Doll-A-Day 2023 #174: Ivy Cottage Mystery Doll

   A couple of posts ago we looked at the small Violet Pickles figure from Ivy Cottage, the series of books and dolls by E.J. Taylor. I mentioned that my post on the Ruby and Violet soft dolls from the series is one of my all time most viewed posts, and that people often message me, wanting to know if I have any spare Ruby and Violet dolls to sell. The books seem to have captivated a lot of people, who remember them fondly from their childhoods, or from reading them to their children. Those people now want the dolls and books for their children or grandchildren.

  Well, a while back a lady messaged me on the blog's Facebook page about an unusual doll she had recently bought online. The doll was obviously an Ivy Cottage doll, but neither of us had ever seen her before. The lady asked me if I knew, or could find out, anything about her doll. I was intrigued, and said I'd try. 

  I intended to write to the author of the books and creator of the dolls, E.J. Taylor. I even found an address that I thought might work. But, I procrastinated, and things arose that made me forget. I remembered every now and then, but I really wanted to be able to print my letter, because my handwriting is atrocious. Some of you who have received things from me, addressed in my psychotic scrawl, can testify to this. (I had a teacher once who told me that I 'write like a boy', whatever that means.) But our printer was constantly not working. While working on that recent post, I found that E.J. Taylor passed away last December.

  So now I have only the internet to rely on to solve this mystery. So, my fellow detectives, here are the facts, accompanied by pictures kindly provided by the doll's owner:

  The doll in question is 12 inches tall. 

She looks like the Horsman Rag Bag Annie doll I posted HERE. However, that doll was only 6 inches tall. That cuts out the idea that this doll may have been someone's one of a kind based on the book, using the other Rag Bag Annie doll. Also, her owner says her outfit and box seem factory made.

She's wearing a hairnet, which makes me think of more high end dolls than the other Ivy Cottage dolls.

She was packaged attached to a box with no writing, and had a faked up miniature copy of "Christmas at Ivy Cottage" as her accessory.

The book is just a paper picture glued to cardboard.

 Since she is wearing an angel costume and comes with a fake copy of "Christmas at Ivy Cottage",  I am assuming she is Rag Bag Annie, who, if I recall correctly, was cast, over rich girl Cecily Thistle, as the angel in the school play, in that book.  

She has a vinyl head, arms, and legs, described by her owner as 'almost squishy', and a soft, stuffed body.

  She is attached to her insert with twist ties. 

Here's the back of her pretend book.

  Okay. The question is, was this doll ever released, or is this a prototype? Where did it come from? If you have any information about this doll, please let me know.

  See you tomorrow for another doll.doll-   

Doll-A-Day 321: Ivy Cottage Cecily Thistle and Rag Bag Annie

  Today's doll is two again, and part 2 of yesterday's post on Ivy Cottage dolls. ("Ivy Cottage"  being the series of children's books written by doll artist E. J. Taylor, and featuring a pair of live rag dolls named Violet Pickles and Ruby Buttons, and their creator and 'mom' Miss Biscuit.) Today's dolls are Cecily Thistle and Rag Bag Annie, also made by Horsman.

These dolls are much smaller than yesterday's 12" rag dolls. These dolls are about 6" tall.

They don't exactly qualify as 'rag dolls', since they have cloth bodies, with vinyl heads, and  vinyl arms and legs.

The Rag Bag Annie character is from "Christmas at Ivy Cottage", and doesn't appear in any of the other Ivy Cottage books.

She looks a lot more innocent and sweet in the book illustrations. That scarf is supposed t be a shawl.

Are there 6" rag dolls of Ruby and Violet too? I want to see them! By the way, if that paragraph on the box doesn't make sense, it's because two of the sentences are transposed.

UPDATE: Yes, there are 6" dolls of Ruby and Violet! I found these pictures on an old auction, and I am borrowing them because there are no others available. I will gladly remove them if asked.

I have no idea where Cecily Thistle comes from, as she doesn't appear in any of the books, and I think we have them all now.

We had all the books,(Ivy Cottage, Goose Eggs, Rag Doll Press, and The Thorn Witch.), except "Christmas at Ivy Cottage", so I had never heard of Rag Bag Annie until I happened to see the auction for these two online. Ken bought them for me for Christmas last year.

Rag Bag Annie was supposed to be poor. I'm guessing Cecily Thistle is a rich girl.

In that case you'd think she could afford an orthodontist.

Christmas at Ivy Cottage only seemed to be available in Britain, since I hadn't found it here, or in any American online auction. It was a bit more expensive and rarely showed up for sale, so I only managed to get it last year. We're all a little too old for it around here, but I wanted to complete the set: because I'm obsessive, and in case I ever have grandchildren who want to read them all.

There may end up being some fighting, since most of the books belong to Emma, except for The Thorn Witch, which is Ivy's, and Christmas at Ivy Cottage, which belongs to...me?
  The books aren't the easiest in the world to find, and "Christmas at Ivy Cottage", at least, can be a bit expensive for a paper back book. The writing isn't the best in the world.(E.J. Taylor wasn't a writer, after all.) But the books are a world of their own. The idea is charming. The stories are sweet, and simple, and full of good hearted acts. The illustrations are beautiful, and the characters are loveable.Even grouchy, persnickety Violet shows her warm side quite often. "Christmas at Ivy Cottage" is the last book written, and the story seems rushed. But to children, the simple story of a friend in need and her friends' acts of kindness will seem just right. With all the unsettling things children are subjected to these days, these quiet little stories of love and friendship are just what we need.
**UPDATE** The Ivy Cottage Pop Up Playhouse found! See it HERE!