Vintage Madame Alexander CISSY Doll, or Why it Pays to Take Your 10 year old Shopping with You!

Pickings at our local Goodwills have been kind of slim lately.  The only dolls I've been able to find in vast abundance seem to be Cabbage Patch, Disney Princesses, and 18" dolls from Target and Walmart.  I hold my breath every week upon entering my favorite Goodwill, the one that has the best toy aisle and where I've found the best dolls.  I'm always hopeful that this will be the time I discover that awesome find!  But more often than not, I've been walking out of the store with one or two mediocre dolls, or maybe even nothing.  Until this week!

Right now, this is my favorite child.  Haha!  Just kidding.  But that's what I told her when she returned to me in the Goodwill toy aisle after walking around the store with her brother to look at other things.  They get kind of bored, waiting for me to paw through ALL of the toy shelves, just in case something might be hiding.  I had discovered one Journey Girl and two, vintage, Madame Alexander babies, but that was it.  And then here comes my daughter, holding out a large doll in my direction.  "Here, Mom," she says.  "Do you want this?  It was in one of the carts they just rolled out to put away on the shelves."

This is what she handed me:

I might have squealed, just a little.  It's a Madame Alexander CISSY, people!  A vintage one, from the 50's, in her original, tagged dress!  She even has her matching headpiece, underwear, and stockings!  No shoes, but I'm not quibbling about that!

I've never held one in person before.  I'm sure they've been at doll shows, but since this isn't really the type of doll I collect, I've probably walked right by.  But I've read articles about her lately, and seen the huge following she seems to have.  So as soon as I saw her, I knew what she was!

She is missing some eyelashes from her right eye, and her right arm is dirty and discolored.  Her dress is also pretty filthy.  But besides that, she is in wonderful condition.  Her hair is very pretty and in it's original set.

She still has the ring on her finger!

Poor, discolored arm.  I will try to clean it and see what I can do about lightening it.  Somebody said that this is a result of being exposed to harsh lighting.  I will try coating it with 10% benzoyl peroxide zit cream and see what happens.  It usually takes out ink stains from vinyl dolls very well, so maybe it'll work for this, too.

Tag at back neckline

Back view of her gorgeous gown

I think the original color was an aqua blue, but it has faded and become quite dingy with grime.

Her underwear elastic has stretched out

Here you can really see her discolored arm compared to the rest of her body

Still, I think she's in really good shape, considering her age!  She has extra joints at the elbows and knees.  I think she's some sort of "walker", because when you move one leg, the other one moves in the opposite direction.

I asked questions about her on a Cissy Facebook group (there's a group for just about everyone and everything on Facebook!).  I was told that she is a "1956 Fashion Parade", #2030, wearing a bridesmaid gown of pleated tulle and netting.  

I have so much to learn about these dolls!  At first, I was thinking about selling her, but now I'm not so sure.  She's growing on me!  And her clothing...oh my!  She had quite the wardrobe!  I've seen patterns for her, and I think it'd be so fun to make her 50's style clothing...one of my favorite eras.

The best thing about this find...just look at the price tag:

Yes, $5.00!

I find it hysterical that Goodwill prices their "Collector Porcelain Dolls" usually twice as expensive, and yet they are barely worth anything.  In fact, I usually just buy them for parts (wig, shoes, eyes, etc) when they are half off.  But this doll, worth so much more on the secondary market among collectors, was only deemed worthy of a $5 price tag.  Don't worry, Cissy, I will make you beautiful again!  

The moral of this story:  never underestimate the power of your 10 year old to seek out and recognize vintage dolls that may be of interest to you.  I have taught her well!

Some Dolly Rehab & Repair

I've been doing a bunch of repair and restoration lately.  It's been very gratifying to identify a problem and figure out how to fix it!  

These 24" Gotz dolls (signed and numbered by Marianne Gotz on their torsos) had both lost a leg.  I wish I had taken a "before" picture, but I forgot.  So you'll just have to take my word for it that one lost a left leg, and the other a right!  The elastic had simply worn out and the leg popped off.  Their other limbs were also a bit loose.  Their limbs are joined to their bodies just like American Girl dolls, with plastic cup joints and elastic secured with crimping sleeves.  One of the dolls was totally missing the cup joint inside her leg.  I have no idea where it went, or how it could have even come out of her leg in the first place, as you have to heat up the limbs and use pliers to pry it out!  But somehow, it was gone.  So now I had to figure out how to create a new cup joint.  I could have gone online and bought replacements, but they cost around $4 a piece, and I wanted it NOW.  So I took one of the legs and headed towards our friendly, neighborhood hardware store.

The awesome employee ran all over the store, trying to find something that was roughly the same diameter as the cup joint which had a hole in the middle that could be fit back into the leg.  He came up with this pack of screen door wheel thingies.   Once I got back home with them, it also occurred to me that maybe a large, wooden bead might work?  So I dragged out my box of wooden beads, wheels, and other such items which I've saved for future craft projects.  And guess what?  I discovered that the 1" diameter wooden wheels worked perfectly.

Here are the items I used to restring my doll's leg:  the wooden craft wheel (found at most craft stores), elastic stringing cord, and a crimper (also called a ferrule) from the hardware store.

Thread the crimper onto the elastic cord and use your pliers to squash it flat so it won't move.  Next, add the wheel.

I don't have a picture of this next step, but now you'll want to shove the wheel into your doll's joint.  I did this by heating up the leg opening slightly with a blow dryer until it was somewhat pliable.  Now I could shove the wheel (crimper end first) into the hole.  Make sure and hang onto the elastic so that the whole thing doesn't disappear into the leg!

Next, feed the elastic through the hole into the body.  I still had the cup joint for this end, so that's what I used.  But if you are totally missing it, use another wooden wheel!

After I finished repairing the broken leg, I went ahead and just replaced all of the other arms and legs with new elastic as well.  I figured that their elastic was probably on borrowed time, so I may as well fix it now rather than later, especially since I had gone to the trouble to remove all that stuffing.  And there was a lot!

After I got my pretty girls tightly strung and back in one piece, I noticed their facial coloring had faded over the years as well.  So out came my pastel chalk pencils and cotton balls.  Now they have sweet, rosy cheeks again!

These dolls do have their original outfits, but I plan on making them some new dresses soon, which is why they're standing here in their birthday suits.

And just a note:  The cup joints for these 24" dolls were the exact size as the cup joints in my 18" dolls, so this method works for both.

Another note:  It just occurred to me that I never showed a picture of the cup joints:

The white cup is what is in most dolls that use these joints.  The larger, flesh-toned one was an extra that was inside the legs of these two dolls.  I pulled them out and did not reuse them.  I just used the wooden wheels, and it worked great!

And a third note:  While I didn't end up using the screen door wheels for this project, I did use them to replace the cup joints on an 18" doll, and they worked just fine.

Next on my rehab list was this sweet, vintage, 20" Betsy Wetsy Doll I found at Goodwill for $4.  She was absolutely filthy.  And sticky.  And filthy.  Did I already mention that she was really dirty?!?

But I could definitely see her potential.

Here's a close up of her dirty little foot.  This is what her entire body looked like.

Marked IDEAL DOLL VW-4 on the back of her neck

I used baking soda and water to scrub off the filth.  Then I wiped her down with rubbing alcohol to remove any final residue.  Her hair was washed and conditioned.  She came out squeaky clean!  

I used a vintage pattern for dolls her size and made this darling little dress:

The back closes with snaps, covered with decorative buttons.

She even got a pair of matching bloomer panties!

By the time I was all done with her, I had kind of fallen in love and wanted to keep her!  But alas, I just don't have room for them all, and I bought her for the purpose of selling her, so that's what I did.  She was listed on Ebay and sold very quickly.  I hope her new owner loves her as much as I did!

Another recent find at Goodwill was this Wellie Wisher doll, Emerson:

I was digging through the over-packed stuffed animal shelf when I spied the pink wellies...

I pulled her out legs first from among the stuffed animals and this is what greeted me!  Poor little thing...her face was covered in some sort of make-up(?).  Her eyes are dull and cloudy.  And her black eyelashes and eyeliner had been removed.  Why?  Just...WHY?!?  I knew she needed my help, so for $3.99, into my cart she went.

She has an original, Wellie Wisher extra outfit, underwear, and her boots.  She's in good shape, except for her face.

In this photo, I have cleaned off the right side of her face.  I'm happy to report that it all came off very easily with a little baking soda and water.

Here's a comparison photo with her and my own Emerson.   You can clearly see she is missing all of her eye make up, and that her eyes are dull.  I'm assuming that whatever her previous owner used to strip off her makeup, also took the shine from her eyes.  I plan on replacing her eyes.  I am going to go to Goodwill later today and hopefully find an "eye donor" from among the many porcelain dolls.  I will also try redoing her eye make up with my black chalk pencil.  I recently ordered some Mr. Super Clear matte fixative spray from Amazon, and it is supposed to arrive tomorrow.  So as soon as that arrives, I will be able to seal my work.  

Stay tuned for the final results!

My First Old Dollhouse--a KEYSTONE!

I LOVE dollhouses.  My father made one for me when I was child, and then another one when I was teenager and had more specific tastes.  The second one was quite large--four floors with a total of 11 rooms (I think).  It was Victorian, with a mansard style roof that opened to reveal the attic.  I worked for hours on that dollhouse, decorating and making furniture.  Unfortunately, I lost it in a house fire we had several years ago.  I know there are pictures of it somewhere...I will try to find one and post it later.  All this to say, I have loved dollhouses and miniatures ever since I was a little girl.  I have a huge, Rubbermaid box full of furnishings I've collected for my "someday" dollhouse.   I have notebooks full of sketches for a house I'd like to build one day.  But a few days ago, as I was perusing an antique mall for the perfect Christmas gift for my secret pal from my doll club, this caught my eye:

It's a Keystone of Boston dollhouse from the 1940's!  My heart did a little pitter-pat as I got close enough to inspect it.  As you can see in the photo, a good chunk of the lithograph is missing from the front, right corner.  No problem, because I can easily replicate that with paints.  The chimney is missing.  Again, not really an issue since I'll just make another one.

 

One of the sides.  Both sides are identical, so I'm only showing you one.  This is Keystone's "Colonial" style house.

 

The graphics inside are nearly perfect!  It is missing a couple of stairs from the spiral staircase, and one metal shutter from the upper left room. 

 

Can you believe that I walked out of that antique mall without buying it?  And then I spent a very fretful night at home, tossing and turning and wondering if it might still be there the next day?  Why I didn't buy it right on the spot when I first found it is beyond me.  I guess I may have been worried about where to put it.  And since it's a slightly smaller scale than the standard 1:12 furniture I already own, what would I furnish it with?  It needs 1:16 scale furniture, or 3/4 scale to be exact.  But by the next morning, I knew I had to have it.  I drove back to the antique mall, worried that it would already be gone.  In fact, it had been moved and I couldn't find it right away!  I was so disappointed.  But then, with great relief, I finally spotted it.  It was MINE!

 

So now it's home, sitting on my bedroom floor, waiting for me to find it a better display area.  And guess what?  I already have some antique dollhouse dolls that are the perfect size for it, and some furniture for each room, courtesy of a good doll friend in my club who had extra and was willing to sell it to me!  The wooden furniture is by Strombecker, the perfect era to fit into this house.

 

I will be back soon with more pictures, I promise.  I can hardly wait to start furnishing this darling, 40's era style house!

 

 

 

Ethnic Dolls

Lately, I have been finding sweet, old, ethnic dolls at the thrift stores.  I never thought much about these dolls before, but suddenly I am looking at them with a new appreciation.  Some of them are handmade, and their costumes are quite detailed.  I've been having fun trying to guess which country they might represent.  First up is this dignified lady, whom I believe may be from India: 

 

She stands about 11" tall and has a stiff, non-jointed cloth body.  It is firmly stuffed and her left foot is attached to a small wooden disc with a metal pin.  Her detailed outfit is made from cotton and silk.  She has black wool hair that is styled in a braid.  I am very intrigued with the metal chain that hangs across her face, as well as the nose ring made from small beads.  Her right eye is faded and painted higher than her other eye, which just makes her more charming to me.  I suppose she is more of a figurine than a doll, but I like her all the same.

 

Uneven, hand-painted eyes

 

 

I love the face on this girl.  Her expression is so sweet and serene.  She also has a stiff cloth body, but her arms are slightly jointed at the shoulders for a little more movement.  Her outfit is silk, her hair is wool, she has hand-painted features.  She also has separately attached cloth breasts and stitched fingers.

 

She measures 10 1/2", and I think she probably represents China.

 

Not sure which country this sweetie represents...maybe Germany, Finland, Sweden, or ???  She has a cloth body with jointed arms and legs, allowing her to take a seated position.  I think she's newer than the previous two, since her shoes are molded plastic.  Her costume is mainly cotton and non-removable.  She stands 8" tall.

 

She has a molded, cloth face with hand-painted features and blonde, (wool?) braids.

 

This celluloid (possibly early plastic) cutie stands close to 9" tall.  She is jointed at her neck, shoulders and hips.  Her detailed dress is completely removable, closing with metal snaps along the back.  Her cotton bloomers, however, are not.  She also has cotton stockings but has lost her shoes somewhere along the way.  Felt flowers adorn the upper portion of her removable apron. 

 

I adore her snail braids which wrap around to the back of her head.  No idea which country she represents...any guesses?

 

This is Neela.  While not a vintage doll, she does represent an Indian girl from 1939.  She is part of the Girls of Many Lands series issued by American Girl back in 2002-2005.  She is 9 1/2", all hard vinyl, jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips.  These dolls had very detailed costumes and originally came with a book which told that character's story.  My Neela was found at Goodwill, so she is missing part of her costume (a sarong?), and a former owner gave her a bad haircut.  That said, I still like her a lot.  These dolls weren't meant to be played with...simply stood on a shelf and admired.  This is where I think American Girl missed the mark.  They could have made them accessories, clothing, room boxes, etc., and I think they would have really appealed to older girls or adult collectors. 

 

If her face looks at all familiar to you, it is because these dolls were sculpted by Helen Kish!

 

Another Girls of Many Lands doll:  Spring Pearl from China.  I LOVE this doll.  I purchased her from Ebay after seeing her in person for a lot more money at a local doll show.  Her outfit is super detailed.  She carries a little draw string purse and wears bracelets.

 

Her character is from 1857.   Isn't her face just gorgeous?  I think there were eight dolls in this series.  I have two others:  Kathleen from 1937 Ireland and Isabel from 1592 England, but I didn't show them here since they aren't "ethnic".  There is always quite an assortment of these dolls to purchase on Ebay at any one given time.  Some are more expensive than others, but they are really quite affordable for the quality.  I have seen them go for as little as $15, depending on the doll.

 

And last but not least, here is the baby of the group, a 9 1/2" little guy from Japan.  His jointed body is made from papier mache or a light weight composition, and his head may be fashioned from crushed oyster shells.  His finger and toe nails are painted red, and his wig sits at the top of his head.  He has a detailed outfit which wraps around him and can be removed.   Look at those big ears!  His face is too adorable. 

 

Believe it or not, I only paid 87 cents for him at a local, hole-in-the-wall thrift store!

 

Excluding the Girls of Many Lands dolls, I believe the rest of these dolls were meant to be souvenirs.  Like I said earlier, I used to pass these dolls by, never giving them a second glance.  But now, I have become strangely intrigued.  What countries do they represent?  When were they made, and by whom?  I can just imagine some poor peasant woman, painstakingly hand-painting the faces of the cloth dolls and sewing their outfits to make a living.  Except for Spring Pearl, I haven't paid more than $2.99 for any of them!  I am now actively seeking out these little gems, and the older the better.  I especially love handmade dolls and the stories their faces seem to tell.