the Beatles parody "All You Need is Cash", with Michael Palin.

 George died of cancer on November 29th, 2001. He left behind his wife Olivia, and his son Dhani. Dhani is also a musician, and apart from being George's son,is most famous, (Well, around here anyway.),for saying my daughter Emma had "lovely coloured hair".(No, really, he has actually put out a couple of albums with a couple different bands.)

You have to love a man with a Muppet on his head. 

See you again tomorrow for more of the latest Yard Sale Tale.