Hello Dolly

Nov 29th 2007
Karen RoseOn Writing!

56 Responses to “Hello Dolly”

1. Laurie G on 29 Nov 2007 at 6:11 am #

   The first doll that I remember having was a blonde Chatty Cathy. I still have it! I gave it to my only daughter when she was about 10. Th eyes no longer close when she’s resting and she’s a bit garbled when she talks but I still treasure her and all of her cute outfits… favorite: ice skating!
   Other favorite childhood toy that I still have and treasure =stuffed leopard….. Minerva given to me by my greataunt Anna. It’s tattered and worn but always brings to mind loving childhood memories!

2. Buffie on 29 Nov 2007 at 6:47 am #

   I so remember my Snuggles doll. She had red hair and when you pulled the string in her back, she snuggled up to you. Oh man did we have some fun times

3. Karen Hawkins on 29 Nov 2007 at 7:34 am #

   Karen, how sad about your doll! Kids get so attached to dolls. I had the doll with the wind up and out hair! I loved that thing. And I had a ballerina doll that was hard plastic and you could put her on her dance toe, and push on her crown and she’d spin and spin. I loved that one, too.

   Laurie, my best friend had a Chatty Cathy! I was sooo jealous!

   I never was much for Barbie, though. Too . . . skinny. You can’t really HUG a Barbie. Buffie, your doll sounds much more snuggly.

   My daughter’s favorite doll was her Raggedy Ann. She wore that doll out. I think we still have it somewhere, too.

4. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 7:41 am #

   I remember Chatty Cathy - never had one, but knew others that did!

   My oldest never went in much for dolls, but she had this homemade doll, like a Cabbage Patch kid, made by my aunt. It was smaller than the normal dolls and totally bald by design. My daughter loved him and named him Elmo. This was before the Sesame Street Elmo, btw. But she couldn’t say Elmo and called him MoMo. It’s one my cutest memories!

5. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 7:43 am #

   My youngest had a Curious George doll she took everywhere and there’s a story to it (of course!). My daughter had to have some pretty serious surgery when she was 4 and before the operation we read her the Curious George book where he eats the puzzle piece and must go to the hospital. We must have read that book a hundred times. On the day of the surgery, when they were wheeling her away, she said “Curious George wasn’t afraid and neither am I.” I smiled brightly then went back to the waiting room and cried buckets.

   The next day when my husband was coming to pick us up from the hospital, he saw a Curious George doll - of all places, at a gas station. It was meant to be, and the look on my baby’s face when he gave it to her is, again, one of my most priceless memories. The look on DH’s face was precious, too.

6. Lisa H on 29 Nov 2007 at 7:43 am #

   My favorite doll was one called “Baby Tenderlove” it didn’t do anything, but I think it was just the right size for a little girl to hold and cuddle.

   My daughter had a favorite doll too. It was nothing famous, but she loved it, with its little bald head and closed eyes. I still have that doll, and will keep it forever, remembering how she used to care for it and bring it everywhere!

7. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 7:43 am #

   Totally agree on Barbie. She was fun to dress up, but never to cuddle.

8. Lisa H on 29 Nov 2007 at 7:45 am #

   Karen Rose - What a sweet story. I am so glad he found Curious George for her. Do you still have that toy? Does she?

9. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 7:45 am #

   Oh, my sister had Baby Tenderlove. I still remember the song:

   Baby Tenderlove, she’s a baby you can love, soft like a baby’s skin, soft real soft, and needs a lot of love.

   My sister’s favorite though, was her Mrs. Beasley doll. Complete with the square glasses, LOL.

10. Lisa H on 29 Nov 2007 at 7:46 am #

    Karen H- Ciao Bella! How was Italy? Will you be blogging about it?

11. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 7:46 am #

    We have Curious George somewhere. He’s really nasty now We thought we were being smart and went out and bought a second George shortly thereafter, as a “replacement” should something happen to George #1, but my daughter KNEW. Busted. We tried to switch them on days we’d wash him, but she always KNEW.

12. Gannon on 29 Nov 2007 at 8:14 am #

    I had a Mrs. Beasley doll–like Buffy had on Family Affair. I loved her. I don’t know what happened to her, but she’d be worth some $$ now, I suspect.

13. FreshEChelle on 29 Nov 2007 at 8:18 am #

    Mine was Natalie, a Fisher Price doll with cool hair. My cousin had one too and we constantly played with them until Jennifer decided to give hers a hair cut. Not as much fun after that.

    My sister had that long haired Chrissy which I envied ‘coz I never had long hair as a kid. KH, the ballerina doll I think was Thumbalina. Had that too but I wanted her to spin on her own, I don’t want to do all the work.

    KR, good thing you got the “unreliable Mama” thing out of your system before having non-plastic children.

    The doll I was most excited to receive was a baby in a cradle that my dad brought home on Suprise Night which happened to fall on my birthday that year (I was 5 I guess). He’d always bring home some cheap little toy for each of us on Suprise Night but we got so excited that he was going to the gift giver that night, not Mom.

14. DebMarlowe on 29 Nov 2007 at 8:28 am #

    When I was about 4, my grandma got my cousin and I matching Bert and Ernie dolls. I got Ernie, and boy was I glad! I really loved him, but mostly because it was from my grandma. She was the best!

    Later I had a Francine doll–who I think was supposed to be an alternate to Barbie. She had hands that could grip things. I thought it was so cool that she could carry her own suitcase! And I had her car, and she could hold on to the steering wheel. Hot stuff.

15. cail on 29 Nov 2007 at 9:09 am #

    i had a bear named stitch, and another named honeydew. but i was never extremely attached to them, that i remember.

16. Sonja Foust on 29 Nov 2007 at 9:14 am #

    Oh, your story made me SO SAD!

    For years when I was little I wanted an American Girl doll. (They’ve been around for a while, though Oprah is just now getting into them. Silly Oprah.) So one Christmas I got a cheaper, not-as-nice version because the actual American Girls dolls were very expensive and hard to come by. But I loved that cheaper-version doll. I named her Susy and brushed her hair and even ATTEMPTED to make clothes for her (god, they were ugly). A few years later I got an actual American Girls doll that I also loved, but Susy always had a special place in my toybox and I never stopped playing with her.

17. doglady on 29 Nov 2007 at 9:33 am #

    I still have the two dolls and teddy bear my Grandpop Bolton gave to me for my very first Christmas. I was not quite a year old. The poor bride doll is a little worse for her. Her hair did not survive my haircut! Her dress is long gone, but I recently made her a lovely Regency dress. MY baby doll was the simple eyes open and close plastic type, but I love her. My teddy bear, Bernie, is a world traveler. He has been all over the world with me. His eyes have been replaced a couple of times and his fur is pretty thin in places. He has a neat collection of little t-shirts from his travels. These three mean a lot because my Grandpop died when I was 3 and I don’t remember him. These things are my connection to him. Karen I LOVE your Curious George story. Priceless! Yes, Karen H, how was Italy. Did you get your bottom pinched?

18. Patty L. on 29 Nov 2007 at 10:00 am #

    My very favorite doll was my Cabbage Patch Kid that I got when I was seven. I loved that doll and she survived my two brothers and cousins, but my daughter was the death of her. She took magic markers and painted her purple (Barney was her idol at the time) and when she realized what she’d done she put her in the toilet to wash her. Needless to say, between the dye job and the washing she fell apart.

19. DebMarlowe on 29 Nov 2007 at 10:02 am #

    Hey Fresh–what’s surprise night?

    You’re right, though–there is just something about a present from Dad!

20. claudia dain on 29 Nov 2007 at 10:17 am #

    Tearing up just reading these posts and remembering my one and only: Elephant.

    I was two when I got him as a birthday gift. He had silver gray fur with red fur accents on his ears, and feet. My mom told me that the moment I opened the box, I clutched Elephant under my arm and never let him go. I slept with him every night. As a teen, I cried into his tiny stuffed chest. He was my Best Friend, my constant, my true comfort no matter what I was suffering.

    My mom threw him away when I was 17 to punish me. I will *never* get over the absence of Elephant.

21. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 10:18 am #

    Oh, dear, I didn’t think my Charlotte story would make you all sad - it was more nostalgic for me!

    Trust me, I was more upset when my sister put her “Wacky Packages” stickers all over my prize copy of LITTLE WOMEN with the full color illustrations. That was real trauma.

    Fresh, I didn’t mean I was an “unreliable mama,” I meant that the doll didn’t say “mama” reliably. Sometimes you tilted her and got a good wail, and sometimes you got bupkis. I was a good dolly mama. Except for the bleeding all over Velvet. And then her arm came off and my dad tried to glue it back on to no avail…

    Okay, maybe I wasn’t such a good dolly mama. I’m a better real-kid mama Of course DH is the best mama.

22. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 10:19 am #

    Good Lord, Claudia. What could you possibly have done that was so bad that your mom did that? That’s horrible!! (throwing away your elephant, I mean)

23. Kay on 29 Nov 2007 at 10:30 am #

    I was never big on dolls. I had stuffed animals. My favorite was as white kitten, named “Furry” and I could not live without him. I even took him to school with me for the first few days of school, before I got busted. My mother said that when I couldn’t find him, I would call his name and then listen for him to answer. (I was one of those kids who believed in Mr.Ed, too)
    My mom still has it.

    My oldest child had a bunny (Ba-poo) and my youngest had a cat (kitty-kitty) which I still have.

    Karen, my youngest had some minor surgery last year, and they let him take his kitty-kitty into the OR— they even gave it an armband w/ it’s name & an OR cap! It was there for him in the recovery room when he woke up–before they would let him see me. By the time I was allowed in to see him, he was telling his kitty-kitty that they would get popsicles soon!

24. Mia Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 10:38 am #

    My favorite, FAVORITEST doll when I was little was actually bigger than I was when I first got it. Does anyone remember what those giant dolls were called? Oh I loved that doll, I would dress it in my clothes when I was big enough, bring it places with me (drag it if I couldn’t carry the huge thing), talk to it, make it watch tv with me… it was like having a sister! (I was a lonely only child so instead of being a mama I was a sister.)
    Other than that doll, which sadly lost her head after numerous years (unreliable sister?), my other prized possesions were my Barbies and their products. I had EVERYTHING Barbie. I had every new Barbie that came out, I had the pink stretch Limo with a hot tub, I had the salon, clothing, a closet to hang all the extra clothes, a full house (and I mean everything that could go into it as well), a hot dog stand, a remote control moped… anything that came out for Barbie, I had. Those were the good days.
    

25. Julia London on 29 Nov 2007 at 10:51 am #

    My sister got a beautiful doll one Christmas, and that very day laid it on a floor heater vent and the doll’s face melted off. It was a huge tragedy for us all, but my sister especially, because that was before Walmart and my parents did not rush out to buy her another one. Fun times.

    I don’t remember a lot of gifts, really. I had tricycle I named Elizabeth that I loved. She was green. A baby carriage I can vaguely remember pushing up and down the drive over and over again. A stick horse. When I was a little older, my prized white go-go boots! I loved those boots!

26. SuzyQ on 29 Nov 2007 at 10:54 am #

    I had a Crissy doll too growing up. I probably spent hours styling her hair with my friends. As for baby dolls, the only one I remember was Baby Tenderlove. I played with some Barbies, but my favorite were the Dawn dolls. They were like Barbie dolls, only smaller.

    But I have to say my prized possession was a tiny little hard plastic mouse that was standing on it’s back legs. It’s only about 1″ tall. My best friend had the exact same one and we would spend hours on end playing with these. We made them houses and furniture out of cardboard. I still have it today, on my windowsill in my kitchen. About two years ago we were emailing each other and brought up the mice. Funny thing is, she still has her mouse and it’s on her kitchen sill too.

27. amy1242 on 29 Nov 2007 at 11:12 am #

    I had a wiener dog named, of course, Wiener Dog. It went everywhere with me. I’d loved the fur right off of the thing. Mom hated it becuase it was so ratty looking. She was sick of having to sew the button eyes back on it all the time. During a trip to St. Louis, she threw it away and told me I must have lost it while we were at the zoo. Thing is, I remember sleeping with it in the car after the zoo. It was missing when I woke up. I was eight and truly heartbroken. Mom lost all chances of getting Mother of the Year that year.

28. Sabrina Jeffries on 29 Nov 2007 at 12:10 pm #

    I never got attached to baby dolls or stuffed animals, probably because whenever we moved, Mom weeded out the toys. She did give us a choice of what to save, but I probably just chose the fave of the moment. My son was the same–never got into stuffed toys or a special toy or anything. I always thought it was because of his autism, but now that I consider it, maybe he’s just like his mom. *G*

    I DO remember toys from when I was older–I enjoyed playing with my Barbies, my Monkees dolls, and my Mary Poppins doll (with a real carpetbag!). When we lived in Thailand, my parents would get the Sears catalog and let us pick out one “major” toy for Christmas that they would order from the U.S. (VERY expensive to do, not only because of the shipping, but the duty). The other toys they bought in Thailand. One year, I asked for one of those heads with the hair like your doll that you could lengthen and “style.” That was a disappointment–her hair was about as easy to style as mine (i.e., NOT).

29. Santa on 29 Nov 2007 at 12:12 pm #

    I got one of those life size dolls one year. My mother made clothes for it. It wore clothes I grew out of. One year I decided she needed a hair cut and gave her a Mia Farrow look. I think that’s when I started experimenting with blue ballpoint pen make-up for her eyes. Made her quite the catch but she needed earrings, so I took some of my mother’s pearl topped straight pins and shoved them in her earlobes.

    My mother tried to save that doll for my daughters. I tallked her out of it and gave it over to the good people at the thrift store. I think they use her to model hats.

30. Julia London on 29 Nov 2007 at 12:28 pm #

    Gannon! I had a Mrs. Beasley doll, too! My God, we are the same person!

31. RachelG on 29 Nov 2007 at 12:44 pm #

    My favorite doll walked. Well, more like shuffled. I loved her until my brother made her walk down the stairs, and she fell and her legs broke off. I think mostly though, I played with Barbie. I loved her boots.

    rachelg

32. Lisa H on 29 Nov 2007 at 12:54 pm #

    My kids and I do those Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes that are sent overseas to third world countries.

    I always pick little girls and I always buy them a doll or two. We fill our boxes with other stuff too, like markers and crayons and small toys, but I believe every little girl should have a doll, and it just breaks my heart to think of those who long for one but cannot afford it.

33. Emmiebee on 29 Nov 2007 at 1:47 pm #

    Such great memories! How sad, though, to lose some of these old friends- my mother still has her teddy bear “Clemente” on her dresser, evern though he has seen better days. I had a few dolls as a litttle girl, but my mom stopped buying them for me after “The Great Beauty Shop Affair”. I guess I decided that my dolls were just not glamourous enough, so I “shampooed” all of their hair with hand lotion, then cut their hair off in ragged chunks! Only Raggedy Ann and Andy escaped this fiasco. I then became the proud owner of a stuffed animal menagerie. I had so many that I would sleep curled up way up high on my pillow to let them all have room to sleep with me. I should have known that I would end up a vet!

    Sigh, while I was in school, my parents had a flood in their basement, and only Tiny Tiger survived. He is on my dresser, way up high where nothing can hurt him!

    -Emmiebee

34. claudia dain on 29 Nov 2007 at 2:21 pm #

    I just love hearing these stories!

    Karen R, what did I do to deserve Elephant getting the boot? I left my stuffed animals on the floor of my closet, that’s what. You’d have to know my mom to understand. Believe me when I tell you that I’ve protected the special items of my kids with an iron glove. You just can’t put a price on that attachment.

    Amy, I feel your pain on the ditching of Wiener Dog. He’s probably living it up with Elephant. *G*

35. Ladytink_534 on 29 Nov 2007 at 2:22 pm #

    I can’t actually remember my first doll but I do still have two of the ones I played with as a kid. I also still have my first stuffed animal still. It was a Fluppy Dog which the Disney company made around the same time as the Wuzzles and the Gummi Bears. It was really cute but the show didn’t last long.

36. amy1242 on 29 Nov 2007 at 3:48 pm #

    Thanks Claudia, that makes me feel better. What a neat picture that makes in my mind!

37. Judy F on 29 Nov 2007 at 4:25 pm #

    Oh Karen I had the wind up hair doll. My evil sister cut her hair to see if it would grow back… Grrr.

    I used to have the doll that walked too, kinda like a frankenstein shuffle.

    My sil had by mistake gave a doll she meant for one niece to another niece but Shelly fell in love with the doll called her baby Nancy. Baby Nancy went every where and even had to go to the doll hospital when she had an accident. I don’t remember what had happened but there was a local lady that repaired dolls and Baby Nancy had to stay overnight. She was the ugliest doll but Shelly loved her. I don’t know if she is still around or not.

38. Georgie Lee on 29 Nov 2007 at 5:13 pm #

    I had the blond Chatty-Cathy too and I still have it. However, the dolls I really remember were large Ragedy Ann and Andy dolls and my soft Holly Hobbie doll. I still have them packed away in a box at my parent’s house. I got those when I was about 5 years old.

39. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 5:36 pm #

    I remember those large Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. Frankly, they always creeped me out. In the dark the shadows are huge and I was spinning horror stories in my imagination long before I started writing books!

40. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 5:40 pm #

    I have a confession. I actually started thinking about dolls on Monday night. I had twenty minutes or so before Heroes and DH was watching a show about man eating lions or something. Man eating lions scare the you know what out of me. So I was flipping the channels when I land on Dancing with the Stars.

    Now, when I was a little girl up to about 13 or so, I LOVED Marie Osmond. I thought she was the prettiest thing and wanted to be Marie and get to sing with Donny. So when I landed on Dancing w/Stars, it was Marie’s turn. I never watched the show and thought I’d see what all the fuss was about. It was Marie dancing the doll dance.

    I still like Marie and I think she looks awesome. To be able to dance like that at her (my) age is amazing. But the doll dance sucked big time. A few days later I saw an article on Yahoo saying most people felt the same way I did. It got me thinking about dolls.

    So now you have the story behind the doll blog

41. ladydawgfan on 29 Nov 2007 at 5:45 pm #

    My first doll was a Dressy Bessy. I took that doll everywhere, and I do mean EVERYWHERE! Good thing she was machine washable!!

    I also had stuffed animals, and my favorite was a tiger my sister gave me named “Tigger.” We had a fire in our house when I was 12 that gutted my bedroom, and Dressy Bessy and all of my other dolls and stuffed animals were lost. However, Tigger had been put in a little house that I had designed for him in my closet, and he survived the fire with only a little scorching of his furr and some smoke damage. I still have him, and even now, after 30 years, if I bury my nose into him in just the right spot, I can still smell just a hint of the smoke smell.

    BTW, my mother found a newer version of Dressy Bessy and surprised me with it last Christmas. My mom is the best!!!

42. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 5:55 pm #

    Judy F - grrr to your sis for chopping the doll’s hair. I wonder how many sisters out there have done a similar beauty attrocity to a doll?

    Claudia, gee whiz. I thought my mom was a neat freak. I’m sorry you lost elephant. Will your DH provide any solace and perhaps an agreeable, er, substitution? (Okay, that was bawdy and bad.)

43. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 5:57 pm #

    Aw, Ladydawgfan - that’s so nice of your mom! But I’m sorry you lost your original dolls. I remember Dressy Bessy. I think I bought my youngest one once - I’d forgotten about that doll. There was a boy version, too, as I recall.

44. Selfish Addict on 29 Nov 2007 at 6:01 pm #

    My favorite doll was Teenie Tiny Tears,she cried real tears,small enough for a little girl to cuddle. I used to love dolls and stuffed animals and selpt with all of them. My Daddy said when he came to kiss me goodnight,he couldn’t find me in the bed.I still have some of my favs,ratty as they are. I even have one the dog had puppies on,on the floor of my closet. Yes,we cleaned it.
    My sister had a Mrs. Beasley.

45. freshechelle on 29 Nov 2007 at 6:09 pm #

    Deb M - sorry to take so long to get back on line. Suprise night was every Wednesday night, Dad, who drove a truck route to supermarkets and delis, would pick up a little toy for each of us three kids. It ensured we were thrilled to see him Wednesday night. It’s a fun memory for all of us and means more to me now that I realize that he was paid on Thursdays, and not much for a family of 5, and still bought us gifts on Wednesdays. It may have only been only one year or one summer, I don’t remember, but Dad who is rarely sentimental, loves that I remember that suprise night with that little plastic cradle. Aw shucks.

    Karen R - sorry for implying you may have been a less than stellar child-mom.

46. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 6:13 pm #

    No, Fresh, I was unclear in my text And I wasn’t the greates of all Dolly-Mamas.

    I’ve never misplaced one of my real (like, live) children, but I did once have a “beauty shop incident” in which I cut my oldest’s hair so short that Santa thought she was a boy two months later. Oh, the trauma, the drama! Now, 11 years later, her hair is down to her knees. She showed me. LOL.

47. Karen Hawkins on 29 Nov 2007 at 7:16 pm #

    Oh my gosh! I had a Mrs. Beasley doll, too! I had forgotten all about her until now. Funny how you forget things.

    Oh yes, Lisa H, I’ll blog on Italy. It was a GREAT trip!

    And Claudia, that’s just wrong. I wonder what happened to your mom in her childhood that made her that way? I’m glad you turned that horrible experience into something really, really good for your own children, though. Kudos!

48. Suzanne Enoch on 29 Nov 2007 at 7:35 pm #

    I never liked dolls as a kid, though both my sisters loved them. My prized pal was a stuffed dog I got when I was born. We named him Krypto, after Superboy’s dog. I still have him, somewhere, together with his re-sewn together muzzle and one eye.

49. DebMarlowe on 29 Nov 2007 at 8:18 pm #

    Fresh–now *I’m* getting all teary! That is a lovely memory. It’s a good reminder of how important those special sorts of things are to our kids too.

50. Gannon on 29 Nov 2007 at 8:45 pm #

    Julia, maybe we were twins separated at birth! LOL Or maybe triplets, since Karen H is in our Mrs. Beasley club!

51. doglady on 29 Nov 2007 at 9:01 pm #

    I’m with Karen H, Claudia, that was just WRONG!!!! I think because we were Air Force brats and moved around so much my Mom made sure that all of our special things made the trips. I have a number of photos of Bernie, my bear (now 48 years old thank you- the bear, not me) in planes, trains and automobiles. On a college choir tour of the United Kingdom Bernie was our mascot and caused quite a panic when he was left on a bus. Imagine 30 college girls all chasing a British luxury coach and demanding the driver stop so we could find Bernie!!

52. freshechelle on 29 Nov 2007 at 9:57 pm #

    May I join the Mrs. Beasley club? I loved mine. I once met a woman who’s married name was Mrs. Beasley. Her MIL had only sons but bought them each Mrs. Beasley dolls for their future wives. That’s forethought.

53. Karen Rose on 29 Nov 2007 at 10:14 pm #

    Whenever we played school, Mrs. Beasley doll was always the teacher

54. ladydawgfan on 29 Nov 2007 at 11:32 pm #

    Karen, Dressy Bessy’s brother doll was Dapper Dan. My brother had one to help him learn how to tie his shoes. I don’t know for sure what happened to it but I think it might have perished with my Dressy Bessy in the fire.

    Does anyone remember that bizarre doll named Tiffany Taylor that was both blonde and brunette, and could be either depending on which way you turned her scalp?

55. darkshire007 on 30 Nov 2007 at 8:43 pm #

    I got Grover; the real Grover. Blue paunchy belly, red nose and long, thin arms and legs. Not like the Grover now which looks almost like Cookie Monster. Anyhow, I still have Grover. I had a Carol Burnette doll, too. My brother decapitated her. I cried and my Mom spanked him; so that sort of made it better.

56. MizMacgyver on 01 Dec 2007 at 10:40 am #

    I had two favorite dolls, one was Betsy Wetsy, yes, she wet her diaper and cried real tears (kinda sorta) and Thumbalina she had a soft cloth body, plastic arms, legs and head, when you wound her up she moved “like a real baby”. She became my favorite after her surgery (dad took the mechanism out when it quit). She was real baby sized and she was my baby. I was another only child so she was as good as it was going to get.