Doll-A-Day 2019 #48: Julia

  Well, I screwed up. I accidentally deleted two of the latest comments, when I thought I was publishing them. I'm going to blame Google, and all the stuff they've been causing lately.
  We got loads of pebbly snow today. It was snow you could hear falling. It's also back to below freezing temperatures. I can't blame all of this on Climate Change,because Ohio weather is known for going from t-shirt weather one day to arctic blasts the next, and back again. Back me up on this Barb. I'm just glad it is this cold, because this is what February is supposed to be like. All that balmy weather in what should be winter scares the crap out of me.
  Today's doll is Julia.

Actually two Julias. The one with the longer hair is Emma's.

Julia was part of the Barbie line and had the standard Twist and Turn body, with a twist waist and click bend knees.
 

This is the first issue Julia doll, with the two piece uniform. The 'outfits for Julia' are Barbie tagged outfits. Julia did have her own tagged outfits, which we'll look at below.

 She had the long rooted eyelashes of the Mod Era dolls too.

She shared a head sculpt with Barbie's friend Christie.

The doll pictured is actually the second version of the Julia doll.  Note the one piece uniform.  

 

 

The uniform on the left is Barbie's 'Registered Nurse' dress from the earlier era of Barbie. The uniform on the right is the second issue Julia uniform,with different shoes.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Julia uniform. The differences from the Barbie one are: the rougher fabric,the belt on this one,the Barbie one zips  in the back and this one snaps,and the length of the sleeves,(This one has 3/4 length sleeves.),and the length of the dress. There are also two buttons at the top of the bodice,and a Nehru collar on the Julia dress.

Julia second issue uniform on the left,older Barbie uniform on the right. Both have the silver 'pin', but the Barbie 'pin' is larger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emma's doll was still wearing her nurse's cap. It's still stitched to her head.

Look at the difference a few years made on the hemlines. Barbie's 'Registered Nurse' was sold from 1961 to 1964. Julia was introduced in 1968.

Although Julia had the same head sculpt as Christie,she was based on the character "Julia" from the TV series of the same name.

 Julia dolls originally had brown hair,but many,like these two,have hair that has oxidized to red, or in some cases, even an alarming bright yellow colour.

Even these two aren't the same. They have slightly different shades of red hair.

 

Emma's doll has more red hair, while mine is leaning towards maroon.

The TV series "Julia" ran for three seasons,from the fall of 1968 to the spring of 1971. I was born in 1962, but I remember it quite well. It starred the beautiful Diahann Carroll as Julia.

Julia was one of the first TV series to star an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role. Julia worked as a nurse in a doctor's office.

This is the second issue Julia nurse's uniform I have,although my doll is wearing the soft bow shoes,and not the Pilgrim shoes this doll is pictured in. That's because I don't have the white Pilgrim shoes.

Although the series was groundbreaking, it did get complaints from various groups for portraying a 'safer' version of African American life during the turbulent late 60's. Even Diahann Carroll commented that "At the moment we're presenting the white Negro. And he has very little Negroness." There were also complaints from African Americans that "Julia" depicted a fatherless family,although the father in the series was supposed to have been killed in the Vietnam war, rather than having left the family.
   Talking Julia was also introduced in 1969. She had Diahann Carroll's voice.

Despite the photo,Julia's arm was straight, and did not bend. The legs had the usual click bend Barbie knees.

Talking Julia wore a sparkly silver and gold jumpsuit. There were four outfits made specifically for Julia,which had a tag with her name inside.

This is from a 1970 Penney's catalog.

 There was also a Julia gift set called 'Simply Wow', that included a Talking Julia doll, and this exclusive fashion.

The TV series spawned a number of other products besides the Barbie line dolls and fashions, including lunchboxes,(Was there anything they didn't make a lunchbox of back then?),paper dolls, a Colorforms Dress-Up kit,and View Master reels.
   I can't remember where my Julia came from,but it was probably an auction.

Emma's Julia appeared at Goodwill when Emma worked there as a teenager. She snapped her up, but wasn't sure at first that the doll wasn't some sort of reproduction, because she was in such nice condition. After asking me, and being assured that Julia had never been reproduced, she was pretty pleased with her purchase. I loaned her the Barbie nurse's uniform so Julia would have something to wear.

Today,Diahann Carroll is 83 years old,still acting,and still beautiful.

 That's it for today. 

Tomorrow we'll look at another doll. See you then.