Collecting Barbie hair colors--a very good day at the sale!

I went to the Antique Fair today hoping to find a blonde Francie to complement my new brunette one. I've never seen a Francie there, and I couldn't even locate the dealer who usually has the most Mattel dolls for sale, but there she was at another booth, in very good shape and for a good price. Her hair is thick and her eyebrows all there, and her face color is very nice.

So here is the new girl looking all golden next to her rosy cousin.

Francie is so easy to dress, I'm looking forward to stitching up lots of things for her. 

I have the old McCalls pattern of designs for Francie, so that makes it extra easy to arrive at some basic slopers for her. The styles that are suitable for her just happen to be ones I especially love.

These poses are rather informal--hurried, even! I didn't want to keep them out in the sun too long.






Here are five different versions of Twist n Turn Barbie hair colors. From left to right they are: Chocolate Bon Bon, Summer Sand, Sun Kissed, Go Go Co Co, and Platinum. They are all vintage Barbies except the platinum one, who is a reproduction. Someday I will probably pick up the titian-haired repro, just to have the whole set.

Now I get to tell a funny story about how I acquired one today at the sale!

Last year at the sale I bought the doll in the swim suit. At the time I thought she was the ash blonde version. Today I saw the girl in the green polka-dot dress, and I loved her so much and she was such a good price that I bought her, even though I thought she was ash blonde too, and that I was going to have duplicate dolls.

After walking around the sale awhile, I saw a strawberry blonde Midge, and I wished that I had not spent my money on a duplicate doll when I could have bought this nice Midge in a hair color I don't have yet. I resolved not to be disappointed, but to find ways to enjoy having these twins.

Once I got her home, I put the two dolls together and was amazed to find out that their hair is not the same color at all! The new girl was definitely ash blonde, in comparison to which the other was clearly light brown. Some fast research was called for, and now I can identify all the colors and am thrilled to have all these five! Definitely not regretting that strawberry blonde Midge--she will wit for another day--along with brunette Midge!

The same dealer who had the Midge doll had some lovely vintage Skippers that I couldn't pass up. She made me a really good deal for both of them. I already had the pretty blonde doll, who is the anniversary repro version. So now I have a nice brunette, plus a titian-haired girl to replace an old one who had lost most of her nose and all her left thumb. Their hair is still nice and shiny and full.

Finally, here are all my girls out on the patio on this lovely golden summer afternoon. Well-not quite all! I still have more Barbies and Kens to bring out and photograph another day.

Francie out of the box!

I opened one of my birthday presents today. That is, I finally took her out of the box! This is the 30th anniversary Francie doll from 1996.

Back in 1966 when she was new, I definitely wanted a Francie doll. She was so pretty and feminine and her mod clothes were so lovely. In Barbie world her age was younger than Barbie but older than Skipper--probably 16, I felt, and since I was only nine, 16 seemed like a very fine age indeed.

For a while it was fun to keep her in that magical "Never Removed From Box" state, but my plan was always to bring her out and, yes, play with her--more or less the same way I would have in 1966, since I liked making dolls clothes then too, but now I'm better at it.

I put this dress together quickly, just to see if the pattern was going to fit. And it does, quite nicely. I can see that she will be easier to dress than Barbie because she doesn't have the thick rib cage and the tiny waist that required some engineering to accommodate.



This is what her packaging was like. I had to borrow this picture from the Internet, since the one I took turned out to be very blurry. So thank you to "Texas Doll Designs" for uploading such a nice one.

.
It's nice to have the pretty outfit too, but my girl is probably not ever going to wear it. It looks like the sweater would have to go on over her head and I don't want to mess her hair up. It was surprising to find out that I actually owned a vintage Francie dress: last year I bought a Pepper doll who was wedged into "Side Kick," a little number of navy gingham and eyelet. After I freshen it up a little and reproduce a matching hat she can have her picture taken in it.

Meanwhile, I still have two more birthday presents to take out of their boxes!