My Cool Antique Store Find!

   Before I start, does everybody know that Sideshow is now selling the new Tonner dolls? Here's a link to the new dolls: Sideshow Tonner dolls.

  Ken and I were on 'Fun Day' a few weeks ago. We went to some antique malls that were all clumped together, and at one I found this guy in one of the glass cases.

He's The Little Prince or Little Fairy Prince, by Helen Kish.

When I saw him in the case I knew instantly he was a Kish doll. They have very recognizable faces.

I have noticed that a lot of doll artists make dolls that look a lot like the artist themselves. Helen Kish is one of those artists. Her dolls all have her mouth.

I knew when I saw him that he was a Kish doll, but it took me some searching to figure out who he was specifically.

From what I have been able to find out, he was made as the companion for Thumbelina, as part of the centerpiece for the 2006 UFDC convention. 

He's about 6 inches tall.

He's very jointed. 

Besides the usual joints at the neck, shoulders, and hips, he also has jointed elbows and knees.

His knees don't stay bent very well though.

His feet are molded with shoes on, and painted.

His hair didn't want to stay out of his face. I kept pushing it back and it kept springing back into a crazy mop.

The hat is attached to his head.

He's so tiny that he could very easily have gotten lost in our flowering fallen tree.

This was weeks ago, as I said. The flowers are long gone. We have cut all the big limbs off, but got stalled when the chainsaw locked up. There are some very small branches left, and they are still growling leaves. The tree fell back at the end of winter and it's not dead yet!

I couldn't see his tag when he was in the display case, so I had to get someone to come open the case for me. When I saw his price I said a very quick yes, I'll take him. He was $5! 

He's my second Kish doll, and my first really nice one. (My other is a naked American Girl 'Girls of Many Lands' France doll.)

  The picture above shows the trunk of the tree where it broke. It looks pretty dead, but the tree is going strong. too bad it has to be cut, but a little bit is still laying on our patio table!

  Reviews coming soon. So many things to show you. If I had been feeling better lately you would have seen them by now. Hang in there.

  

  

  

The Doll Book of the Month Club: My Dollies ABC

   This month's Doll Book of the Month Club entry is an oldie. It's "My Dollies ABC".

  This book is pretty old. I can't find a date on it any where, and I can't find the book on line. 

It's obviously an old original though, and not a reprint. It's made of linen, with a paper cover. Ken's stepmother once gave toddler Emma an old linen book she had, and Emma chewed on it and the blue cover made lovely creamy blue spit!

  It's an ABC, or alphabet book, so there's no story, just rhymes, and pictures showing something that starts with the letter. As you may have guessed from the title, dolls figure into things. 

Like this peg doll.

  

Because of the era of this book, the illustrations are pretty, but some of the words(and depictions) are a bit racist. (Can you really be a 'bit' racist? It's like being a 'little pregnant'. You either are or you aren't.) 

This one is actually complimentary. There's a worse one though. It's not awful, but a bit cringey.

I like these old children's books for the illustrations, and this one is pretty   

  That's it for this month's book. Coming up, an antique store find, a couple of reviews, and who knows what else! And next month's book will be a review too! Stick around!    

Congratulations Ivy! And a Sekiguchi La Cheri Doll from the Doll Show!

   I am exhausted. It has been a busy couple of weeks. Between trying to get the yard back in order, (The grass had gotten quite tall because of all the rain, and me feeling too crappy to mow for a while.), gradually getting rid of our fallen tree, trying to clean up our yard after Winter and a windy Spring, (Being on a corner, every piece of trash in the neighbourhood blows into our yard.), lots of driving, including going to Ivy's college graduation this past weekend, (With traffic slow downs it was about  5 hour drive there.), loading our car, and Ivy's, like a game of Tetris, to bring home what she wasn't going to need and  send what she was going to need with her to her new job, driving back home, unloading the car and taking Ivy's stuff upstairs to her room, (Ken did most of the hauling it upstairs.), and then driving 1 1/2 hours to her new town yesterday to take her some things she forgot, like her Social Security card, which she needed for her new job, I am wiped out! I'm so tired! My feet and legs are killing me, and the muscle in the back of my right calf hurts so much! I have fallen behind with some other things I need to do. Raging Moon and Michelle are still waiting for their dolls, but it will be worth it ladies. I have reviews to do, and a book post to get ready. I have dolls photographed that I want to share with you. Emma's birthday is coming up very soon, and all her gifts need wrapped. But, Ivy now holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees: Film History, and Theatre. 

Family friend Erin, me, Ivy, Ken, oldest daughter Emma and boyfriend AJ. 

She already has a job at Cedar Point until at least August, and maybe further, taking care of the costumes for the nightly parade, and helping with changes. She might continue there, or she might go back to her college for what's called a 5th year internship. Eventually she wants to go to grad school for costume design. I'm so glad she has a job she loves doing. You can make loads of money, but if you hate what you're doing, it's not worth it.  When she was a little kid I predicted that she would become an interior designer, because she was always drawing designs for cool rooms or furniture, or a clothes designer, because she was always designing 'pretty dresses'. I almost got it right.

  Now, what you're really here for, dolls. I got this doll at the recent doll show. 

This is her original outfit. The pinafore and dress are separate pieces, and she is also wearing a slip and bloomers, and white stockings, a straw hat, and blue Mary Jane shoes.

  

I'm still not sure exactly why. 

She was a really good price, and she had such a nice feel to her. I could imagine being a kid and hugging her.  She has a stuffed cloth body, firm, but soft and very huggable.

She has a vinyl head and hands.

She has hardly been handled. Her hair is still in it's original sausage curls and hair ribbons.

She's about 18 inches tall. She posed in our fallen tree, which was then in full bloom. I delayed cutting it up for disposal while it was blooming, because various types of bees were enjoying it so much. The bumble bees were, in fact, quite possessive of it! I enjoyed the blooms too. I cut a couple of bunches of blooms for my bedroom vase. They didn't really have a smell, but they are beautiful to look at. Luckily we still have another tree like this, and several young ones I can replant in better spots. I'm not sure what kind of tree it it. It looks a bit like a dogwood, or a flowering crabapple, but there's no fruit. 

She has a sweet, calm face, with the hint of a smile.

She has her original tag. She's a La Cheri doll, made in 1982, by Sekiguchi, (who also make Monchhichi.) and distributed by Mattel.

She's numbered.

Her shoes are just about the only thing on her that show age. These faux leather things usually do though.

Sekiguchi dolls are made in Japan. Taht accounts for the vague anime' look to her face.

She has inset brown eyes.

  I was thinking I was going to have to mow the grass again this evening, to keep up, but it has rained on and off since last night. I'll have to pass. I am grateful now, but I'll pay the price when I do get to mow, because it will be even harder. (Remember, I use a non-motorized mower.)

  See you soon with another recent find!

What I Got at the Doll Show: My New Old Betsy McCall!

   You may have read my post on the recent doll show. (And if not, why not?!) I mentioned that I finally got a Betsy McCall with reddish hair. Well she had her photo shoot yesterday, so she's ready to be introduced.

  This Betsy is the 8 inch American Character doll, 'Tiny Betsy McCall. She's the most common to find, and the most preferred by collectors.

  When I bought her she was completely naked. Luckily I have been saving some clothes I thought might be Betsy McCall clothes. Turns out this dress is an actual Betsy dress. I'm more familiar with the red plaid version, but apparently the dress was made in various fabrics.

 

 I don't know about the hat, so if there are any Betsy experts out there who know for sure, let me know. It might be a Ginny hat.

  Betsy McCall began life in 1951, as a paper doll included in issues of McCalls magazine. 

 You can download Betsy McCall paper dolls for free HERE.

 

She has jointed knees.

But I have three Betsys now, and none of them can really sit down. Is that a thing? Or is it just my girls?

  She was included in the magazine for the next 44 years, until the magazine ceased publication in 1995.

She has greyish blue eyes.

The first three dimensional Betsy McCall doll was made in 1952. 

They're sleep eyes.

It was a 14 inch doll, made by Ideal.

Her lashes are hard plastic, with molded detail.

  The next Betsy doll made was today's girl. These 8 inch dolls were made by American Character, starting in 1957 or '58.

She also has painted lower lashes.

  American Character also produced 14 inch, 20 inch, 22 inch, and 29, and 36 inch versions of Betsy, some with flirty eyes. There were even cousins for Betsy. Linda, and a boy cousin, Linda's twin, named Sandy, were produced in 1959, as 36 inch Play Pal type dolls. Sandy is SO cute! I want one!

Her little face is blushy.

  Uneeda produced an 11 1/2 inch Betsy McCall in 1964. You may have seen mine HERE.

And she has the sweetest shy smile.

  In the mid 70's Horsman produced a couple of sizes of Betsy dolls.

Her hair is rooted to a skull cap, which is glued to her head.

The dealer said that, in her opinion, this doll is a golden blonde, but her hair does have quite a red tone to it.

Especially in the sunshine. What colour would you call it?

  In the 80's Rothschild made 8 and 12 inch 35th anniversary Betsy doll that looked similar to a vintage Ginny. Tomi and Larami also made Betsy dolls. Tonner brought Betsy back in the early 2000's, in a new version of the 8 inch American Character doll, that looked very much like the original, and a 14 inch doll that greatly resembled the 36 inch Sandy, with it's slightly alien eyes and watermelon smile. 

They also made a 14 inch Sandy doll, and a 29 inch Betsy as Alice doll. Good thing I didn't know about that at the time. At least she's so expensive now I don't even think about her. There was a 29 inch Little Orphan Annie produced using the Betsy sculpt for the 2004 Tonner convention. I don't like that one. In 2008 Tonner and Effanbee produced the Ultimate Tiny Betsy doll. She was an 8 inch Betsy that also had jointed elbows and wrists!

  You can see my other two Betsys HERE, and HERE. Now, just for the fun of it, and because she's so cute, I will leave you with more pictures of Betsy. See you soon!