I have been meaning to show you the Roddy dolls that Naomi got for me in Oatlands for quite some time but somehow have not got around to photographing them separately. Today I decided that I would do it and despite much “help” from Naomi’s cat Tigerwoods I managed to get it done.

These are the four dolls. The one on the far left is hard plastic, the other three are vinyl dolls. They are all about 12-16 inches tall.

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The oldest doll of this group is the hard plastic one. She is in pretty good condition, only having lost one set of eyelashes. Her wig is very fine mohair fibre, and is glued on to a fabric pate. I am not going to mess with this hair too much as I don’t want to wet it. I may use some hairspray to make it sit flat.

Her dress looks to be commercially made but although it is vintage I am not sure it is her original dress. It looks too long and doesn’t fit properly at the back. I will probably redress her later.

She was made in the 1950s and has the Roddy mark on the back of her neck. According to what I read this face design first appeared in 1953 and Roddy made the dolls in different sizes. This one is the smallest at 13 inches.

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Next is this blonde doll who is all vinyl. She is the largest of the four at 16 inches tall. I like her face. She is very typical of the type of dolls we played with in the early sixties. She is made of a soft vinyl, even her head and torso. She is just marked “Made in England” on her back. Her hair is a bit of a mess so I will see if I can improve it. She has sleep eyes with “real” eyelashes. Her little dress is home made and has matching panties. She will be keeping these and I will try to get her some shoes. We have decided to name her Debbie.

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The next doll is also vinyl but a bit smaller about 14-15 inches tall. Her head and body are a harder material than her arms. She has the updated Roddy trademark on the back of her head. She has lovely blue eyes with hard eyelashes. Her outfit is homemade. I really like the little skirt and cape. I will try to get her some better shoes. Her hair is pretty tidy but flat and dull so I will wash and condition it.

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The last doll is also vinyl and looks as if she has Saran hair. She is also in nice condition. Her outfit is home made I think. Her grass skirt looks like raffia. The skirt is a little loose on her but there are no fastenings that I can see. I don’t think I will mess with it. She can stay as she is.

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Later:

I took the blonde and auburn haired dolls upstairs and washed and conditioned their hair before redressing them. Here they are:

Debbie, the blonde girl, has very thick hair and her treatment made it a bit less frizzy. I decided not to do anything more drastic to it. I don’t really like to boil perm vintage dolls unless I know what their hair is made of. She has had a trim in the front where she probably had a fringe so I have restyled her hair slightly. The other doll really didn’t need any help but I think the shampoo and conditioning brightened her hair up a bit.

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