Tag Archives: Nine inch dolls

“One Day” for Weekly Prompts 15

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One day, Yolanda’s little girl Yoli was here and I dragged out all my old 9-inch dolls––precursors to Barbie.  Jill, Jan, Jeff and Cissette. (Although I couldn’t find Jeff.  Evidently they had a separation.) Yoli dressed them all wrong and past midnight a few nights later, I found myself seated in front of my sewing table, where I’d set Yoli up with the dolls and my Jill and Jan closet and the box of clothes she’d neglected to put away.  After choosing the “right’ clothes for each and dressing her, I hung all the other clothes neatly in the closet, replaced their detached doors, and posed them for best effect.  By then it was about 1:30 a.m. and I closed down the play date with myself and went to bed.  The next day, they had chosen to assume the same position I left them in. They’ve been there for a few weeks, but I have a party tonight and decided it was time for them to go back into seclusion in my art studio.  Makes me kind of sad, though

 

Weekly Prompts The One Day Prompt (15 )

Reviving Barbie’s Predecessors

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I was reading my friend Mary McNinch’s charming blog about her play date with her granddaughter and my comment got so long I decided to turn it into a post.  Here it is: 

My housekeeper and friend Yolanda’s seven-year-old daughter Yoli was here one day and I dragged out all my old 9 inch dolls—precursors to Barbie.   Jan, Jeff and Cissette. (Although I couldn’t find Jeff.  Evidently they had a separation.) Yoli proceeded to dress them all wrong, putting Jan’s dress on Cissette (without belt and backwards at that) and dressed Jan in such a dowdy dress that it amazed me I’d ever chosen it in the first place. After she left, they stayed in place, waiting for her return, but school started and she hasn’t been back since. 

That is how, past midnight a few nights later, I found myself seated in front of my sewing table in my guest room, where I’d set Yoli up with the dolls and my Jill and Jan closet and the basket of clothes she’d neglected to put away.  After choosing the “right” clothes for each and dressing her, I replaced the detached doors of the closet, hung all the other clothes neatly in the closet, and posed the girls for best effect.  By then it was about 1:30 a.m. and I closed down the play date with myself and went to bed.  The next day, they had chosen to assume the same position I left them in. They’ve been there for a few weeks, but I have a party tomorrow night and decided it was time for them to go back into seclusion in my art studio.  Makes me kind of sad, though. Luckily, I had a photo shoot before assigning the gals back to the past. I neglected to do a photo shoot of Yoli’s choices of costume, but just as well, I don’t think her heart was really into “retro.”

Here is the whole group, posed for their photo shoot.
These little dolls sold for $2 each at the Super Value Grocery in the town I grew up in. They were displayed on the shelf over the vegetables. I think these were original outfits.
JAN DOLL(IN RED)
Jan’s eyes seem to have lost their pupils and irises over the years so she needs to wear glasses.
Yoli thought Brian was top dog, from the first.
This is Cissette in my favorite outfit, a bit child-worn from being played with by my stepdaughter and her friends. They cut up Jan’s leotard to make a sleeveless t-shirt! Grief. It was so cute. Before.

Click on first photo to see larger views of photos and to see captions.