Doll-A-Day 74: Skipper Saturday: Two Tone Auburn Skipper in Ship Ahoy

  Well, the weather has swung back to Spring again, and this week's Skipper is ready for a day of boating.

This is a straight leg Skipper with amazing two tone dark auburn hair.

You may remember seeing her in a previous post when I first bought her.

I got her at a doll show, but from one of the shoppers. She sold me a case with Skippers that had belonged to her, and her sister.Both Skippers had very colourful lips, but as I suspected, the lips had been touched up, and I was debating on whether or not to try to remove the extra lip paint. I was very wary, since I didn't know if there was any paint underneath, and they looked pretty good the way they were.

I finally decided to remove the added paint. It came off with just water.She has perfect lips underneath, so all is well.

Her hair is super thick too.

Gad! If it isn't 'that one hair', it's those two! I need some hair gel or something. What do people use for this?

 

 Ship Ahoy consists of the dress, vest, anklet socks, red flats,and accessories, including a plastic camera, (Hey Mattel, Tammy's camera is real metal and MILES more realistic!),a toy sailboat, and a couple of travel brochures.

 
Tomorrow we'll begin a week of reviews.See you then.

Doll Show Saturday and Malabar Farm

  So Saturday was the doll show, albeit a very small one. No money was made, but that was expected. It was nice to see my doll friends again though. Since it was such a tiny show and there were almost no customers it was a chance to visit with everybody.(For the big show in October I must insist on making money though!) The room was so tiny we were all able to walk around and see each other's stuff and talk to each other. I got a cute little baby and a Harry Potter I don't recognize.

  Emma was VERY into Harry Potter, (We all loved the books and read all of them as a family.), and had everything there was to do with it, so I'm surprised we somehow missed this guy. I thought he might be the Wizard Sweets Harry, since Emma didn't get him until she was older and she never took him out of the box. I am less familiar with him. But I checked him out today, (Since Emma moved out and left her dolls.) and it's not him. This guy is a good likeness of Daniel Radcliffe, much better than the other ones. (Luckily they got Rupert Grint right the first time, because Mattel only made one Ron.)
  I also did some trading. I got a handful of dolls clothes from my friend Casey and she'll pick a pile of mine at the October show.
  I got one of the best condition vintage Skipper Flower Girl dresses I have ever seen from a lady. I'm going to sell her awesome miniature spinning wheel online for her in exchange.

   (This thing is great! The parts really move and it even has wool on it. I have a couple, but I think hers is the best I've seen.)
  And of course my friend Connie GAVE me more stuff (She does that.),

Anybody know who this kid is? She has a body like a Tiny Teen, and is marked Takara, Made in Japan.

...and restrung the doll I got a few weeks ago, which you might have seen in my Fantastic Finds of the Week post. Since I was thinking about it anyway and everybody was advising that I do it,I removed her silver ringlet wig.  She has cute molded hair underneath.  I thought she would make a cute boy, but they were all for keeping her a girl because they preferred girl dolls. I'll think about it. I need to remove her /his wig glue. Someone recommended Goo Gone, but if anybody knows anything better I'd love to hear it.
  I think I did pretty well. I didn't spend too much, and we made almost what the table cost. It was for a good cause anyway, because the table fees go to preserve the beautiful historic house the show is held in the annex of. (Is that correct grammer?!) The house is great, with lots of old features that it would be a shame to lose if the house were sold and updated, like all the bells in the kitchen that were used to ring to from the upstairs rooms. They're all still on the wall and you feel like someone is going to ring down to the kitchen for breakfast in bed or something any minute.I could move in there right now and live, except for that shag carpeting...

   Speaking of, I could also move in and live quite happily at Malabar Farm, here in Ohio. It was the home of Pulitzer Prize winning author, screenplay writer, and conservationist Louis Bromfield. (He wrote 'The Rains Came', which has been made into a movie several times, including 'Rain' with Joan Crawford.), and is now a State Park. The house has been preserved as it was the last time the family lived there in the 1950's. Much of the decor is much older. Apparently Jimmy Cagney sold vegetables from their farm stand out at the road (which you can still buy vegetables from, although Jimmy is no longer there.) Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were friends of the Bromfields and were actually married in the house, and spent their honeymoon there.

That wall paper is still on the walls.

Ivy and I, who love old movies,had fun coming down the double staircases 'Bogie and Bacall ' came down when they met in the entryway to take their vows. We also stood behind the table where they stood to cut their wedding cake.

This table is still there, and they have a fake wedding cake set up.

  Anyway,go if you ever get a chance,especially if you are a Bogart or Bacall fan. I've been there twice and would go again. It's like a walk back in time. Plus there is a nice farm and animals to see. (And there is a house with a ghost story nearby, (on the property I think). )They also have a walking trail and events throughout the year.It's a beautiful place and a nice day out for the family. Check out their webpage at www.malabarfarm.org  I also have to add that Lauren Bacall, who is now 88 years old, still signs autographs, and with amazing speed. I wrote to her a couple of years ago and she sent back the two pictures I sent in about a week, both with a wonderful signature.

I was going to give one to Emma, but until she cares to take it they are both MINE!

  So that's it.See you soon.

Camping,Shopping, and how to wash a doll...

  Well, we had our mini vacation recently, which is all we had time for this summer. It was a few days camping. With Emma moved out and Fuzz officially an 'adult' now, (And THAT'S a matter of opinion really...), Ivy was the only one camping with us. (Apparently 'adults' can say, "I'm not going.") She still wants to hang out with us, but she'll be 14 soon, so I'm sure those days are numbered.
  It was Ken's ideal camping experience. In other words, we got the van hooked up to the electricity and turned on the air conditioning, (Ken,suffers from a bad case of "I'm English and it's too hot over here."), gathered wood and started a fire, and he cooked, and cooked, and cooked. (As with everything else in Ken's life, camping is all about the food.) The rest of the time we played games and watched a DVD on the lap top. Yep, Ken's a real out door type.

 

  Everybody was roughing it in the great outdoors. (That's our van in the front.) When I passed the camper behind us they were watching cartoons on a big screen tv.We used our air conditioner, microwave, and refrigerator.But uh...my bed was uncomfortable...

  Our camping neighbor was enjoying the hammock...

  To be fair, we also took a walk on the song bird trail and traipsed  around in the woods looking for firewood. We also took a ride and went to a cheese shop, Grampa's Cheese Barn, (Which did NOT have Venezuelan Beaver Cheese, but DID have cheddar.) where we tasted sample cheeses until our eyes fell out. We even bought some. (Listening to Ivy trying to get the name of her favourite, 'Cayanne Pepper cheese', right was pretty entertaining too. I just wish I had written down all the different incorrect names she used.)
  I stopped at a yard sale on the way to the Cheese Barn, but the doll-est thing they had was one of those wooden Polish dolls, and Ken insisted that the one we have, (Which his mother rooted with his own childhood hair when the original fell out.) is plenty.
   We went to a couple of stores too.Ivy got a new pillow...

  Sunday was the last day of Ivy's summer vacation, so I went out before she got up and got the last of the missing school supplies. (I swear that list gets longer and more ridiculous every year. Why does it matter if the painter's tape they asked for is BLUE?! When I could have gotten other colours for at least a dollar cheaper!) Since Goodwill is next to Big Lots where I was looking for her preferred socks and baby wipes for school I ducked in quickly to give the toy aisle the once over. I got a bag of dolls for $3 which contained these lovely ladies, and the chair for $2.

I have several Moxie Girlz with feet now, so I guess I should start weeding out all the ones without.

   This corn husk doll had followed me from a recent yard sale where I had considered her, but decided the corn husk doll population around here was getting out of hand and passed on her. Since she bothered to follow me all the way to Goodwill (and before she did it again and it got spooky) I decided to buy her.

  It was back to school Monday.Poor Ivy has a very long day this year. She is only in middle school but is taking high school French AT the high school. That means she has to get up extra early and be at the high school at their starting time for her French class, and then be bused over to her school for her regular school day.She gets high school credit for it,which will leave her room on her high school schedule for college credit classes. This has replaced graduating early, which is what they did when I was in school if you got all your high school  credits done early. Still, she came home pooped on Tuesday. May have to rethink that bedtime.
  Yesterday was second hand doll washing day.

Dogs, and Babies, and Bears,oh my....

    Some will stay and some will go, but they will all be squeaky clean!
   All of these were yard sale finds this summer except for the Asian Bitty Baby,which came from a small Flea Market, and the 'grunt face baby' (an old phrase of my neice's.), which came from the 'Auction of the Century'.(I'm hoping it was anyway. I couldn't take another one like it. We spent a monstrous amount,and took home so many dolls I could hardly fit them in the van, even living up to my self proclaimed title "The Master Spacemaker". I was literally dreaming about sorting Italian dolls after a a while. Luckily we made our money back and I got to keep loads of dolls I had been wanting for ages, as well as some I never knew I wanted before I saw them. I donated loads too, but I'm still trying to get rid of the rest!)
  All the Bitty's are Pleasant Company, and the Asian baby is an Our New Baby.Two of them came in tagged diapers.

 These guys are going to go. Eventually I might have a 'Dolls for sale' page for you to click on, but for now they will probably just end up on Ebay at some point.

Rub-a Dub-Dub...

   I know it says American Girls and Bitty Baby's are surface washable only, but don't you believe it! If I'm keeping  a doll I'm only going to display in the case, or that I intend to sell  more as a collectable for adults, I don't wash it unless it's a hopeless case otherwise, as it can ruin the doll (and the value). But if I'm selling a doll that is most likely to be bought for children to play with, I like to wash it. I know I would wash it if it were for MY children, so I like the buyer to know that it's sanitary for their kids to play with. Let's face it, kids put things in their mouths. They handle things, and then put their hands in their mouths. There's no way around it. Germs are going to end up in their mouths. Kids take dolls into their beds. It's just a good idea for second hand dolls and toys to be cleaned. I'm more comfortable selling them that way, and I think people are more comfortable buying them that way. These guys were washed in hot water, scrubbed and/or soaked where necessary, (I use a baby toothbrush and extra soap if there is soiling,and sometimes baking soda for vinyl dirt or marks and stain remover on the cloth body.),  thoroughly rinsed, run  through the drain and spin cycle in the washing machine, and put out in the hot sun to dry.

Look Ma, no hands...

 Tips: don't machine wash the dolls! A cycle through the washing machine will scuff the paint and possibly ding the vinyl. (Yes, past experiences...). Use the spin cycle to remove the excess water. Be careful your spin cycle doesn't use the agitator! (Some of them are 'rinse and spin' and they agitate on the rinse cycle.) When spinning, place the dolls carefully around the agitator FACING INWARDS. This will insure that the dolls faces aren't dinged against the wash tub in spinning. When in real doubt also put them in a pillow case(individually) to prevent scuffing. Tie a knot in it.When drying remember to turn the dolls occasionally. Dolls like Bitty Baby and American Girl, and others with cloth bodies and vinyl limbs hold water in their limbs. You can think they are dry, and then when you pick them up water runs out of the limbs, re-wetting them.

Three on a teeter. After hanging upside down all afternoon, these guys sit up to drain the other way for a while. Middle Baby developed an embarrassing wet spot when turned upright, which is hidden by the head of the Baby in front.

  I condition the hair on dolls that actually have hair. (nothing personal Bittys.) I have heard you're supposed to use fabric softener on doll hair, but I don't even use it on my laundry. (It's not really neccesary. And it's just more chemical junk in our water. Besides, I hate scents.) I use cheap conditioner, like White Rain or Suave. If the hair is really dry I sometimes resort to my own dry hair conditioner,(which I have to use now that I'm old!),Fructis. I've had pretty good luck with it. I've managed to rescue some American Girls, and even those vintage Skipper dolls with the dry frizzy bangs that are so balled up they look like they've been cut. (You have to HEAVILY condition those, leave them to soak in it, and comb them out with the conditioner still in the hair, and then rinse. I have often used a pin to pick out the mattedness in really bad Skipper bangs. It's almost the only thing that works. When they are really badly matted you can't really comb them until you have picked the matting out first.The brunette Sample Skipper in the Deluxe Reading Dream Kitchen post is one example. Her bangs weren't absolutely terrible, but they well were on their way there.)  
  Well, until next time, when ever that may be.