Quite a lot of us don’t get to doll shows and maybe some people don’t even have any like-minded friends to share our hobby with.  Consider this a place you can do that and come and play in our room, the Readers Gallery.

As from now, you are all invited to share favourite photos on this page. Have you got a childhood favourite you’d like to share, or maybe you just had a great haul from the Thrift Store? Maybe you bought or made a new outfit for one of your dolls or you created a scene or rearranged your doll space.  We’d love to see. Photos must be your own work or that of a friend or family member is OK if they are happy to have their photos used. We will credit them if you include the photographer’s name. Please, no photos you found on the internet.

You can send your photos to sadieinoz.1957@gmail.com

March 2019

Our most recent reader’s letter has come from Angela, who lives in the UK. Angela has an interesting collection of dolls and has sent us a few to share including some of Palitoy’s Action Man and Pippa. Angela writes:

You will probably recognise most of the dolls you can see. There are a lot of action men shots. Paul is the new recruit and they are training him. This was done in my back garden. The green dresses my Pippa dolls are wearing I made from felt and they are “Santa’s little helpers” . We did have snow so I had to use the opportunity with “Snow Angels and “Snowball fight”

We also received another email from Leta with some more photos. Leta always has good information so I’ll post that here as well.

Today I was reading your blog about your Scarlet & Daisy dolls, and happened to see one from November 2014 about your Hong Kong doll with the plastic underwear. I said out loud, “Hey, I have that doll!” The Hong Kong dolls were made as competitors for the Lingerie Lou sewing dolls made by Doll Bodies Inc. starting in 1952. Lingerie Lou was quite popular and could be purchased in several different ways. She was sold in a box with a cellophane front wearing the plastic bra and panties in a variety of colors – pink, blue, black, white, grey, etc. She could also be purchased naked in a cellophane package with two of the Lingerie Lou patterns, or by herself with no patterns. There was also a boxed set sold with two dolls. The patterns could be purchased in an 8 pack or separately by mail. The patterns for the 7and 1/2 inch doll sold for 5 cents and 10 cents for the 11 and 1/2 inch doll patterns. Patterns for the larger doll are harder to find and in all my years of searching, I’ve only found four. 

I’ve attached a photo of my Hong Kong “clone” doll. I added a lacy blue jacket and painted her shoes blue to match it. I’ve also attached some Lingerie Lou Doll and finished pattern photos from her booklet and an ad from 1953. 

Lingerie Lou, hard plastic doll made in Hong Kong. Photo by Leta Learn

Lingerie Lou Photo by Leta Learn.

An ad for Lingerie Lou supplies by Leta.

Lingerie Lou booklet photo supplied by Leta.

patterns for Lingerie Lou pictures supplied by Leta.

patterns for Lingerie Lou pictures supplied by Leta.

February 2019

We’ve been very lucky this month to receive photos from some of our readers. Here are some from Christine in Dunedin, New Zealand. Christine has a huge collection. You can see more on her Facebook Page, Dunedin Doll Museum.

This is a letter and photo I received from Leta about her Darling Debbie doll.

“I’ve attached my Salesman Sample mat photo of one of the Deluxe Reading grocery store dolls, Darling Debbie. I remember seeing these dolls at the Piggly Wiggly supermarket in Cedar Rapids in 1957. They were sitting on top of the meat counter, of all places, but looking back I imagine it was the only area large enough to accommodate their size. I remember the first moment I saw Sweet Rosemary in her pink gown and being mesmerized by her beauty. We didn’t have much so I knew better than to ask for her. Imagine my delight finding her under the tree on Christmas morning! “

Here is a photo sent to me by Dani late last year of some Fashionista outfits that she bought.