Doll-A-Day 2017 #285:Sleeper Keeper

  Today we're continuing to look at dolls with the Drowsy head mold. This doll is the Sleeper Keeper.

 

The Sleeper Keeper, (Yes. That's actually he only name she has.), was made by Mattel using the Drowsy head.

This is from a 1972 catalog. She's not even being called Sleeper Keeper.

This is what she would have looked like in her box. She should have a bonnet,and a ribbon on her nightgown,which mine is missing.

She has not only  the Drowsy face but her hands too.
 

She had severe bed head, so I wet combed it to try to make it lay down. I wasn't entirely successful.

She's another that I haven't gotten around to taking apart and cleaning yet.  She has a talk box in her chest, so she'll have to be unsewn,and have her talk box removed, before she can be thoroughly cleaned.
 

Her pull string ring is on her neck. My doll does still talk.

I'm not sure this is her original ring. I've never seen a red one before.

I have seen her listed as 1964,1965,and 1971. There doesn't seem to be a year on her tag.

But the artwork on her box would suggest the 1971 date is accurate.
As she proudly proclaims on her box,she's a pajama bag and a talking doll. As a pajama bag, she has no body beyond her chest. Her nightgown is empty,to hold,what else? Pajamas.
 

The flannel night gown is lined in pink cotton. There was originally a drawstring in the bottom to keep the pjs inside.

And because she's a talking doll, she has a repertoire of snappy repartee,including:

Tell me a story,ok?

Your pajamas tickle.

Let's go to sleep now.

May I have your pajamas now?

I want to sleep next to you.

Hi! I'm a pajama bag!

Ok, so she's a little obsessed with being a pajama bag.

She has the same face as Drowsy,but her sleepy eyes are a sea green instead of blue.

But the difference that made me want her was, she's like having a Drowsy with red hair!

Drowsy herself came as a blonde, a brunette,(If you lived where they sold the Spanish speaking version.),and an African American. The Drowsy Beans doll came as a painted hair blonde,in the pink polka dot pjs,or as a painted hair red head in blue pjs. But the only way to get a red haired version of the classic Drowsy face on a doll with rooted red hair, was to get Sleeper Keeper girl here, or Baby Colleen...

Baby Colleen, top left corner. I'm pretty sure that Teachy Keen,on the right, also uses the Drowsy head.

..or the even more rare doll we'll see tomorrow. See you then.

Doll-A-Day 2017 #284: Polka Dot Drowsy Two Ways

  Yesterday we saw the original Drowsy,and I mentioned how much I had wanted a Drowsy when I was a kid. Today we're seeing two other versions of Drowsy.

Drowsy was originally produced from 1964 to 1974. She was then brought back in 1984,and again in 1999. By 1999 she had gone from being a pull string operated talking doll, to a battery operated doll. I know that much. But this pair have me confused.

I'm hoping someone who knows more about the history of Drowsy can straighten me out. I've had trouble finding information. (First,I have to apologize for the state of the Drowsy on the right. She was obtained at a yard sale (as was the other one.),and I haven't cleaned her yet.) Ok,here's the thing. Both Drowsy dolls have 'Made in Mexico' on their tags.
 

Above and below are Dirty Drowsy's tag. No year listed, but it says 'Made in Mexico'.

And here we have the other doll's tag:
 

It says 1964, but that could just be the original copyright,not the manufacture date. It's like all those 90's Barbie's that say a 60's date on their butts. It's just the copyright on the body type, not the year they were made. (I wish people would learn that...)

From reading the cleaner doll's tag I would say she's obviously older, since Mattel was still using 'shredded clippings' to stuff the dolls, as opposed to the dirty doll's 'polyester fiber'. However, there is something weird about her tag. What is obviously a Drowsy tag is sewn to what's left of a tag sewn into the actual seam of the doll's body,on which can be read the remains of the words...

...Hong Kong. Huh?

So what's the deal with that? Hong Kong,or Mexico?
 

If I had gotten this doll off Ebay, or from a doll dealer I might have thought somebody was trying to swindle somebody. Maybe trying to pass a newer doll off as old or something? But I got her at a yard sale,or maybe a thrift store. Has anybody else ever come across this?
  So if they were both made in Mexico,what's the time difference? I know the Mattel factory in Mexico burned down in 1970,but when did Mattel start manufacturing in Mexico again?
  Ok,so moving on to other differences.
  Drowsy on the left seems to be older. For one thing,she has the dry,crispy hair the older dolls have.

Dirty Drowsy has silkier hair, which I would say makes her later than Crispy Drowsy.

I said it was silkier. I didn't say it was manageable!

  Crispy has the same hair my Chatty Brother has.That would put her way back. I'm not sure how long Mattel used the Go-Crispy hair,but I know they used it back then. I'm 55, and I got Chatty Brother when I was less than 3 years old.Probably less than 2. She also has vinyl hands. I'm sure the cloth hand version is later, but how late?

I have seen them referred to as  'felt hands' ,but these at least, are cotton.

 I prefer the vinyl hands. Fortunately,later reproductions featured the vinyl hands, not the cloth ones.
Below is a late 60's ad for Drowsy. I know this because Newborn Thumbelina, advertised in the middle,below Drowsy,came out in 1968.

I got my Newborn Thumbelina for Christmas that year. You can see her HERE.

The Drowsy in the ad would appear to be the cleaner,albeit crispy haired Drowsy. Crispy Drowsy also has something the other girl doesn't.

A 'trap door' in her footie pjs.

Dirty Drowsy has no trap door.

And there's another difference: their tags are on opposite sides of their bodies.

As I showed you yesterday, original Drowsy had the trap door.

I'm pretty sure the 1999 reproduction had the trap door, but by then they were battery operated, and that's where the battery door was.
  And here's another difference. Dirty Drowsy has a shaped pink pullstring ring.

I suppose that's something that could have been replaced at some point.

Crispy has the regular ring.

Both of them have collars that aren't sewn to their bodies. 

The collars seem to have had elastic that has died over time, leaving the dolls with baggy lace 'necklaces'.
 Crispy has a face more like the earlier dolls.

Same crispy hair too.

Her face paint is very different from Dirty's.

I thought at first that Dirty just had very worn face paint. But in looking at it again, I see that,it's there. It's just not as dark,and the features aren't painted as large as Crispy's. Dirty has tiny little eyebrows and eensy little eyelashes. Her eyes are painted a different shade of blue,her pupils are much larger, and her shine dot is painted much smaller. Her lips are paler, and painted more narrow.

Kitty Drowsy has the same big lashes and smaller pupils as Cripsy Drowsy.

Dirty even seems to have a smaller head than Crispy.

Anybody know the years on these girls?

Tomorrow we'll see a Drowsy 'cousin'. See you then.

Doll-A-Day 2017 #283:The Original Drowsey

  The title of this post may confuse some of you. On the other hand, some of you may think you know what it means, and you'd be wrong. What? Well let me explain. If you're thinking I mean the original polka dot Drowsy doll,which came out in 1964,as opposed to the reproduction polka dot Drowsy,which came out in 1984, or the Mattel Classic Collection Drowsy polka dot reproduction, which came out in 1999,you'd be wrong. What? Ok, let me explain to those of you who,when you think 'Drowsy', think polka dot Drowsy. Drowsy, known for her pink pajamas with white polka dots,originally came dressed in kitty cat pajamas.

This doll came out in 1964. Maybe the polka dot one came out the next year?

Her pajamas have a fake 'trap door' in the bottom.

The Caucasian version came in these pink kitty cat pajamas, and the African American version came in blue kitty cat pajamas.

It says here she's 17" tall. She seems smaller.

This version of Drowsy has a frilly collar made of the same fabric as her pjs,and no cuffs,instead of the eyelet lace collar and cuffs the polka dot version has.

I wanted a Drowsy badly when I was a kid. She was one of my top three desperately wanted,but never gotten dolls.
 

Look at that face. They don't call her 'Drowsy' for nothing.

The other two were Mrs. Beasley, and That Kid. (As you may have seen in previous posts,as an adult I managed to remedy both of those situations too. If not, you can see those HERE and HERE.)

I eventually got a 1999 Drowsy reproduction when Ivy was a baby,(as well as getting Ivy one.). I ended up finding a couple of vintage ones at yard sales too. They were so much better than the blandish reproduction. But I didn't know there was a Kitty cat PJ version at first. I became familiar with the kitty version, but I  had never seen one in person until I found this girl at a yard sale.

She was a mess when I found her. The lady running the sale said Drowsy had been found in her grandfather's barn.PoorDrowsy was nasty and dirty, and had mouse poop on her. But she was a quarter,and she needed rescuing.

I took her home and took out her voice box,(There was even mouse poop inside it!),washed her...and then washed her some more. She soaked in detergent water for a day and night. I finally got her clean.

She's a little skinny because I haven't put her voice box back in yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I washed and conditioned her hair and combed it. It was pretty scary looking before I started, but she came out nice.
She had some pink marks on her face, but I got most of it off.

My girl doesn't talk any more, but when she did she said these phrases: 'I want another drink of water','I go sleep now. Night night.' ,'Mommy,I'm sleepy.', 'I wanna stay up!'.'Mommy,cover me up.','Mommy love baby?','Close your eyes Mommy.'

I don't know if you can read this, but her tag says, "I talk! Drowsy"

Drowsy is one of those classic 60's Mattel dolls,with the turned up nose and rosy cheeks. In fact, her head has been used for several Mattel dolls,and they don't all look like Drowsy. We'll be looking at some of those dolls this week. See you tomorrow.