etsy items Sept. 27, 2020

 These are the items I have either placed for sale on etsy or I have revised and updated them.

1960s Totsy Twistee clothing

https://www.etsy.com/listing/491891112/parts-of-three-outfits-for-totsy-twistee?ref=shop_home_active_3

1960s muslin fabric pattern to make boy doll clothing

https://www.etsy.com/listing/775600945/12-inch-boy-doll-ken-muslin-printed?ref=shop_home_active_105

1970s 3 cloth doll patterns, 2 for Raggedy Ann

https://www.etsy.com/listing/873059411/3-cloth-doll-patterns-raggedy-ann-and?ref=shop_home_active_18

1977 SunSet Malibu Ken plus Barbie and Ken clothing

https://www.etsy.com/listing/863864986/1977-sunset-malibu-ken-plus-barbie-ken?ref=shop_home_active_2

1994 Fisher Price Loving Family dollhouse furniture

https://www.etsy.com/listing/863938300/1994-fisher-price-loving-home-five?ref=shop_home_active_1

Francie's "Go Granny Go" returns in an unlikely place

Francie's 1966 nightgown, #1267 Go Granny Go was named for the chorus of the 1964 Jan & Dean song, "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena," which featured the refrain, "Go, Granny, go!"  I wonder if Jan Berry and Roger Christian, who wrote the song, ever considered suing Mattel for copyright violation?  But that's a question for another time.

The nightgown reappeared in an unlikely place decades later.  Julie Larson, the cartoonist of The Dinette Set, used a shorter version of the gown for Verla to wear to a wedding on July 24, 2013.  It still looks like a nightgown!

Verla, left, who is gossiping with her sister Joy at a wedding in 2013,
wears a dress that looks a lot like "Go Granny Go."

My 1966 blonde straight leg Francie
models her 1966 nightgown, Go Granny Go.
It's made of cotton that's supposed to look like flannel.

Newest items on etsy

 I have placed a number of new items on etsy, and have revamped some as well.

1950s McCall's pattern for 30-inch doll clothes, plus shoes
https://www.etsy.com/listing/853456280/mccalls-1950s-clothing-pattern-for-30?ref=shop_home_active_11

1970s Kenner Darci, Dusty and Jaime (revamped from an earlier listing)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/507019863/1970s-kenner-darci-dusty-and-jaime-dolls?ref=shop_home_active_72&cns=1

1984 White Nights DVD, LP and poster
https://www.etsy.com/listing/847756542/1985-white-nights-vhs-lp-and-poster?ref=shop_home_active_27

1990s Skipper and Courtney items
https://www.etsy.com/listing/868910633/1990s-skipper-courtney-items?ref=shop_home_active_2

1990s two Battat Elizabeth dolls
https://www.etsy.com/listing/867843759/battat-elizabeth-dolls-our-generation?ref=shop_home_active_7

1991 3 Midge Wedding Day items (revamped from an earlier listing)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/236993358/3-midge-wedding-day-items-1991-barbie?ref=shop_home_active_28

1996 Toy Biz Hercules 10-inch action figure NRFB
https://www.etsy.com/listing/854950556/1996-toy-biz-hercules-10-inches-tall?ref=shop_home_active_4

1999 Fisher-Price Briarberry Bears furniture and dishes
https://www.etsy.com/listing/868876293/1999-fisher-price-briarberry-bears-6?ref=shop_home_active_3

1999 Fibre Craft Olivia plus doll clothes (revamped from an earlier listing)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/753614698/fibre-craft-olivia-plus-mip-fashion?ref=shop_home_active_12

Midge isn't supposed to be the May Queen

 I am showing you photos of the front and back of the McDonald's Happy Meal Wedding Day Midge from 1991.  Until I photographed the back side I hadn't noticed how reminiscent she was of an early 1900s Catholic May Crowning Virgin Mary figure.  If you don't know what that is, Catholic school children walked in a parade behind a large statue of Mary who was covered with flowers.  May crowning was always on the first.

I never knew that Midge was Catholic!

It's easy to see that this Happy Meal figure is Midge and not Barbie because of the red hair.

Similar fabric for dress and hair ribbon

K-B Toys sold Starlight Carousel Barbie in 1998 (box date 1997).  Her drop waist skirt is made of a lame' beribboned fabric.  The back of the box lining shows two white horses.  Although this doll was sold as an item for collectors, it really is meant for a little girl to display.  As an adult, I didn't pay attention to this doll when she was first sold, as she is not the sort of item I collect.
In the meanwhile, some time in the 1990s I bought a huge hair ribbon/barrette for myself.  I don't remember at what store or where I purchased it, but I only wear it around Christmas because it is so shiny and gaudy.  Although the fabric of my barrette is very similar to Barbie's skirt, they are not quite identical.  Barbie's skirt is silver and my barrette is gold, and the arrangement of the colored stripes is a little different.  But both fabrics were obviously created by the same company.
Over the decades that I've been collecting, I have periodically seen human clothes made of the same fabrics that were used for doll outfits, but they've always been Mattel competitors, not those for Barbie.

If Barbie and I go out some day for Christmas,
folks will see that her dress and my hair decoration almost match!

Notice the carousel horses in the liner of the Starlight Carousel Barbie box.

Ken's "The Secret of Pleasant Manor"

Ken's 1987 ensemble, #1865 The Secret of Pleasant Manor, is supposed to be a historical costume, probably from the 1800s.  It comes with a top hat and cape, and makes Ken like a combination of Rhett Butler, Count Dracula, Harry Houdini and PT Barnum.

Who will Ken be for Halloween?  Rhett Butler, Count Dracula, PT Barnum or Harry Houdini?

The outfit is wild, all shiny white and silver.  The cape (which is actually a pouch) has a gray fur collar.  The top hat (Ken's first since 1966's #1426 Here Comes the Groom) is molded gray felt.  The only part of the outfit I don't care for are the slacks, with silver polka dot pinstripes!
This ensemble came with a small story booklet entitled "The Secret of Pleasant Manor," in which Barbie and Ken discover the yellow gown and tuxedo in a trunk in Whitney's/Princess Laura's house.  The clothing belonged to her ancestors.
Jewel Secrets dolls and outfits were all actually costumes and the dolls' original outfits came with masks.  Most of the costumes were for Mardi Gras, but I think Ken's outfit is better suited for Halloween.