Doll-A-Day 2017 #204: European Chris

 It was a good and bad day today. First, let me back up and tell you about the rest of the weekend. I've been really tired all weekend. It's been so terribly hot,and we don't have air conditioning,even in the car! I didn't get much sleep, but I rousted Ken Friday and Saturday mornings (not too early),to go yard saling and get out of this hot house.We had a pretty nice couple of days,spent time together,ate out and visited another town for a change.Friday evening I had to take Ken to work so I could have the car to do Emma a favour. That meant picking him up at 2AM when he got off work. Even that wasn't too bad, because the ride in the car was cooler than the house! I was so tired I had to take a nap before doing the emma thing, and another nap before picking Ken up.Then I was up Saturday to go yard saling. There was so much on and off rain that most people didn't have their sales,so not much there. We never did find the one sale we went to a nearby town to find. However, I did find a Goodwill and they had all their records marked down to 25 cents. I found a Cliff Richard album Ken's sister actually doesn't have,(amazing!),and I now have EIGHT Nat King Cole albums for my faux daughter-in-law,Fuzzy's girlfriend Shanna. Their dolls were several different prices and some were a bit over priced. I did find a few I may share with you in upcoming posts,and a couple of surprises.I didn't take a nap Saturday,and I somehow got to bed late again last night.Then I had to get up to take Ken to work this morning. I needed the car because a few days ago my cousin Missy messaged me to tell me her brother was coming up for a couple of days and did I want to come to her mom's house Sunday afternoon to see him? Well I hadn't seen Tim since he was a teenager,and he's going to be 49 this fall! My dad and I spent alot of time with Tim and Missy's family when Tim and I were younger,and Missy wasn't even born yet,and when she was very small,before they moved away to California. Their dad was actually my cousin,but he and his siblings are so much older than I am that they always felt more like my aunts and uncles,and their kids felt like my cousins. So I was looking forward to seeing Tim again. I had to take a nap again when I got back from taking Ken to work,before doing a few things and heading to the family thing. I never take naps,but in the last few days I have become Queen of the Naps! I made it there, but the car was making noises.We had a nice visit, (and Missy's daughter made an amazing cheesecake!). I had to head back early to pick Ken up from work, since I had the car. On the way home the car overheated. I had to stop on the highway. A really nice Highway Patrolman stopped to see if I needed help,and stayed until I was on my way again,even standing in the pouring rain with me! I got back to town, but the car was still overheating,so we did not go to the Big City to see "To Kill A Mockingbird",like we were going to. It's one of my favourite movies and books, and we bought tickets to the summer movie series partially based on the fact that they were showing it. So that was disappointing. But at least the car cooperated long enough to let me visit with Tim and family. (The'do' was actually held at Tim and Missy's cousin's house,a cousin I am not related to, so it was really nice of their mom's family to take me in and make me feel at home. I knew or had heard of some of them over the years, but they all seemed to be familiar with my dad, if not me. Whenever somebody asked how I was related to Tim and Missy they inevitably responded to the answer with "Oh! Uncle Leroy's daughter!" They all called Dad 'uncle'! And they all remembered him well, even though it's been 30 years since Tim and Missy's mom was married to my dad's nephew!
  Anyway!Today we're seeing a doll I told you I'd show you back when I got her for Mother's Day. She's Chris,Tutti's friend.

This is the European version of Chris.

Chris has been a part of our household for a few years now, but she didn't belong to me until this Mother's Day.

 

This isn't a Chris dress. It's a random dress I picked up somewhere. If anybody recognizes it let me know who it goes to.

Here's the tale: A few years ago we all went to a doll auction. Independently of each other. Ivy and I spotted European Chris in one of the lots. When we met up at bidding time we were both planning to bid on her. Ivy was at the age where she was starting to lose interest in dolls. She still wanted this Chris though. She told me what her maximum bid would be, so I agreed not to bid unless Chris went over Ivy's limit. Well, Ivy won the lot. She didn't know what she wanted to do with Chris though, since she was old and should be taken special care of. We agreed that I would put Chris in my glass case of dolls while she thought about it. Well, she pretty much lost interest in Chris as soon as she hit the case. Over the years I offered several times to buy Chris from Ivy for what she had paid for her. Ivy's a tough nut. She wouldn't sell because Chris was worth more than she paid! So poor Chris stood in the case, just the way she came:naked. We didn't have any European Tutti clothes for her,and Ivy had noTutti or Chris clothes at all. A few weeks before Mother's Day Ivy said she didn't know what she was going to get me. I once again suggested Chris would make a good gift. Well, this year she decided to relinquish ownership of Chris to me.

Chris was a Tutti friend,first sold in the United States in 1967.

She was available as a blonde or a brunette. Many of the brunette's have oxidised to a red colour. You can see my unoxidised brunette Chris HERE,my oxidised brunette HERE, and one of my blondes HERE. You can also see my other European Tutti friend, her brother Todd, HERE.

When Tutti and friends were deemed too dangerous to be sold in the U.S. due to wires that worked their way out of the soft rubber skin,they were discontinued in 1971.

Europe continued to produce a different version of the dolls until 1980.

The safety issue was avoided by making the dolls out of a much tougher, thicker rubber.

This heavier rubber gave the dolls a much chunkier,and redder appearance.

And made them much harder to bend.

European Chris was only available as a red head.

The European Chris has much thicker hair than the American Chris too.

Thank you Ivy.

See you tomorrow.

Doll-A-Day 160: Tutti Friend Chris in "Flower Girl"

  Today's doll is Tutti's friend Chris.

Chris was produced by Mattel in the U.S. between 1967 and 1971, and longer in other countries.

She came as a brunette or a blonde. Most of the brunettes have hair that has oxidized over time to various shades of auburn. Today's Chris is one of the few who haven't oxidized.

This is probably the most accurate picture of her hair colour.

She's wearing Tutti's Flower Girl fashion from 1968-69.

Flower Girl consists of the dress,head band, white bow flats,and bouquet.

Her hair looks a bit auburn here, but it isn't really. It's nice and dark.

I was shocked and upset today when I took her out of my glass case and discovered that her head had started to yellow. I've seen this problem before with my childhood Buffy, so I immediately popped poor Chris's head off. Sure enough the wires that make her body poseable that were sticking up out of her neck knob had started to rust. I was furious! This Chris was so beautifully pink. Somehow she has gotten dampness in her body and her wires are rusting. Looking her over I saw that she also had spots on her leg and her arm. I will need to rebody her with a good body. For today's pictures she stole (No. Borrowed.) the body of one of my blonde Chris's.

 
Luckily I caught her before she was ruined.But she was sooo pretty and pink!
Chris fit her photo shoot in between rain showers. The rain keeps coming and the corn keeps growing. I'm the impatient type. I have planted this corn and I want to see results NOW! Waiting for vegetables to grow drives me crazy. "A watched pot never boils" as the saying goes. But does watched corn grow? It better, or I'll end up with nothing, because I'm sitting on this corn like a mother hen! I have lots of small tomato plants too, and a couple of big ones, but only two lonely little blooms that will hopefully grow into some big fat tomatoes.
  See you tomorrow for another doll.

Doll-A-Day 54: Tutti's Friend Chris,Plus A Yard Sale Tale, Wherein I Buy One Woman's Childhood...

  Today we start a week of posts on a bunch of Barbie and family dolls I bought at one garage sale. It's another...

  I have become  skeptical about people who advertise that they have 'Barbies' at their sales. When you get there they are always modern Barbies, usually naked or wearing icky homemade clothes,and they want too much for them. Well, not always. One Saturday, 2 or 3  years ago, I went out with my list, which contained a listing for a sale with 'Barbies'. I was in no hurry to get there. I had a church sale on my list, and with so many different people donating you never know what you'll find. (Found a Glamour Misty once.) Besides, these were probably new crappy Barbies anyway. When it was nearly noon I had been out for a while and still hadn't gone to the Barbie sale. I decided there was a sale I needed to go to and started to turn that way. Then I realized I was actually very close to the Barbie sale, so I figured I might as well go there first. I pulled in the driveway and got out. As I walked toward the garage door I saw a table in the garage lined with vintage Barbie and family dolls. I went directly to them, picked them up and started making a pile on the table of  the lady who ran the sale, who will, as usual, be known as TLWRTS. I don't remember all the individual prices, but I'll do my best. Here's what I got:
  crewcut Ken in his box
  straight leg Skipper w/original swim suit in her box
  bendleg Skooter with pink skin, with stand and original outfit and hair ribbons, in her box. These three were about $10 each.
  titian bubble cut Barbie  was a little more because, TLWRTS said, "she's old." (Lady, they're ALL "old"! This was a later bubble cut and was probably the same age as the Ken and not more than a couple of years older than the 'youngest' doll there.)
  Twist and turn Barbie with summer sand hair $7
  blonde Chris in her original outfit, no shoes for $2

  She's today's doll.  I bought her some shoes. I can't remember if she was wearing her green undies or if I bought them too. I know I outfitted a couple of Chris dolls with green undies.She's supposed to have two green hair ribbons and a green metal barrette. We'll see more of Chris after I finish my story.

  brunette bend leg Francie $7
  ziplock bag of Barbie Pak knit separates pieces about $2
  Skipper's Sunny Pastels dress and purse for $1
  Francie's It's a Date dress and stockings for $2
  And I passed up Skipper's White Bright n' Sparkling coat for 10 cents because I didn't know what it was. (This is why I needed that Skipper book.)
  I bought a couple of other very small things.In all my total was  $67. I had to go get $7 more  from Ken, leaving $7 Francie behind as collateral. Ken was at work and don't think he wasn't thrilled to find that I was spending $67. To allow myself to keep most of the dolls, I let go of most of the Pak knits, the bubblecut, and I think the Twist and Turn.Ok, so Skooter had had straight pins stuck in her head to hold her hair ribbons on  and had a little green. It doesn't show and I did take the pins out.. Francie has some pale green under the edges of her hair too, but she looks nice in her Its a Date. Chris was perfect, as was Ken, and Skipper was pretty nice too.These dolls belonged to TLWRTS as a kid. I pretty much bought out her childhood. And to prove my other point, at this same sale there were boat loads of modern Barbie furniture and accessories and TLWRTS wanted a fortune for them. I went to her sale the next year and she still had the modern stuff and still wanted a fortune for them.

 Chris is so perfect! No chews, all her bends, no hair cuts, no green.

 

Tutti's friend Chris was produced from 1967 to 1971 in the United States, and longer elsewhere. She came in blonde and brunette. These days most of the brunette's have oxidized to various shades of red or auburn.You've seen these girls before.

Unoxidized Chris on the left, oxidized Chris on the right.

She was the only Tutti size friend produced as specifically that. (You can count Buffy and the Pretty Pairs dolls, but they weren't actually marketed as Tutti friends, just that they could wear her clothes.) 

 

"Nice Kitty Kitty.Can I pick you up?"

"You're a good kitty. I'll sit here, ok?"

"Darned humans. I fall for that one every time!"

I definately do NOT own this set. I have the vinyl top and pants pictured second from right, but that's all. This set is REALLY expensive.

Her original dress has a 'Chris' tag inside.She even had her own gift set,the Chris Fun-Timers Set,and Tutti had a couple of houses and a couple of cases, and a combination case/picnic setting, (the patio picnic case), that also pictured Chris and used her name.

Thanks to my friend Connie I have both of these.

  If you think about it, it's kind of amazing that Mattel could keep milking their original character's success by creating all these spin off characters.Barbie begat Tutti,who then had to have a friend and begat Chris. It could have been never ending: Did Chris need a friend too? Or a brother? Now of course the doll companies produce a zillion characters, and also a zillion of the same doll.When I was a kid the Barbie universe was a lot smaller, and only one or two versions of each doll were produced at a time. Now there are countless versions of each doll put out. If you want different outfits for your doll, alot of the time you have to buy a whole new doll.No wonder kids don't seem to get as attached to their dolls as I did when I was a kid. They have so many! 
  Tomorrow we'll look at another doll from this garage sale 'family'.

Doll-A-Day 19: Slipsey Sliddle

  Today's doll is Slipsey Sliddle.

 Slipsey is one of the first 24 original Liddle Kiddles. She was produced in 1968. She has the taller, (3 1/2"), thinner Kiddle body.

She came with a pink plastic slide. I relinquished my slide, which pretty much paid for Slipsey.(That's how I often afford to collect.) She originally came with white t-strap shoes,but my girl is missing hers. She is wearing her original 2 piece play suit though, and has her original yellow hair ribbons.

They could do with being retied. How do you tie such tiny bows?!
  Kiddles were made by Mattel, like Barbie, and often shared clothing fabrics and accessories with Barbie.

And also hair.Like some Barbie family dolls,some of the Slipsey dolls have hair that has changed colour over time in a process called oxidation.It's brunettes that 'suffer' from oxidation, if you want to call it suffering. The oxidation produced some beautiful hair colours...

Like this straight leg Skipper's auburn. Great colour. Too bad she's had a haircut.

And this Julia doll's burgundy colour.

...and some truely weird ones...

Like this Julia doll. By the way this Julia is not mine. I borrowed her for this, but if her owner wants her removed I'd be glad to do so.

  The yellow haired Julia is a bit unusual. Most of the oxidation victims turn from brunette to some shade of red or auburn.Other common dolls with this problem are the African American Francie (commonly referred to as Black Francie), which I can't find my pictures of.(Unfortunately, I had to sell her. She was worth too much for me to keep her.)And Tutti's friend Chris.

Regular brunette Chris in Tutti's Flower Girl, and her oxidized twin in her original dress.

...and Casey, friend of Barbie's Mod Era cousin Francie.

Oxidized Casey

 The oxidation is often attributed to Mattel using leftover hair from Color Magic Barbie,hair that was made to change colour with special tablets. Apparently age and conditions could have the same effect. The telltale difference between an original red head and an oxidized one is the scalp colour. Mattel painted the scalps to match the hair. Oxidized red heads have brunette painted scalps.

  I originally bought Slipsey to use her head to make a Tutti friend...

 ...like the Soapy Siddle head on a Doctor Doolittle body seen above right, with original body Soapy on the left . (By the way, Soapy suffers from oxidation too. Check out the colour differences on these two.) But Slipsey was so cute in her little outfit, and the colours were so pretty on her, that she got to keep her head!