More Betsy McCall and the Ai dolls

 Betsy McCall is perfectly sized to be a big sister to the Ai dolls.

My friend and I got a few pictures of them together.

Left to right: Ai doll King Protea, Betsy McCall, Ai doll Lawn Daisy

They're so cute!

Baby Furniture

 I ended up writing a shorter post than planned about the Caring for Baby set because I could tell it was going to be too long.

I have some furniture for small baby dolls that I hoped would fit the AG baby.

The first one is the beautiful baby doll cradle made by my Aunt Ella Mae.

The actual cradle was bought by my cousin Jackie on his travels, and Aunt Ella Mae decorated it with ribbon and lace.

The reason I actually have the Corolle Les mini Calins Rose is because I was always looking for a baby doll that looked nice and would fit the cradle. The Corolle baby was my favorite doll that I found that fit the cradle.

Both the AG baby and the Corolle baby fit the cradle well.

The cradle is low to the ground, so it might not look as good with an 18 inch AG doll in the shot, unless it was sitting on the ground.

Next is a Moses basket that came with the Bouncin' Baby. Unfortunately, it only fits the Bounin' Baby and does not fit the AG baby.

Then there is a walker for the Bouncin' Baby. It's a little small for the AG baby, but she does fit in it.

You can see more pictures of a Bouncin' Baby walker on the Confessions of a Dolly Lover blog.

Last but not least is the Bouncin' Baby rocking horse.

It fits both the Bouncin' Baby and the AG baby.

Unfortunately, the plastic is a little yellowed from age. I am not sure why this aged worse than the walker, they are both the same age and have been kept in the same conditions.

I know a lot of people have been finding 8 inch baby accessories that work well with the AG baby. It's nice to know that there are more fun things for the baby to play with!

Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls

 I was lucky to find these Nancy Ann Storybook dolls at the thrift store.

These dolls are five inches doll. Mine are bisque; some of them are made of plastic instead.

I took this picture with mini Nanea to show the scale.

These dolls were made from 1936-1965, so the size and their age makes them perfect to be dolls for Nanea or Maryellen.

Their faces were hand painted to give them character. I like to think about how I am holding something that someone made over 50 years ago.

You can read more about their history here.

Their arms can move up and down. The rest of the bodies, including the head, torso and legs, are all one piece.

The heads are slightly tilted forwards, which annoys me that they look down and not straight ahead.

They look really cute with Nanea!

Their shoes are painted on. The dresses are a lot longer than their feet, which strikes me as very impractical. Even if they are dolls.

I have to be careful posing them with Nanea, because they are breakable.

They look cute with her, though.

I think I might name them Lily and Donna after her friends.

The Return of Betsy McCall

 I was recently able to visit the friend who has a Betsy McCall doll that I gifted her.

We took her to the park and did a photo shoot with her.

It was a lot of fun. We were both reminded how charming this 8 inch doll is.

Later on in the day, we hopped on the Internet and started looking at other Betsy McCalls  on ebay. She's an enchanting little thing!

I love how her knees bend for pictures, although they can make it harder to stand her up.

You can read my informative post about Betsy McCall dolls here.

Vintage Arranbee Doll

 I found this doll at the thrift store, and I jumped on her.

I thought she looked like a vintage Madame Alexander, maybe the Margaret face mold.

It turns out that she is an Arranbee doll. there is an R&B on the back of her neck. 

R&B= Arrenbee. Clever.

I don't know for sure how old she is, but her dress is very 1950s, so that's where I would place her.

She feels very nicely, solidly made, and her elastic is still tight.

She is 14 inches tall, and her eyes are green.

I think she's really cute. I plan to name her Louisa.

Definitely a change in my doll collection, but I love her!

Ballerina Barbie

This is, sort of, one of my favorite childhood Barbies.

An interesting thing about this Barbie is that her eyes are half blue, half purple.

Betsy and the Ai Dolls

Betsy makes the perfect big sister for the tiny Ai dolls!

Betsy and Her Toys

As promised, here are some more pictures of Betsy McCall. Here she is posing with some toys that are just her size.

Vintage Doll: Betsy McCall

I first saw Betsy McCall at an exhibit on toys at the Missouri History Museum. My friend and I both really loved the 1950s Betsy McCall on display there. So I decided to get her a Betsy McCall doll for her birthday!

Warning: this post contains nude doll pictures.

Vintage Doll- Linda

This is another one of my mom's dolls. Her name is Linda.

My mom had two cousins named Louise and Linda, and she named two of her dolls after them. The doll named Louise did not survive to my own childhood.

Linda is I think meant to be a baby doll that you can feed with a bottle. There is a gap between her lips that seems to be meant for a bottle.

She has sleep eyes and her limbs can be moved up and down in a circle. They hold a pose well.

Her hair is not soft at all and not pleasant to touch. It's kind of like toothbrush bristles.

The dress she is wearing was also made by my grandmother. None of the original store dresses belonging to my mom's dolls survived.

My sister and I enjoyed playing with Linda as kids and she is a very sturdy doll.

Vintage Doll- Howdy Doody

My dad got this Howdy Doody for Christmas when he was three years old! He has taken very good care of Howdy Doody so that, although he is fragile, he still survives.

He is, in fact, 65 years old.
I thought it was exciting when my dolls Anne and Felicity were old enough to vote- Howdy Doody is old enough to retire!

After showing my mom's dolls, you didn't expect me to show one from my dad, did you?
Although Howdy Doody is arguably a puppet.

Still, it may explain why my dad supports my doll collecting.

The Howdy Doody Show was a popular television show from 1947 to 1960. Maryellen definitely would have watched this. Maybe her friend Davy had a Howdy Doody puppet too!

You can watch the show on Youtube!

Howdy Doody has sat on the top of a bookcase in the living room for my whole life. I expect him to survive for a long time to come.

Vintage Toys- Missouri History Museum

I was lucky to be able to visit the Missouri History Museum, which was having an exhibit on the toys of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

It was so great! I went with a friend and her parents, who remembered many of the toys there fondly.

1950s Christmas tree with appropriate toys underneath

I focused on the dolls of course, but I took many pictures of non-dolls as well.

This is going to be a long post!

I did my best to note names of toys and get decent pictures, but did not always succeed.

Vintage Doll- Katie

This is Katie. My grandparents gave her to me for my second Christmas.

Vintage Doll- Bouncin' Baby

Bouncin' Babies were (was?) a doll line in the 80s and early 90s. 

I am going to date myself here, but I got this doll in 1991.

Vintage Doll- Walking Bride Doll

This is one of my mom's childhood dolls. She is from the 1950s. I have no idea what company made her. There are no markings on her body which would tell.

My grandmother made her dress, thus resulting in her name "the walking bride doll." She doesn't have a proper name and never has!

When you move her legs, her head turns from side to side. Her arms are connected with a rubber band, and can also be moved up and down.

I have always thought she was the most beautiful doll. Not because she is blonde, because it was hard to find dolls that WERE not blonde when I was growing up. I just adore her face.

Her eyes look blue or green, depending on the lighting. They are sleep eyes.

She is about ten inches high.

I am glad that this doll is still around to enjoy today. My grandmother was a talented seamstress and I enjoy the doll clothes that she made.
I have always wished that she had been able to teach me sewing. Her Parkinson's was too advanced by the time that I was old enough to start sewing. Still, I have been able to teach myself and I am beginning to catch up to her in skill!