Now Playing: me being lazy !
Current Mood : Surprised anyone can ever take any pet photos at any time. Those kittens learned to hate the camera flash pretty darn quick ! But as you can see, they're eyes are just starting to open ! Cuuuuute overload !!
Had an interesting epiphany today. Was cleaning up the Lab - with all the new dolls and stuff, it was a total pit ! - when I got to my Walda-like doll. I've already put aside the dress she came from the thrift store in (Playmates' Interactive Belle's blue Village one), and was cleaning her up a bit. Her face was grimy with that kind of greasy dirt you find caked up in yer kitchen. Well, maybe just my kitchen, I'm a terrible housekeeper ! It was coming up easily enough, but I was thinking of Waldas and porcelain dolls, and dolls in general.
Y'see, I don't like porcelain dolls. Never have. Even took a class in making them overseas - twice ! - and I secretly loathed both of the ones I made, despite having customized them with favorite hair and eye colors. I knew part of it was the breathless adoration of antique porcelain in doll magazines, while I prefer dolls I can play with and alter...and afford ! I also don't care much for the ones in doll magazine ads of cute boy dolls going potty and over-ribboned little girl dolls with butterflies on her three-layer lace-edged skirt matching the one alight on her hand just turned my stomach. I'm lookin' at you, Hamilton Collection, QVC, and Bradford Exchange ! They were over-idealized images of childhood that *nobody* ever had. I doubt anyone here had wild songbirds perch on upraised fingers and sing with him or her - but the dolls posed and accessorized for this are legion. It probably goes back to my whole ‘princess' issue...desperately want to be one, knows I'm just too ‘me' to be that, ever. These dolls, however, seemed to promise a fantasy that no one had until the doll existed.
I bought and read Life-Like Dolls, supposedly a study of the modern made-for-collectors porcelain doll lifestyle. It was more of a condemnation of lonely 60-something empty-nesters than an actual study of advertising, society, class issues, and personal choice, so I read it again. Nope. Still a ‘that house fulla $100. dolls won't be worth a dime when yer dead, Granny !' attitude permeating all the text. So it didn't help much. I think the author didn't like dolls in any media, which didn't help her thesis or the book.
I then paid loose attention to what I did like. Fashion dolls were easy enough, but what about the other dolls ? I soon realized, with the acquisition of Baby Chrissy, that I don't like mixed-material dolls. If the head and limbs are vinyl, I really don't like a stuffed fabric body. It needs to be vinyl, too. If everything's fabric or plastic, that's fine. But it's a good reason why I don't like porcelain dolls - it's rare that the chest/body is porcelain, too. If I could find an American Girl clone that's all vinyl, I'd probably buy her. It's typical that the soft parts sag, and in a play doll, the stuffing might even shift, so you're stuck with a floppy doll that's difficult if not impossible to fix. It just seems like it would be easier to go all one-way or the other when it comes to doll body materials.
So. While I was cleaning the poor-quality-even-for-Walda clone, it hit me. Porcelain's fragile, of course, so it makes sense the chest-body have some flexibility to it, especially back in the day when plastic and vinyl were science fiction impossibilities. But this is also the area darn near always covered by costume - it often wasn't as attractive as the rest of the doll, either. And that part was often dirt cheap. Waldeena, here, has a body made of such cheap fabric, the recycled carpet cushion she's stuffed with shows through. Her arms, legs, and head are attached with plastic twine, wrapped around several times, tied, and sloppily glued down. Seams are crooked and uneven, with the barest possible seam allowance keeping her together. Even her feet are unpainted, with the expectation that her shoes and socks would remain covering them. Nope. You end up wanting to make sure she's covered, neck to ankles, to hide her ugly body. Seriously, I want to make Waldeena here a burqua. I want someone to think she's pretty, but there's not much here to recommend her.
It really boils down to more of what I see as a quality issue more than anything else. I really hate paying for only what I can see, but doll and toy companies are founded and flourish on that. When a company cheaps out on the part that doesn't show, I feel they cheaped out on me, and are unworthy of my trust and cash. And pretty much every porcelain doll is beautiful only where it shows.
Who'd have thought I'd actually have a reason to not like porcelain dolls ? I thought I was just being a reverse snob, because no matter how cute they are, I don't like Shirley Temple dolls either. They're expensive, have a rabid fan-base, and have reams of paper dedicated to their adoration. And most of them have all-compo or all-vinyl bodies. But I'm really just not into Shirley Temple. Every so often, it really is that simple.
And I'm free from ever even having to think about porcelain dolls ever again...unless I strip one for her dress ! From what I've seen on eBay, Crissy can fit that classic brown Walda praire dress ! Anybody want a copy of Life-Like Dolls ?
How is Miz Velvet doing? Fine I hope. Oh I had to comment on your Tracey doll. I got the bride one in the early 80s some time. She is still one of my fave Barbie related dolls. The gown is long gone, but I still have her. I will have to post pics of her on my blog one day to show you. Would love to see what your girl looks like. I can't remember what the dress looks like. White, I know. LOL! 
