Doll-A-Day #57: Oscar Week: Barbie Loves Frankie Sinatra

  Today's Oscar Week doll is from this set.

The set is Barbie Loves Frankie Sinatra, and the Oscar winner is,of course, Frank Sinatra.

This set is from 1999. I haven't opened it because I like how they are displayed in the box. I have been very tempted many times though!

It's a representation of the very young Frank Sinatra,when he was still referred to as 'Frankie'. He wasn't yet "Ol' Blue Eyes'.

He has the skinny jointed Ken body of that era, with the jointed elbows and knees.

The Barbie is dressed as one of the Frank Sinatra fans of the time,(the 1940's).

 

They were mostly very young girls and were called 'Bobby Soxers',a reference to the short 'bobby' socks they wore.

She also has what we used to call 'penny loafers',shoes with a slit in the bit that goes across the top of the foot. We used to put pennies in the slit. I'll bet our Dorothy in PA remembers that,eh Dorothy? 

I love his microphone and her little 45 record!

It even has a 'wire'.

 He has a great checked jacket and sweater vest.
 

Look at those tiny buttons!

 And he has a snazzy looking bow tie!

His pants are made of a gray,wool-looking fabric.

This doll was followed in 2000 by the doll 'Frank Sinatra,the Recording Years'. That's kind of stupid really,since he was recording in his young years too. You can see my post on that doll HERE. The Recording Years doll represents an older Frank,and had a brand new head sculpt. That doll has a great suit, a hat,and a music stand. Unfortunately, his microphone was only cardboard.

  Frank Sinatra was born Francis Albert Sinatra,on December 12, 1915,in Hoboken, New Jersey.  After starting out as a big band singer with the likes of the Tommy Dorsey orchestra,and Harry James,Frank  was signed to Columbia records in 1943. He went on to be one of the best selling music performers of all time,selling more than 150 million records world wide.

His first acting role was a small part in the 1943 film "Higher and Higher",which starred Jack Haley,better known as The Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz".  In the 1940's Frank made a number of classic musicals,such as Anchors Aweigh (1945),On The Town,and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game, (both 1949). His musical career went into a slump in the late 40's though,caused by his alleged mafia ties and an extramarital affair with Ava Gardner,whom he later married.

  Frank Sinatra's career was revived when he won his Oscar,and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1953,for his performance in "From Here to Eternity". Two years later he was nominated for another Academy Award, this time for Best Actor,as well as the British equivalent,the Best Actor BAFTA,for his performance as a heroin addict in "The Man With the Golden Arm". "Pal Joey",in 1957, won Sinatra another Golden Globe Award,this time for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
   Sinatra went on to make many well received movies,including "High Society" (1956), and "Ocean's 11" (1960), and to found his own record company,Reprise Records,in 1960.  He passed away in 1998.

  That's it for today. See you again tomorrow for more of Oscar Week.

Doll-A-Day 7:Frank Sinatra, The continuing story of the MIllion Crissy Dolls, plus, What I Bought on my Christmas Vacation

  Remember ALL 52 of those Crissy and family dolls I saw at Goodwill? Well I was there on New Year's eve, (Yes. I live THAT exciting a life.) and they were ALL gone.The counter person said once people started buying them they were buying several at a time. Emma went to Salvation Army a couple of days ago and they still had a shelf full. She found one that was definitely NOT there when I was there, so I guess they put more out after I was there.
  After Christmas Ken and I went to a couple of different Walgreens and between the two trips we got these cool little lamp posts for $2.50 each.

My kind of town, Chicago is...

  They light up. They're a little short for 1/6 scale, but not too bad.  One of the tops is crooked, but I'm afraid I'd ruin it if I tried to detach it and glue it back on the right way.Ivy hates them because she thinks they look awful.

A hat's not a hat, 'til it's tilted...You've either got or you haven't got....style

  I think they could look a lot better, but they'll look ok from a distance or in photos.
  I don't like the molded in wreath. It looks fake, and also, it doesn't give you the option of NOT having a wreath, so you could use it for non holiday pictures.I plan to cover it with real (fake) greenery and maybe put a cloth bow on it. I don't know of any way to completely disguise the wreath, and it's molded in, so you can't even try to break it off.
  And that brings us to today's Doll-A-Day.Today is Frank Sinatra.

  This is Frank,The Recording Years, produced by Mattel in 2000. (There is also a Barbie Loves Frankie Sinatra set, with a younger version of Frank.)He came with a plastic music stand and some sheet music, but unfortunately his microphone was only cardboard. I never liked Frank Sinatra. (My kids like Frank Sinatra!)  Admittedly, I grew up in the era of middle aged and older Frank, when, in my opinion, his voice wasn't as strong as it had been when he was young.(My kids were introduced to Frank through the old MGM movies of the 40's, so they came in on the better stuff.) But I love a doll of a real person that really looks like them, so I had to have this Frank. The likeness is excellent.

Who put all this lipstick on me?! Somebody's gonna pay for this!

...and did it myyyyy waaay

His suit is beautifully done.

Tiny pin stripes.

  The shirt isn't removeable unless you cut it off though, so you can't use the suit on anybody else, unless you don't mind if the shirt isn't as form fitting.It's sewn shut and has a strap through the crotch to keep it tucked in and smooth. Frank has the same jointed body as the 40th anniversary Ken,some later Ken princes,and Lord of the Rings Legolas, to name a few. The body is fairly thin, and has jointed knees and elbows, a jointed waist, and the legs give at the hips so they can move outward as well as back and forth. You can see this best in the first picture.It allows Frank to be posed in some of his singing poses.He can  also do this pose...

Strangers in the night...scooby dooby doo...

I've got you under my skin

When the kids were little we did play with him a bit. He appeared at Emma's doll concerts I believe, and I know he made a cameo in a doll movie she made as a kid.By the way, that's Frank's hat, but not his trench coat.

He borrowed that from a doll we'll find out more about tomorrow.