I am hoping that tomorrow - which is supposed to be clear and 10-12 degrees warmer - graduation will end early enough that I can go down there for a while in the afternoon. (Graduation is supposed to end at 11, but it never does.)
So I gathered up my various patterns and sought out the needles I needed and also the yarn. And I have a few skeins of sockyarn to wind off (the one for the Vintage Fairy Lights pattern, for example). And discovered that in a couple cases I can use the same circular needle for two things I want to make, and that saves a little on space.
I also pulled out the Sunshine family dolls and cleaned them up. (I didn't wash the clothes; they were not dirty and I was afraid of colors fading or running). Fortunately the "grime" on the dolls was just surface grime, probably from where they were stored. The arms were a *little* sticky, which could be plasticizer leaking, but not bad. (I did put a little powder on Grandpa's arms so I could easily get his shirt back on).
So here they are:
I am pretty sure these are the 1976 version of the dolls based on the clothes (and also, the plastic and hair "feel" different than I remember the set I have feeling). I have the 1974 set at my parents' house - I know I was *very* small when I got them (Probably for Christmas, now that I think about it). I never did have the grandparents and the baby I have was blonde, with straight hair, and came dressed in a set of footie pajamas that were almost *impossible* to get on and off (From another playset I had a little sunsuit for her, but I almost never changed her clothes because that stupid set of pajamas was so tough on little fingers. I winder if the sleep-sack on this doll was a modification because there were complaints).
The adults have the same bodies (Grandma is equally slim to her daughter) but the faces are molded slightly differently, which is sort of pleasing. (I didn't mess with the hair; it seems a little thinner and more fragile than that on the dolls I have and I didn't want to risk any falling out)
They're nice little dolls - a bit smaller than Barbie and the women have less-extreme figures (smaller bustlines, and also larger waists and less of a hip-to-waist ratio). The arms are sort of rubbery but don't have joints, but the knees have nice hinge joints so they will sit nicely.
(Confession: Now I kind of want to get the African-American versions of these, too: called the Happy Family. I don't like how the father is dressed, it looks too "casual" but of course I could always make him a little sweater to go over the tank top. I suspect they are more expensive than the Sunshine Family because I suspect fewer of them were made)
I know some of the dollbloggers I read have referred to these dolls as "creepy" in a way (though I know some people who think all dolls are "creepy," whatever). I don't know. This was my childhood - the whole "nature loving" back to the lander Waltons and Little House on the Prairie thing.
I remember "knowing" how to play with these dolls (pretending to plant a garden, or make stuff for their house - for a while, they "lived" on a couple shelves of a bookcase I had in my childhood bedroom) or going to a fair or a zoo with the baby - in ways I didn't "know" how to play with Barbie, whose glamorous life didn't seem to intersect anywhere with mine. (The 1970s were the years of Malibu Barbie with her swimsuit and suntan, which was even more foreign to a landlocked kid with a fear of going in the "deep end" of the pool)
So these dolls hold a nostalgic appeal for me, partly because I played with an earlier incarnation of these, but also because their "lifestyle" was in some ways one I idealized as a child: being able to make stuff, and knowing how to keep a garden, and having a cozy house, and having the sort of nice and fun adventures (like zoo trips, or going to an outdoor concert) that a young family in that era might have.
One more photo, below a jump because it was while I was cleaning them and there is Doll Nudity (!!!)
Caption: "What? Naturism was big in the 1970s."
But at least you can see the construction of the bodies here. Adults have neck, hip, shoulder, and knee joints. The baby's body is all one piece but her head does turn.
And you can also see they're less "built" than Barbie is, and I guess less even (the men) than 1970s Ken. (I don't know, I never had a Ken).
1 comment:
It was very windy here today too, but no rain. Made it unpleasantly cold to work outdoors, and I had to go out to the boarding ranch where I keep my (retired) horse, to do "horse chores" for about half an hour. Thank goodness I can knit warm hats and scarves or neckwarmers for myself.
I remember the Sunshine Family from my childhood (I'm a little older than you are), but don't think I've seen the Happy Family before. The Sunshine grandparents look just like one of my grad school profs and his wife (and have a similar lifestyle, LOL). I had a Julia (Diahann Carroll's TV series role) doll, because I loved that show, and I had an African-American baby doll too. My grandparents brought me an Inuit baby doll from a trip to Alaska (of course they called it an Eskimo baby back then). My sister liked Barbies, and had a diverse collection. When we outgrew our toys, books, and records, they went to the playrooms at the children's hospital where my mom worked. My main nostalgic childhood acquisitive concession as an adult is coloring books - I have loads and keep buying more. Fortunately they're relatively inexpensive, and it's very relaxing to work in them. Good way to try out new art supplies too.
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