Doll-A-Day 2019 #103: Woody

  Today's doll is one we saw a lot of around our house over the years. He's Woody.

Woody is, of course, based on the character 'Woody' from the Toy Story movies.

There have been boatloads of Woody dolls sold over the years. It gets hard to tell which one is which. This one seems to be the second edition of the first Woody doll,made by Thinkway in 1995. The first Woody looked like this one, but has wires in his arms for posing. The second edition had no wires,as it had been decided they were a safety hazard.

Just like in the movies,the Woody doll has a holster,but no gun. And the bottom of his right boot says 'Andy'.

 Like the very first Woody doll, this one is a battery operated pullstring doll.   

Another safety measure was that the pull ring was made bigger to make it less of a choking hazard.

That is, his talking mechanism is pullstring operated, but battery powered. This may have been necessitated by the safety move of shortening the pullstring. It was decided kids could strangle themselves with pullstrings the way they were when I was a kid.Those strings pulled out to somewhere around 18 inches long. The motion set about by the string rewinding activated the spinning of the record with the voice on it,which was played by an actual needle, just like a record player. I suppose with the string being shorter the recoil time wasn't long enough for the job. This is just a theory. Dolls like Woody have batteries to power them,(Woody's battery pack is in his bottom, thus the Velcro closure.),but the voice is activated by the pullstring,which only pulls out about 6 inches. The voice is electronic,and not on a record.
   This Woody doll says several phrases from the movie,including,"There's snake in my boot!","Howdy partner.""You're my favourite deputy.","Yee haw cowboy!",and "My name's Woody." It sounds like Tom Hanks,and I'm not sure this doll wasn't actually voiced by Tom Hanks. It is true though that,at least later dolls,were voiced by Jim Hanks,Tom's brother. 
  Woody measures about 17 inches tall.

 

He has a molded curl in the front of his hair, just like the animated Woody.

Woody has to have his hat. It's removable,which made it easy to lose. That's why it's hard to find a Woody doll who still has his hat.

  
  The first Toy Story movie came out in 1995, the same year as my son Fuzzy. Fuzz was born in April,and Toy Story was 'born' in November. We used to buy the kids the latest Disney movies when they came out on home video.(In those days it was video.) So Fuzz was aware of Toy Story pretty much his whole life. He loved it when he was little. He had a Toy Story birthday for his second birthday. He had Toy Story bedding,and Woody and Buzz,and little figures of the other characters. I got him a big cardboard Woody and Buzz 'falling with style', from a video display and hung it on his ceiling. (It was pretty cool.Buzz's helmet had a clear plastic bubble,so it was 3 dimensional.) He was Woody for Halloween one year. He LOVED Toy Story. When Fuzz fell on the playground equipment steps when he was tiny and split his chin open,I had to take him to the emergency room for stitches. Fuzz was stretched out on the exam table when the doctor called to the nurse to come in and 'strap him down'. Excuse me? You aren't going to scare my kid to death by 'strapping him down'! You know how that would have made a tiny kid panic. Fuzz was probably about 3 years old. If they had come in and strapped him to the table he would have freaked and the whole thing would have been worse for him. I said,"You don't need to strap him down. He'll be still." So I discussed with him what they were going to do, and how it was very important that he be very still. While the doctor sewed his chin I talked to him to take his mind off of it. "Think about something else. Think about Toy Story. Remember that time when Buzz and Woody..."  He was really good and never moved. 'Think about Toy Story' became a family catch phrase. (Just a note: Fuzz busted his chin open,or at least hit it on something, in the same place, several more times over the years. I began to call it his Achilles Chin.)
  That's it for today. See you again tomorrow.

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 #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.

Doll-A-Day 191: Singing Chatty Cathy and A Good Deed Finally Goes Unpunished

  I said I had a story to tell, and here it is. You know the phrase, "No good deed goes unpunished"? I've most often found this to be true. You try to be a good person and do the right thing, treat other people well and be fair and honest. And usually you'll get done over at every turn. It's hard to be a good person and do what's right. It's not always the easiest path. Sometimes you feel like it doesn't matter, because you always seem to end up with the dirty end of the stick in life. Well, for once, being the good person 'paid off'---literally.
  A couple of weeks ago I had taken Fuzzy to work, filled the radiator with water (again...)and started home. It was about 10:00 at night,and pitch dark, of course. As I was coming down the Boulevard, which Emma used to refer to as "Rich Town" when she was little,(It's a street where a  lot of the rich people live.), I saw a young woman at the edge of the street with her hand up, as if to stop traffic. She was dressed in a white blouse, black bow tie, black pants,and black apron. This struck me, since it was so familiar: Ken has been a waiter for years, (He's been offered manager positions, but can't afford to take the pay cut! Weird, huh?),and his work uniform has looked a lot like that at times. Also, we have the world's worst luck with vehicles, so there have been plenty of times when Ken has had to walk to work or back home. There have sometimes been kind people who have offered him rides. Ken always makes a point of stopping when he sees someone stranded, since he knows how it feels, and would appreciate the help if he needed it. So I pulled over. The young lady was behind me then, so I opened my door and looked back. She was walking toward me and told me to wait, she was coming to me. I asked her if she needed some help. She got to me and said, "I don't know what told me to stop, but something told me to stop. You were the only one who stopped to see if I needed help, so this is yours." And she put money in my hand! I was sort of stunned and didn't know what to say. It didn't seem right to accept money for doing nothing. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" I asked. "No, I'm fine.You have a good day." I told her that when I had seen her there, she reminded me of my husband, who is a waiter, and we've needed help lots of times. She said yes, she is a server. I asked where she worked, but she just said, "That doesn't matter now. You were the only one who stopped to help me,so you take this and you have a good day." I was still stunned and confused and didn't feel right taking the money, but I asked again if she was sure she didn't need anything. She assured me her car was running fine and she walked away.
  I couldn't believe somebody just gave me money for nothing. It turned out to be $20. I have been sitting on it, wondering if I should indulge myself somehow, or use it toward having Dad's Veteran's plaque installed. (We're still about $50 short for that. I'm trying to sell my dolls on Etsy to pay for it,because I wanted it to be money I earned, not out of Ken's pocket. He has enough right now anyway,trying to get together that radiator repair money.) So that's the story.Being a good person finally paid out in cash. I suppose I should donate it or something, since I didn't really earn it.
  And now to today's doll. Recently I showed you a bunch of vintage dolls I got at Salvation Army. They have had so many. There were a lot I didn't buy because they were a bit expensive. The other day, since I was out that way, having taken Ken to work,I stopped to check there again. It was a good thing I did, because they had marked some of the very expensive ones waaaay down, plus there was also this one that hadn't been there before. She's Singing Chatty Cathy.

This is what she looked like when I got her. Her hair's a bit of a mess and she has crud in one eye, but yes, she was $1.99

She was made by Mattel in 1965, as part of the tremendously popular 'Chatty' family of dolls..

Here she is after her brief, initial clean up and hair combing.

I've done a post about Singing Chatty before, so I won't go into too much detail.

She's 17" tall and is supposed to sing nursery rhymes, but this one's string is missing, probably zipped back inside her.
Singing Chatty came in blonde or brunette. The other Singing Chatty I posted about before was a brunette.

Her blonde hair is made up of several shades of blonde.

 Her face is still rosy and her eyes are clear, unlike the other two I have. (One of which I'm not keeping.)

She even still has her freckles, which show up better in person, and all her eyelashes.

Her left eye is sticking a little in a lot of these pictures because I had just cleaned it.It's ok though.

She has a sweet look about her...

...and unlike the brunette...

...this blonde one doesn't even look like Bobby Goldsboro...

"Me and Tam are hearin' Chatty sing..."

 ...or 'Ralph' from "Green Acres".

"That's not funny."

(Funny story here: When you Google "Ralph Green Acres' you get pictures of not only the lady above who played "Ralph", actress Mary Grace Canfield,but also this guy:

Ralph Wayne Smart, who "attended school at Green Acres". The weird thing is, he looks like "Green Acres" Ralph! )

Ok. Now that's funny.

Singing Chatty does, however, look a lot like Mattel's Dee Dee doll.

Is this the same face or what?! The main difference is Dee Dee has painted eyes instead of inset.

My new girl has her original shoes, and everybody knows those are the hardest parts of an outfit to find. (That's why my dolls are often short on shoes.)

But are these her original socks? I don't think so.

She has a slight scuff to her cheek paint on the left side of her face, but it's not bad, and not very noticeable.

Now I just have to find her a dress, and replace her red hair ribbon.

This Amazing Ally shirt is distracting to say the least, and this Build-A-Bear jumper keeps jumping off.

Tomorrow I'll show you another Salvation Army kid.