Doll-A-Day 2019 #86: When I Read I Dream Jo

  Today we're talking about Women's History Month again, with a doll based on a famous female character,from a book by a famous female author. She's Jo,from "Little Women".

This Jo is from the When I Read I Dream series of dolls.

You may have previously seen the When I Read I Dream Anne of Green Gables doll HERE,and of course, Tammy World is When I Read I Dream Fern from the series. You can see Tammy in her original clothes HERE.
  I only just noticed when doing these pictures, that Jo's clothes are tagged 'Barbie Collectibles".

  Jo is the main character in "Little Women", by Louisa May Alcott.

   The doll is a bit inaccurate, since the character of Jo is 15 years old at the beginning of the first book,and this doll looks way younger than that. She also looks a bit girly compared to the idea of the tomboyish Jo in the books. The book also describes Jo as 'very tall,thin, and brown, and reminded one of a colt,for she never knew what to do with her long limbs'. This doll that isn't!

 "Little Women",with it's strong,working female character who,at first,spurns marriage, was unusual for it's time. It was first published in 1868,a time when women were expected to marry and become mothers,and little else. The book is loosely based on Alcott's own life, (and surprisingly, it is thought to be  heavily based on the early life of Alcott's mother.),and the character 'Jo' was Alcott's version of herself. Louisa May Alcott actually answered letters written to 'Miss March', or 'Jo'.

  In "Little Women" Jo wants to be a writer. Alcott earned money writing short stories, and was asked by a publisher to write a 'book about girls'. Alcott resisted at first, believing she couldn't successfully write about girls, and stated she didn't enjoy writing "Little Women". The book was a great success though. Originally the book only contained part of the story, and curious readers demanded to know what happened to the characters. Alcott wrote a sequel in 1869,and then two more,"Little Men" and "Jo's Boys". Today the first two books are published together as one volume, entitled "Little Women",only separated by being 'part 1',and 'part 2' of the same book.

  Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832,in what is now part of Philadelphia. After moving to Boston in 1834, Louisa's father established an experimental school and became a member of the Transcendental Club, along with Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Thus, Alcott's education included being taught by Thoreau, Emerson,Nathaniel Hawthorne,(author of "The House of Seven Gables",and "The Scarlet Letter".),Margaret Fuller, (the first American female full time book reviewer in journalism,and the author of "Women in the Nineteenth Century",considered to be the first major American feminist work.), and Julia Ward Howe, (author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", and an abolitionist and social activist,particularly for women's suffrage.)  These teachers, and the poverty that forced Louisa May Alcott to work as a young woman,were a huge influence on her views towards women's rights and marriage.Unlike the character of Jo, Louisa never married.
  The doll has a one piece dress/apron,with a real pocket and removable lace trimmed handkerchief.

There is one stitch holding the hanky in the pocket.

The sash on her dress doesn't really tie around her. The bow is all on one side. The dress snaps in the back.

 

At least Jo's dress goes on and off easily. Anne of Green Gables' dress was almost impossible to remove. It seems practically sewn on.
She also has white tights and black Mary Jane shoes.

  Her hair has little braids around her head, and...what would you call them? Hair blobs?...at the sides and back.

  Jo's hair can actually be taken down and combed out,and she looks quite contemporary.

Like this Jo doll who doubles as Tammy World's sister Jo, when Jo wants to 'let her hair down', as she did in the photostory 'The World Kids Go Sledding', which you can see HERE.

   Once again, the When I Read I Dream dolls use a head sculpt unique to the series, and the 8 inch Barbie sister Stacie body,(which was previously  used on the Lady Lovelylocks dolls.)

  That's it for today's doll. See you again tomorrow.

Doll-A-Day 2019 #85: Ivy's Collection: Homemade Nesting Dolls

  Today's doll is this nesting doll from Ivy's collection.

There is one more that isn't in the picture!

  You may have seen the other set of nesting dolls that I painted as our family for Ivy. If not, you can see those HERE.
  The largest doll is 2 and 1/4 inches tall.

The smallest is so small we call it 'the crumb'.

I was so scared of losing it that I didn't even photograph it in the photo of all of the nests. I only did it with the one it's inside of, for comparison.

In the end I had Ivy hold it for me, because she swears it has a face, but it's so small I couldn't see where it is!

I made these for Ivy one Christmas.
 

This one is my favourite. I think she has sort of a 1930's look.

Ivy insists that nesting dolls are no good unless they have a lot of nests. So I bought a blank set with LOTS of nests!

This one is Ivy's favourite.

They were hard to paint. Where do you hold them while you paint? I ended up wedging the halves of the bigger ones on top of a shampoo bottle!

And of course, the smaller they got, the harder they were to hold.

I have no idea how I painted the tiniest ones.

I would like to think I could do a better job on these if I did it now, but...

  That's the doll for today. See you again tomorrow for another doll.

Doll-A-Day 2019 #84: Connie's Collection: British Airways Air Stewardess

  Today we're taking a look at another doll I bought at my friend Connie's daughter's yard sale. (You can read about my friend Connie HERE.) 

  Ken collects advertising things, which includes a few dolls and a load of stuffed toys.You may have seen my post on our KLM Airlines doll HERE.  When I spotted this girl in the Connie sale,I thought of Ken.

I could tell she was an airline doll,but I didn't know which airline.

When I researched I found out that she's a British Airways 'Air Stewardess' doll.(That's what they were called back when this doll came out.)

That makes her even better for Ken's collection, since he's a Brit away from home. That's what gave me the idea to use Ken's hometown,Hull, as her background.

This is the Humber Dock Basin,in Hull.

She was made by Rexard.

Queen Victoria Square,with the Hull City Hall and Maritime Museum.

She originally came in a box. The airlines used to sell dolls wearing their uniforms to the people flying their airline. I wish they still did that. It would be a nice souvenir of a trip.

The bottom of the Queen Victoria statue in Queen Victoria Square.

    Her outfit consists of a jacket,blouse,skirt,and a purse.

Hull Marina.

Queen's Gardens,Hull.

She should also have had a hat with a badge on the front.This one is missing hers.

Her clothes are all removable, except her tights and shoes,which are painted on.

I'm not sure what year she was made. I think it was about 1980, but look at that eye makeup.

I'm not sure that looks like 1980.
 

And there's Queen Victoria.

Her haircut looks more 70's. (She has short hair, but believe me,it has a mind of it's own.)

She's a small doll,even smaller than thew 9 inch KLM Airlines doll, standing only 7 1/2" tall.

That's it for today. Let's look at Hull again before we go. 

   Tomorrow we'll see another doll.