Did you have a favourite doll when you were little? I asked some of my FB pals about their fave childhood toys...
Krysten says:
One of my favourite toys as a kid was this Alexander France doll I got as a little girl. She was part of a collection; my grandma remarked it looked like me as a child, with the cupid's bow mouth and big eyes... so from there the collection started. Grandma actually nicknamed me 'Dolly'! Francie, as I called her, was my favourite - there tended to be a lot of blonde, blue-eyed dolls back then, and I liked Francie as we had the same colouring. When i moved away from home as an adult, my mom sent me a couple of the dolls and Francie then moved overseas with me and back again. She is still in my room today, but I decided to spare my husband the other forty or so dolls in the collection! Today I am a writer and write middle grade, YA and adult fiction.
Ruth says:
This is Sally-Ann. My mum bought her for me after she'd been away for a week on an Open University course 37 years ago. I missed Mum so much that week; Gran was looking after me (dads didn't do much childcare in those days) and she was strict. She thought that at ten I was too old for dolls, but I loved Sally-Ann and loved that my mum knew that everyone needs something to cuddle sometimes! Sally-Ann came with me to university and even to Japan where I later went to teach English. She's a well travelled girl! Somewhere along the line her arm fell off... I still have it, but am ashamed to say its been in my sewing box for at least 20 years! Now I am a writer, I realise that Sally-Ann helped to develop my imagination; because I loved her, I had imaginary conversations with her and invented stories for her. When I look at her now, she helps me remember how it felt to be ten and really missing your mum...
Sheila says:
Here is my Tiny Tears doll which I still have. She went everywhere with me and I looked after her, took care of her, fed her, changed her, bathed her and dressed her in countless outfits... including this gorgeous green crochet poncho number, of course! (These things were very fashionable back in the late 60s, trust me!) It came as quite a shock when I married and had a real baby - she wasn't as perfectly behaved as Tiny Tears! I'm a librarian now... and no, I don't wear ponchos... ;o)
Judi says:
This is Carol, the doll I got for my seventh birthday. I never quite forgave her for not being a book... can you tell I was destined to grow up to be a children's author? Poor Carol lost her hair when I was playing hairdressers - how was I supposed to know it wouldn't grow back? My mum did make Carol's lovely dress - and a matching one for me. Nowadays my children mostly use her for making scary movies... well, you did tell me to be honest!
(Judi Curtin is now a bestselling children's author - luckily not a hairdresser! Check out her Friends Forever or Alice series of books, perfect for fans of Cathy Cassidy looking for something new...
Linda says:
This pic is of me with my cousins at my big sister's wedding in 1973. I'm the one on the right! The dolls on the shelf in the background are my collection of 'dolls of the world.' I had dozens of them and used to research and read up on the countries they were from. I actually did travel quite a lot as a child and I always wanted to be an air hostess when I grew up so I could travel to every country in the world. Alas, I get very travel sick so that didn't happen! I loved the dolls, but I no longer have them.
Awww... such amazing stories! Did YOU have a doll you loved when you were little? Or a favourite from the dolls above? COMMENT BELOW to let us know!
One of my favourite toys as a kid was this Alexander France doll I got as a little girl. She was part of a collection; my grandma remarked it looked like me as a child, with the cupid's bow mouth and big eyes... so from there the collection started. Grandma actually nicknamed me 'Dolly'! Francie, as I called her, was my favourite - there tended to be a lot of blonde, blue-eyed dolls back then, and I liked Francie as we had the same colouring. When i moved away from home as an adult, my mom sent me a couple of the dolls and Francie then moved overseas with me and back again. She is still in my room today, but I decided to spare my husband the other forty or so dolls in the collection! Today I am a writer and write middle grade, YA and adult fiction.
This is Sally-Ann. My mum bought her for me after she'd been away for a week on an Open University course 37 years ago. I missed Mum so much that week; Gran was looking after me (dads didn't do much childcare in those days) and she was strict. She thought that at ten I was too old for dolls, but I loved Sally-Ann and loved that my mum knew that everyone needs something to cuddle sometimes! Sally-Ann came with me to university and even to Japan where I later went to teach English. She's a well travelled girl! Somewhere along the line her arm fell off... I still have it, but am ashamed to say its been in my sewing box for at least 20 years! Now I am a writer, I realise that Sally-Ann helped to develop my imagination; because I loved her, I had imaginary conversations with her and invented stories for her. When I look at her now, she helps me remember how it felt to be ten and really missing your mum...
Here is my Tiny Tears doll which I still have. She went everywhere with me and I looked after her, took care of her, fed her, changed her, bathed her and dressed her in countless outfits... including this gorgeous green crochet poncho number, of course! (These things were very fashionable back in the late 60s, trust me!) It came as quite a shock when I married and had a real baby - she wasn't as perfectly behaved as Tiny Tears! I'm a librarian now... and no, I don't wear ponchos... ;o)
This is Carol, the doll I got for my seventh birthday. I never quite forgave her for not being a book... can you tell I was destined to grow up to be a children's author? Poor Carol lost her hair when I was playing hairdressers - how was I supposed to know it wouldn't grow back? My mum did make Carol's lovely dress - and a matching one for me. Nowadays my children mostly use her for making scary movies... well, you did tell me to be honest!
(Judi Curtin is now a bestselling children's author - luckily not a hairdresser! Check out her Friends Forever or Alice series of books, perfect for fans of Cathy Cassidy looking for something new...
This pic is of me with my cousins at my big sister's wedding in 1973. I'm the one on the right! The dolls on the shelf in the background are my collection of 'dolls of the world.' I had dozens of them and used to research and read up on the countries they were from. I actually did travel quite a lot as a child and I always wanted to be an air hostess when I grew up so I could travel to every country in the world. Alas, I get very travel sick so that didn't happen! I loved the dolls, but I no longer have them.
Awww... such amazing stories! Did YOU have a doll you loved when you were little? Or a favourite from the dolls above? COMMENT BELOW to let us know!
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ReplyDeleteI can relate to Judi! When I was little I used to cut my dolls' hair off because I thought it would grow back. Unfortunately they never did...XD
ReplyDeleteI think I like the Alexander France doll. It's super cute nad I could think of lots of hairstyles with the hair!!!
ReplyDeleteNow I'm singing "Well, Hello Dolly" in my head! As a child, I preferred stuffed animals (not always bears - one of my favourites was Stella, a white tiger cub toy I got from Edinburgh Zoo) although I did have dolls. Plastic representations of babies, Barbies, Action Men and the like. They ended up with felt tip pen tattoos, make up, haircuts and dyes (felt tip pens again) and, for the particularly unfortunate dolls, safety pin piercings. I once modified a group of Barbies and Action Men so I could act out an entire episode of Doctor Who with them ('The Idiot's Lantern'. I made 1950s style clothes for them and everything). This was before I got my collection of Doctor Who figures. But my abhorrent treatment of dolls is probably why Mum chose to give me stuffed animals instead. I only ever modded one stuffed animal. Punk Pig was a pink, fluffy pig who ended up with purple nail polish, purple eyeshadow and a hoop earring through her ear. I should not have been allowed possessions as a child.
ReplyDeleteBlue. :-)