More Thrift Store Finds: Kenner Strawberry Shortcake, Friends, and Enemies

  As I mentioned last time, I made quite a few good finds at thrift stores last week. Today I'm showing you this lot of vintage Strawberry Shortcake dolls.

 I got these at Salvation Army. The bag included 8 dolls and was $7.99. Not bad.They all had shoes and hats too, (Except the boy, who is missing one shoe.),which is not usually the case when I find them. All but Strawberry still had their hats attached to their heads with those plastic things.
   Strawberry Shortcake was originally a character created in 1977 for greeting cards made by American Greetings. She was created by Murial Fahrion, who was an illustrator in the Juvenile and Humorous card department.She designed 33 characters in all. Later characters were designed by others. The first doll was a rag doll designed by Murial Fahrion, and created by her sister Susan Trentel. Unless you've been living in a hole you'll know that there has been a massive amount of Strawberry Shortcake stuff produced over the years. The licensing  has traded hands many times, and all sorts of products, including many different sized dolls, have been made by Kenner, Hasbro, Playmates,and Bandai.The dolls I'm showing you today are 5" tall,and were made by Kenner starting in 1979. They came scented with a scent that matched their character name. The dolls have usually lost their scents over the years.These are all super clean and still have their scent.
  I'm not up on my characters. I know Strawberry herself...

She has the original flat hands. The rest of the dolls have the curved hands

...and the Purple Pieman, (with his pet. I've seen it called Berry Bird and Cackle. Which is right?) and Sour Grapes, (and her snake Dregs), are the villains...

He even has his spoon.

...and the boy is Huckleberry Pie.

The others I had to do a little research on. From left to right: Lime Chiffon, Raspberry Tart,
Lemon Meringue, and Angel Cake. Raspberry Tart and Angel Cake are wearing each others shoes.

There were even three combs. I have never come across the combs, even though I find dolls now and then.

And some extras. The cape came in a carded fashion set.

 The blue hat belongs to Blueberry Muffin.

And don't worry about the little socks. The other one was hiding under Huckleberry Pie.I think they belong to Lem n' Ada or Apple Dumplin'. But where does the nightgown (?) come from, and what is the yellow thing? A sock?
I like the newer regular size Strawberry Shortcake dolls from Playmates and the mini dolls by Hasbro. I have several of each of those lines.I found one of the mini dolls with 'real' hair at Goodwill last week too.

Luckily I have some spare dresses for the mini dolls that I got at a yard sale a couple of years ago, because these dolls are always naked when I find them.
  I was never interested in the original generation Strawberry Shortcake dolls though. Maybe it's at least partially because they came out when I was going through the "I'm a grown up and no longer interested in toys" phase. (That didn't last!) But like most collectors I don't leave something of value behind when I find it. (I'm not stupid, after all!) So these dolls will be heading out when I get around to listing them.

Doll-A-Day 327 : Byers Carolers Salvation Army People

  Today's doll is three: these Byers Salvation Army people from 1991.

I really love these Salvation Army characters. Their clothes are nicely detailed, and the props are so realistic.

The lady is about 12" tall, and the guys are about 13 1/2" tall.

The Salvation Army was founded in 1865 by  William and Catherine Booth, and was originally known as the East London Christian Mission.

Catherine and William Booth.

They expanded to Australia, Ireland, and the United States in 1880.They now operate in 126 countries, in 175 languages.

The Salvation Army is one of the largest providers of social aid, helping more then 32 million people in the United States every year.They provide disaster relief,refugee aid, community centers,and other services.

They are the second largest charity in the United States.
  See you tomorrow for another doll in our countdown to Christmas.