Yvonne Dollygirl Page

Dollies

My email address begins with "dollygirl" when I give it out to people I often get a saucy wink, with a 'nudge, nudge, say no more' type of look. I find it hard to say to people, '"Umm, I didn't quite mean it that way...."

I love all things vintage. Furniture, fabric, housewares, jewelry, clothing, patterns, and especially dolls.

My favorites are dolls from the 1950's & 60's. One of my all time favorites is Tiny Betsy McCall. Briefly, the 1950's is sort of a renaissance for the toy industry, where many dolls and other toys were able to be mass produced where they hadn't previously. They were marketed to the consumer in new ways too, like at grocery stores. Dolls such as Betsy McCall, Sweet Sue, Ginny, Toni, Miss Revlon and others were available less expensively, and many different outfits as well as playsets were available.

Tiny Betsy McCall (made by American Character at 8" tall, debuted in 1957, there was also a larger 14" version first made by Ideal, in 1952) Betsy McCall paperdolls were also available in McCall's Magazine, starting May 1951 and featured for over 40 years (the last being in 1995) Betsy had pets -Nosy the dachshund, and a Kitten, as well as extended family - Mom (Mrs. McCall) Dad, (James McCall (named after the magazine's founder) cousins Sandy, Barbara & Linda. There were various friends that also appeared in the 'story' the paperdoll series portrayed. Several of the characters were also made into doll form. In the early 2000's, Robert Tonner of Tonner Co. came out with a new version of Tiny Betsy, and doll collectors were once again smitten.

Other than Betsy, I also am very fond of Barbie and American Girl dolls. I love to sew, and have made outfits for them over the years. Below please find pictures of some of the dolls I've collected, and outfits I've made, and general silliness.