This is a photo of me in 1961, probably shortly after my 1st birthday. The doll is 'Baby Blue'. My Mom tells me that she thinks the name on the box that she came in was 'Baby Blue Eyes', hence the name that she ended up with. This doll went everywhere with me for years. I did not go to sleep without her. I remember one time we had been to visit my Great Grandparents (my Great Grandpa always asked me "Where's Blue Baby?" and I always had to correct him, of course!) and I apparently fell asleep on the way home. In my groggy state, I left poor Baby Blue in the car. When I realized where she was, it took some convincing Daddy that 'she couldn't stay in the car all night in the dark, she would be afraid!'. He rescued her and she was tucked safely in bed with me in no time.
To this day, I remember the way she smelled, how her arms felt, how the curls of her 'molded plastic hair' were on her head. I remember that her arms were made of a different more rubbery plastic than her legs and her torso. Her head was the softer vinyl, I guess. She had blue eyes, of course, that closed when she laid down. She had a hole in her mouth for a bottle, and another hole...you know...for the liquid to drain out. :-) Over the years, the plastic around the armholes became brittle and cracked, causing her arms not to stay connected. When I was around 11 or so, my Mom was cleaning out toys and stuff and ended up throwing her out. I didn't play or sleep with her anymore, and her arms wouldn't stay in the sockets. I was disappointed, and would really have liked to have kept her, and Mom wouldn't have gotten rid of her if she had known. That's okay, because now I am on a quest.
The quest to find Baby Blue. Of course, not the 'real' her, she's at the bottom of a landfill somewhere, but at least her twin. Unfortunately, I don't remember who her manufacturer was, of course at the tender age of 1, why would I have cared? Ha! She was most likely purchased from Pic 'N Save, or W.T. Grants or somewhere like that, in the North Florida area. I have found a couple with a pretty close resemblance on Ebay. I actually went to a doll shop here in town today, who had one listed. Unfortunately, it wasn't her. It was a valuable trip though, because that doll was about 22 inches tall, so by looking at that, I know that Baby Blue was more in the 18 inch range. A 22 inch doll would have been as big as me!
So, here I am in 1961. Me and Baby Blue. Now, 46 years later, I'm searching for her twin! If anyone has any idea who the manufacturer might have been, or know of some good places to look...I'm open! This is my APB for Baby Blue!
1 comment:
What a great picture! You were such a cute little girl. No wonder you turned out so beautiful! I'll be looking for Baby Blue for you. I still have several of my childhood items. I'll have to post some pictures of them. Stay tuned! The item I remember from my childhood is a Golden Book called either "My New Red Shoes" or "My New Red Dress". I would love to get a copy of it again.
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