Doll-A-Day 2019 #26: Betsey Clark Babies

  Today's doll is this tiny guy.

He's a Betsey Clark baby.

He was made by Knickerbocker in 1976.

He's just under 2 inches tall if he stands on his toes,and even smaller sitting down.(And since he's made in a sitting position,he will be.)

The baby looked like this in package.

   Betsey Clark was an artist whose drawings of messy haired children in patched clothes got her thrown out of several art schools,but were licensed by Hallmark in 1962. Her art is sometimes confused with Precious Moments. I like Betsey Clark much better though.
 

Betsey's theory on her less than perfectly groomed children was, “Children don’t sit around all the time with every hair in place and big grins on their faces…They wear clothes with patches, they play, they get a little dirty.”

  Her art was very popular in the 1970's,appearing on Christmas ornaments,wrapping paper, books, plaques, puzzles, and any number of items. I still have a Hallmark datebook from when I was a kid in the early 70's,which I saved for the Betsey Clark cover. There were also several Betsey Clark dolls made. In addition to the 6" dolls that this baby came with,there were plush dolls with vinyl head and hands,all vinyl baby dolls,rag dolls,and small, cloth 'Little Bobby and 'Little Betsey' Hallmark dolls with bead eyes and thread hair. I have a pair of those I bought as a kid,which I'll pull out some day. There was even doll furniture and a dollhouse.
  I also have these other tiny babies,which seem to be made from the same body mold as today's guy.

The faces are different though,even from each other.
 

The bodies are so much alike, and yet there is a slight size difference in the arms. The one doll has noticeably smaller arms.

The ears are all different. 

 

The hair pattern is different too.

I'm not sure if they are other Betsey Clark babies, or babies from another line. I used to think they were Holly Hobbie babies,but as far as I can tell, the Holly Hobbie babies had straight,gingerbread man legs and less realistic bodies than these babies. Anybody know anything about them?
  See you tomorrow for another doll.

Doll-A-Day 2019 #25: Union Square Girl

  Today's doll is this girl.

  She's the Union Square doll from Effanbee's 'Little Old New York' Collection,made in 1986. Two other dolls in the collection were made in matching outfits to Union Square.There was another child doll,a boy,her size,called 'Herald Square', as well as a 17" lady doll,'Duffy Square'. The Collection also included dolls in sailor outfits,and ladies in elaborate dresses.

She is marked Effanbee on the back of her neck. She's also marked 'Becky',but I'm assuming that is the name of the head sculpt. She has the same head sculpt as the Effanbee 'Becky Thatcher' doll.

  Originally she would have had a hat,and her hair would have been more curly. She has a great coat. I love coats. When I was young and thin and working, I had loads of coats.

Under the coat she has a one piece dress with pleated skirt,and black tights. My doll is missing her black shoes.

As she is now,she kind of has a 'shag' haircut,which doesn't seem appropriate for the era of her clothes.

She's 11" tall.

        She looks good in our snow. When I took these pictures it was melting,and after I took them we had rain. But later in began to snow again. I just hope the weather is good Sunday,for Ivy's trip back to college.

I like her face. She looks very serene.

  That's the doll for today. Tomorrow we'll look at another doll.

Doll-A-Day 2019 #24: Disco Wanda (formerly Mystery Lady)

    Well, Lori's ablation was postponed due to another emergency the doctor had. So hang onto those prayers, good wishes, happy thoughts, and positive vines for a later date.
   Today's pictures were taken yesterday while the temperature was a much-warmer-than-it-has-been-lately 44 degrees Fahrenheit, and the snow was melting and dripping everywhere. There were splashes coming off everything,and some fine rain spitting,so the doll kept getting water specks on her face. Several times my camera lens fogged up. (It actually made for some nice pictures.) I swear there were still a few snow flakes settling too. There's no way it could be melting and snowing at the same time,but this is Ohio, The weather has a mind of it's own.
  Update to this post: A kind reader has informed me that this lady is Disco Wanda, made by Shindana in 1978. Debbie at Black Doll Collecting has done a good post on the Disco Wanda dolls,with  pictures of different Disco Wanda,(and Disco Juanita) dolls, and even an ad or two. you can see that post HERE.

She's obviously meant to be a Barbie competitor,but who is she?

She's the same size as Barbie,with similar hands and high heel feet.

She also has click bend type legs, minus the sound,and with only one bend.
 She has an interesting face,with a big, open mouthed smile.

She can look a little over enthusiastic from some angles, but I like her. She looks happy and friendly.

Her head is on a ball joint, so she can tilt her head.

Water specks everywhere!

Her hair is quite long.

I'm sure it had better curl when she was new.

Her twist waist allows her to turn.

Her body is shattered where the waist joins,so she's having trouble keeping things together.

She's wearing a Mommy made winter coat with a sheepskin collar,(ew!).

She's marked only 'Hong Kong' on her upper back. I got her in a load of auction stuff a while back. When I got her she was wearing a homemade dress,so that didn't help with identification either.

Thanks to Andrea Wilson for the information on Wanda!
  See you tomorrow for another doll.

Doll-A-Day 2019 #23: 'Sample Skipper'

    First of all,my best friend,Lori,whose childhood Christmas photos you may have enjoyed recently,is having an ablation on her heart today. Any prayers, good wishes, positive vibes or whatever you believe in,sent her way would be greatly appreciated.
  Now,on to today's doll. It's this girl.

She's Barbie's sister Skipper.

Skipper was introduced in 1964. She was Barbie's first family member. She was joined in 1964 by Allan, and preceded by Ken,in 1961,and Midge, in 1963.

She's a special Skipper though. She's what is known as a 'Sample Skipper' or 'Test Market Skipper'.

The term 'Test Market' is more accurate,because these dolls were not actually 'samples'. They are the first Skipper dolls on the market.

They were made in much smaller numbers than Skippers that followed,and have certain differences than the regular Skippers.

The differences include bigger feet...

 

You may have seen this comparison in a previous post,but the 'sample' is on the left, regular Skipper on the right.

..legs that are made of resin instead of plastic,(although I can't tell the difference myself.)...

...a much broader stance than later Skippers...

...and  'Japan' written on the foot toe to heel instead of across the arch.

Other differences include double rows of bangs.

And a lot of the Sample Skippers have what I describe as a 'powdery' complexion. They're very pretty.

You will have seen a couple of my other 'Sample Skippers' HERE,and HERE.
  This is actually her original bathing suit, not just one like it. When I got her she was in a Barbie case with this suit and her shoes and booklet,and some other stuff.

  I never had  a Skipper as a kid. Skipper was one of those dolls I was aware of, but 'other kids' had them. At some point as an adult who collected dolls,specificall some vintage Barbie and family,I decided I wanted 'a' Skipper. After getting one, I discovered how much I liked them, and the vintage Skipper fashions. That was many Skippers ago! Unfortunately I don't have today Skipper any longer. She was very similar to one I already have,(one of the dolls I posted on before which you can find in one of the links above.),and so she left me to help me get a little closer to the trip to England with Ken and Emma this summer.

 

It's nice to look back on the photos though,because she is a really beautiful  doll. Tomorrow we'll see another doll.