I should preface this by explaining that I have a bad back. I made the mistake of lifting something too heavy at work way back when I was about 22 years old. I did myself a bad injury. It made a loud ripping noise,and the pain was intense. In finding out exactly what damage I had done, the doctor discovered that I had been born with only a 'rudimentary joint and a rudimentary vertebrae' in my lower back. Thinking about it, there was always something amiss with my back.(Yes, those pieces of my spine!Ha!) I would occasionally start to turn sideways,as you do sometimes, without moving your feet,and I would get stuck! My back would lock up and I wouldn't be able to move. I had a little move I did where I maneuvered my spine, and it would click,and I'd be able to move again. It had always done that,so it was natural to me and not a problem,since it was easy to get out of,so I never thought anything about it. I don't suppose I even thought about the fact that not everybody had to do that. It only occurred to me a year or so ago that I don't think I have had that happen since I injured my back that first time. So whatever damage I did apparently had done something to those parts. Anyway,I've had a bad back ever since. I also injured my shoulder two or three years later at my next job, because I, at 5 feet tall and 110 pounds,had to carry large TVs up a 16 foot ladder and place them at a particular sideways angle on a shelf above my head---stacked three TVs high! TVs were pretty heavy in the 80's too. I was required to make sure the TVs got up there and off the floor right away, to prevent theft and make the store look neat. (The sideways angle of the stack was purely for aesthetics.) I wasn't supposed to have to put them up there myself. I was supposed to get one of the stock room guys to come up and do it. Of course, they were unloading the day's delivery truck,so they were busy. But when I called I got a snotty answer about them being too busy and hung up on. No complaints to the higher ups changed things, and I would have been written up if the TVs weren't off the floor in time. This is what happens in the work place if you aren't a flirter! The girl in the housewares department had them help her carry toasters! And they did it! Women do have it differently! I hope things have improved these days, but I doubt they have changed much.
In any case,I redamaged my back and damaged my shoulder. Both have bothered me ever since. I suppose it didn't help that I never took a day off work for any of it. I probably should have,and maybe it would all have healed properly and I wouldn't be having such problems now. I was on Worker's Compensation for both injuries, which paid for my doctors and medicines,(and X-Rays and bone scans and...),so I would have been paid for my time off. But I am a responsible person and both workplaces claimed they 'needed' me. (Not enough to make me full time, so I could get benefits, a paid vacation,etc! But enough that I had to work EVERY Sunday because 'nobody else can set the ad'. This is what retail workers had,and I am sure still have, to put up with.) My shoulder hurt so much I used to sit behind my counter with the corner of a microwave box jammed into it to relieve the pain. My back was so bad at that point that one day I bent over to take something out of the showcase for a customer and got such a shot of pain that I nearly passed out. My customers were concerned and their faces looked shocked and scared for me. They asked if I was alright or needed anything. My store manager happened to be standing next to me at the time, and didn't even look at me,let alone ask how I was. He was a great boss.
I was in such pain with the first back injury that it made me nauseous. So, not only was I in pain, I felt like throwing up all the time. I went home at the end of my shift and stretched out in the floor,desperately trying to escape the pain for a second at least. Constant pain can drive you crazy after a while. I can remember laying there, with tears pouring,wondering how I could stand it another minute. It reoccurred at the second job and I was diagnosed with a pinched sciatic nerve. I went to physical therapy, where I was literally put on 'the rack'. At every session they first gave me warm ultrasound therapy,which made me sleepy. Then they put me on the electronic 'rack', which,because I was so small they had to stuff the straps with rolled up washcloths to make it fit. Then they turned it on and left me there by myself for the allotted time! I was so sleepy from the ultrasound that I kept yawning...or at least,wanting to. The rack stretched me, and returned to the original position for a second before stretching me again. The yawn usually occurred during the pulling portion,where the straps were so tight that I couldn't get a full enough breath to yawn. So it really was like torture!
Over the years my kids got used to hearing me occasionally scream suddenly in pain as I went up the stairs. (Even though they got used to it, and knew what the problem was, they have never stopped shouting,"Are you ok?!" every time.) My back goes out on me once in a while and I can't move. It's all I can do to get in and out of bed to go to the bathroom. Lately my hip,the side with the pinched sciatic nerve, has really been bothering me. I learned from the physical therapy I got for my bad shoulder about 10 years ago,that sometimes my muscles tighten up,and that putting pressure on them can make them relax and stop hurting so much. Ken has to press my lower back every now and then.(My other fix for tightened and painful back muscles? I pick Ken up! I have picked the kids up, but they aren't heavy enough to help. I have to bend over and have Ken just lay like dead weight on my back. He has to hang there a while,and sometimes I have to do deep knee bends with him on there.) It hurts so much I can hardly stand any touch on the lower part of my back,and has since I was in my early 20's,so there's some screaming that accompanies the pressure. It makes the other pain lessen though, so it's beneficial in the long run. He's had to do it lately quite a few times. (The poor guy has had to do the same to my shoulder too, so I can function,and he has a bad wrist,so I appreciate it very much.)
On our Georgia trip I had to have Lori press my back before we went to bed one night because my hip and leg were hurting so much. That night the pain was so bad I couldn't sleep. I kept hoping Lori would wake up and go to the bathroom so I could ask her to press my back again. I kept looking over at her bed, hoping she'd stir, but she slept blissfully on,sounding like a small chainsaw. I was awake all night. As the sun started to come up and the birds started to sing I stuffed my pillow under my hip instead of my head, and managed to fall asleep. I was worried I would be like that for the rest of the trip, but that was the worst of it,thank goodness.
Last night I think it all came to a head. My back,legs,and hip hurt so bad that I took my shower in slow motion. I was in such pain at both hips that I couldn't even climb up into our waist high, (to me), bed. (I keep telling Ken that I'm soon going to need a step stool to get into bed,and last night I was sure that time had come.) Ken had to shove me up and in. After I was in bed the pain in my hip got worse right away,quickly working it's way down my legs. It's usually just the one,but this time it was both. I was in such pain that the tears were rolling again,and I ended up at one point on my face with my butt in the air,trying to bend my swayback into a hump to relieve the pain. In the end Ken had to press my back, hard,two or three different times. He finally got it to lessen enough that,laid in a weird position on my stomach,(which I don't sleep on because my sway back sinks wrong side out and when I wake up I can't move.),I was able to sleep. I woke up at a couple of points and turned over because my neck was getting cricked. When I first woke up, there was no pain. But as soon as I moved it started again, working it's way down my legs. All day today I have been sitting sort of one hipped so as not to put pressure on that hip. I'm sure that will play havoc with my spine and start that up, but what can I do?
Today's doll is this girl.
She's Becky.
This is Emma's doll, and you see her here dressed in a pink tank top or Francie's It's A Date, because Emma bought her,nude, at a doll show.
She may look familiar to you,because she has the Casey head sculpt,with it's open mouthed smile.
Casey was the friend of Barbie's cousin Francie,from 1967 to 1970.
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| Casey on the left, Becky on the right. |
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| Her back is marked 1966,because it's the Francie body,which was copyrighted in 1966,not because that's when she was made. |
Becky was part of The Most Mod Party gift set which was released in 2009.
But before that,Becky was merely a legend. She appeared alongside Francie in the 1971 fashion booklets.
But she never materialized. Years later collectors began to refer to any doll or accessory that was known to have been planned but never saw the light of day as being in "Beckyland". Years of begging by collectors eventually got Mattel to release Becky,and, finally, Becky made her way out of the booklets and into the buyers' hands.
Mattel even referred to the wait themselves. "At last" here she is! Now leave us alone!
Becky became the first, and I think only,prototype reproduction doll.
The set contained the Becky doll, and three outfits in the Mod era style,as well as a load of accessories, many looking like they came straight from the old Mattel molds.
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| I spy with my little eye,Barbie's 'Date Night' tray in hot pink, Francie's 'Go Granny Go' record player,and Barbie's 'Fashion Editor' and 'Aboard Ship' camera. She even has the vintage style comb, hair brush, and eyelash brush. |
It's hard to tell in these photos,but her hair is sort of a frosted blonde. (Do any of you old people remember 'frosted' hair? These days I think it's called 'streaked and tipped',or is that an old name for it too?)
I think Becky might actually be prettier than Casey.
In any case, it was nice to see her finally become an actual doll. Although, I think some people bought her just to get the clothes,which is probably why Emma was able to buy the nude doll at a doll show.
That's it for today's doll. See you again tomorrow. And here's hoping I get some sleep tonight!
