Doll-A-Day 2023 #313: New Caco Girl!

   Today we're looking at the last doll I got at the miniature show. She's a Caco!

She's very cute, and totally different from my other Caco girls. She's my first brunette.

I like the fabric her dress is made of. And look at that tiny rick rack trim.

  She's the same size as Kay. Speaking of Kay, normally this girl would make her debut in the dollhouse, but that can't happen right now. I can't really pull out the other dolls right now either. So some day she'll get to meet Kay, and Jeffrey, and the gang.

  Like all Caco dolls she has cloth wrapped legs and arms.

She's not super old, because she has plastic hands and feet, and not lead ones.

  Like the Erna Meyer dolls, this sweet girl only cost $5.

   I think she will be called Sue.

  That's the doll for today. Happy Thanksgiving for tomorrow, and we'll see another doll then.

Doll-A-Day 2023 #225: Caco Toddler

   Some of you may be familiar with my dollhouse dolls, and my love for Caco dolls. Well, a while back my sister and I were at a toy show, and I bought a whole tray of stuff for $5. I really only wanted a few things out of it, especially today's doll. But the whole tray was $5, so I took it. So here he is:

He's a Caco doll. Or is he a she?

Caco dolls are made in Germany, as you can see.

I suppose it could be a girl, as it's dressed in pink and seems to have a furry collar.

Whichever it is, it's quite small. I was excited to find it, especially for less than $5. (Remember, I got everything for $5.)

I had been wanting a little brother for Jeffrey and Kay, but Caco dolls don't come cheap. This little guy is perfect, except for one thing: He's still in his package! I want to play with him, but I can't help thinking that he's still in package and I could get by with a used one That there is something to be said for collecting things in their package, and I should leave him that way for someone who collects that kind. I could play with one that isn't so perfect, and this guy would probably sell for enough to buy a used one and have money left over.

  This one is the perfect size to be maybe a four year old, next to Jeffrey and Kay. And this one looks like one that age, not like the last guy who looks like a shrunken Jeffrey. This kid is the same size as the shrunken Jeffrey, but looks young enough to be that size. I really wanted a brother for Jeffrey and Kay, so if I were to open this one, maybe it will be Amanda's little sister. 

Jeffrey compared, Jeffrey approved.

  So I'm torn. I really want to open this kid, but I'd feel a bit evil doing it. What do you think? Is it wrong to open something that has made it so far unopened? For the record, this is a later Caco, not the originals with the lead hands and feet. This one has plastic hands and feet, and is maybe 1960's or '70's. Maybe even later, for all I know. Leave a comment and tell me what you think. I know you are are going to tell me to open her.

  See you tomorrow.  

Doll-A-Day 2023 #203: Tiny Caco Boy

   Today's doll is another Caco kid. I can tell that from looking at him.

But this little guy is really a little guy. He may look like he'd make a good friend for Jeffrey, but Jeffrey towers over him.

Jeffrey: What are you doing here? Kid: I have no idea.

Being smaller than Jeffrey is one thing, but I think of Jeffrey as maybe 7 or 8 years old. So with him being so tiny, he should look more like a toddler. But he just looks like Jeffrey, only smaller.

If Jeffrey is 7 or 8, Kay and Moe are 8 or 9, and the new girl, Amanda, is 9 or 10, the new kid, let's call him Barney, has got to be about 3 or less. He should be chubbier and more babyish looking.

He only stands two inches high. He must have been made for some other, smaller, scale dollhouse. Mustn't he?

Despite his size, he's older than everyone else. I can tell that because Jeffrey, Kay, Moe, and Amanda all have plastic hands and feet, like the later Caco dolls, while Barney has metal, probably lead, hands and feet.

He has the same thread wrapped arms and legs, and I think his head is plastic, like their heads.

 Like Jeffrey, he has lots of molded detail in his hair.

His mouth paint is a little wonky. It gives him an attitude.

  He definitely needs a clean up. I could strip him and make him new clothes, That wouldn't help his dirty arms and legs though. Maybe I could pretend he plays in the mud a lot. He's a grubby little fellow.

  I thought he could be Amanda's baby brother. I got him at the same time, at the miniature show where I got the other dollhouse people you've seen in the last few months. 

What do you think? I think he looks too much like Jeffrey to be her brother.

  And what's in the yellow shoebox? 

There's a variety of stuff brought from the house for clean up and dealing with, from a cat magnet who lost his ear, (and his magnet), from the metal cupboard on the landing, to a Christmas ornament rescued from Fuzz's room and one from the landing, to a keyring one of the kids made for me, to one of my dad's watches, to several rolls of film from Ivy's childhood that have never gotten developed! I was asking about those, since I knew they were in this yellow shoebox, on a shelf on the first landing. Ken couldn't find them, so, typically, they were in plain sight on the stairs on the other side. (We have two flights leading to the first landing, one on either side.) Two rolls of film had already shown up in stuff retrieved from the house. I'm hoping this is all of them now. This time they are getting sent out for development, and I hope they are still viable. They had gone undeveloped because they were at the tail end of the film era and finding places to get them developed were getting harder to find. Even harder were places that gave negatives with the prints, which Ken insisted on. He's so old!

  See you tomorrow!

Doll-A-Day 2023 #194: Caco Girl, Featuring the Dollhouse Kids

"Hey! Where is everybody? Is everybody okay?", shouted Kay.

"I'm here.", said Moe.

"Here kitty kitty! Here Kitty kitty!---What are you laughing at?", Kay asked the approaching Jeffrey.

"Your hair is all messed up!", laughed Jeffrey. "Well I'm not surprised!", Said Kay, "What happened, anyway?!"

Moe, who had finally managed to crawl out of the plastic box, said "I smelled smoke."

"Jeffrey! Have you been in Grama's pipe tobacco?", asked Kay.* "Gosh no!", said Jeffrey, "That stuff stinks!"

"Not that kind of smoke. Like a fire.", Moe explained.

Dollhouse Girl and Dollhouse boy shoved the telephone table into the circle of friends. "The leg is broken off the desk.", said Dollhouse Girl. 

Dollhouse Boy added, "I smelled smoke too."

"Well," said Dollhouse Girl, "all I really remember is suddenly I felt a foot in my back, and then a chair hit me in the head. Then everything went black." "No wonder!", said Jeffrey, "You got hit in the head with a chair!"

"Not that kind of black. Like darkness.", Said Dollhouse Girl, "And I feel like it's been that way for ages, until today."

Dollhouse Lady staggered over. "Heavens to Betsy! What went on?!", she said, "My stove door is bent. I can't get it closed any more. There won't be any cooking tonight."

"But I wanted some cookies." said Jeffrey thoughtlessly.

"Well you aren't gettin' any!" "Okay!", yelped Jeffrey. 

"Well that's just swell." said Jeffrey, glumly. 

"Jeffrey,", asked Kay, exasperated, "do you ever think about anything but yourself?!"

"Sure I do.", answered Jeffrey. 

"What?!", returned Kay.

"I think about cookies."

"Well, anyway,", said Dollhouse Girl, "is everybody okay? We're all here, right?"

"What about Tillie?", asked Moe. 

The group all looked at each other and there was a collective moan. "Ohhhhhh...", they all said, disappointed that there might still be a Tillie.

"I am here.", said Tillie. Tillie was pushed into the group in a rocking chair by her maid.

"Tillie! Are you hurt?!", asked Kay. "No.", said Tillie.  "Then why is she pushing you in that chair?", asked Jeffrey, straight to the point, as usual.

"I was tired.", grumped Tillie.

There was a 'yip', and everybody noticed the small dog they had never seen before, with Dollhouse Dog and Dollhouse Cat.

"Where did that dog come from?", asked Jeffrey. "That one is mine.", answered Tillie, "Marion! Put Pers on my lap." "Hiya Percy!", said Dollhouse Boy. 

"His name is not Percy.", snapped Tillie.

"Percival?", asked Dollhouse Boy. "No." Dollhouse Boy looked confused. "But you said..." 

"His name is Pers,", explained Tillie, "short for Persnickety."

"Oh.'', said the kids as one. Knowing Tillie, that made sense.

Dollhouse Grama and The Baby appeared. "My yarn basket is broken.", said Grama, sadly.

"We're not getting cookies tonight Grama! Your yarn basket is the least of our worries!", shrieked Jeffrey.

Old Time Dollhouse Lady showed up, looking flustered. "Oh my!", she said breathlessly, "What an ordeal! Girls! Come along!"

"Who's she?", Dollhouse Boy whispered to Dollhouse Girl. "She lives upstairs...you know... in that room.", whispered back Dollhouse Girl. 

The Old Timey Dollhouse Girls popped up in the plastic box. "But Ma-ma! What about our sister?!" "I found her." said OTDL, "She's hiding in a cupboard."

A girl the group had never seen before walked up. "Hi! I'm Amanda. What are you doing here?"

"We're not sure.", said Kay. "We think our house caught fire." Jeffrey jumped in, "And we need cookies. Do...you...have...cookies?" "Hush Jeffrey!", snapped Kay.

Amanda spoke to Kay, "Well if you need a place to stay, you can stay with us." "Do you have a house here?", asked Moe.

"Well, not yet.", said Amanda. She continued brightly, "Right now we're living in a cardboard box. But we hope to get a house someday! But for now, mi caja es tu caja. That's Spanish!" 

"The homeless!", Tillie said, horrified. "Marion, get me out of here."

"Well thanks.", Kay said. She looked around at the others, "But I think we're good in this plastic box for the time being. Right fellas?" There was a general mumbling of agreement.

Amanda smiled. "Okay, but if you need anything, we're right over there. Come over sometime and I'll help you fix your hair."

"Thanks!", said Kay, "That would be swell!"

"Okay. Well, see ya later!", Amanda said. 

Amanda returned to her own box, while the Dollhouse Kids continued to dig through the plastic box to see what had been rescued from their house. "What about her?" asked Moe, "Are you okay Ma'am?" "I'm fine and dandy young man, Just move along." 

The kids worked on. Suddenly Jeffrey said, "Don't worry! Everything's gonna be okay now!" Kay and Moe looked at him. 

"What do you mean?", asked Kay. (Explanation for the fish HERE.)

"I found the cookies!" 

  The new girl is another Caco kid. I've had her for quite a while. I got her at a miniature show, I think.  She was going to be introduced in the dollhouse, but it turned out quite differently. I thought she was taller than Kay, but she's the same size. If you haven't been introduced to Kay and Jeffrey and the other Dollhouse Kids yet, you can find their previous posts HERE,HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. That's the order in which they should be read. It's sort of a continuous story. In case you're wondering, my Posin Pee Wees doll, my Ton Chan, and my Tiny Terry, all of whom were also seen in the dollhouse, survived as well. See you tomorrow! *The joke was a private one. One of my gramas smoked a pipe.