Vintage Chatty Cathy
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Vintage 1962 Tiny Chatty Cathy Baby Doll with Original Outfit (Embroidered "Tiny Chatty Baby") |
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Vintage 1962 Tiny Chatty Cathy Doll |
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Paper Dolls of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s: Identification & Value Guide Sale Price: $26.75 |
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This book documents over 1,000 beautiful paper dolls. It covers three specific decades in history and carries information pertaining to the collecting, upkeep, and preservation of paper dolls. The book pinpoints where you can find vintage paper dolls to add to or start your collection... |
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Sewing for 20th Century Dolls: 100 Plus Projects, Vol. 1 Sale Price: $24.95 |
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Make 115 authentic doll clothing projects to dress your 20th century dolls. Add this important, fact-filled project book to your library. Ideal for every doll dressmaker, doll collector, hospital, and costume enthusiast, Sewing for Twentieth Century Dolls provides you with all the vital designing, decorating and making knowledge... |
The original Chatty Cathy dolls were one of the number one selling dolls during its time. The original dolls voice is the voice of creator, Ruth Handler. Ruth Handler and her husband created the dolls. There were also many toys and accessories created.
The number one or prototype Chatty Cathy doll was produced in 1959 and 1960. They had blonde and brunette colored hair styled in a pageboy or bob cut. The speaker was covered with cloth. There are no markings on the back of this first line. The limbs are usually a little more tan in color and the vinyl is just a bit thicker than the later models. Very rare in this first line is brown eyes. There were not a lot of the brown-eyed dolls made in this first line. If you find one with brown eyes, you have found a rare first edition Chatty Kathy doll.
The first line of dolls ALL had soft faces and they ALL said 11 different phrases. This first line is referred to as the "Classic" Chatty Cathy because they were the first ever produced. The year of 1959 is referred to as the "prototype" year. These are the Chatty Cathy dolls that are the most sought after. One in mint condition is worth hundreds of dollars and more in the re-sell doll market. It is times like these; I really wish I had my original Chatty Cathy doll. However, I would not sell her. Unfortunately, she was misplaced in all my childhood moves. I lost her. I just could never find her. I personally believe my mother gave her away to someone. And I do believe she had the brown eyes.
I have such a wonderful and vivid memory of receiving my first Chatty Cathy. I was born in the year of 1956. I could not have been over five years old when I began desiring her, so they were probably in existence about two years. I recall having a nice chat with my father while resting comfortably on his arm. Actually we were talking about how much God loves everybody and that included me of course. Out of curiosity I suddenly wondered if God would buy the Chatty Cathy doll for me I saw recently at the local Dimeco Variety Store I visited with my grandmother. She stood out from all the rest of the toys on the very top shelf. I could not stop looking at her, she looked so beautiful, and somehow I was even aware this particular doll could talk!
When I asked the question, dad just laughed and laughed, and replied: "you really should not ask God for material things such as a doll, but I promise you a special trip to the Dimeco Variety Store, and I will purchase the doll." "Oh my gosh," I said! I was so excited.
I could wait to get to the Dimeco Variety Store. When we arrived at the store, I lead my father straight to where she stood high on the top shelf and pointed at her. Now we had to get a clerk to help us get her down. Finally.....the clerk arrived (I was just so excited to get her down from there and into my possession, I could not stand still) with a ladder and even some other device she grabbed hold of Chatty Cathy and carefully brought her down to hold her.
The clerk climbed down from the ladder and handed me my first baby doll, which was one of the original Chatty Cathy dolls. I cannot tell you how delighted I was with her that day. I do not remember another event other than how happy dad was also to see how much I loved that doll and how happy it made me when he purchased her for me. I thanked him for his gift over and over again. We were both so happy that day. Secretly, I also thanked God for my gift of the Chatty Cathy doll. I was certain God helped make the arrangements as well.
Chatty Cathy had a string with a little round ring at the end. When you pulled the string, she would happily say all kinds of things to me (I thought she was saying them directly to me).
The Chatty Cathy doll was definitely a popular vintage doll created by Ruth Handler first in the year of 1959. Thereafter were different types and models. If one thought of them as being an educational toy, the educational benefits would probably be "how to nurture a child." Owners were parents. The dolls were as their children. The Chatty Cathy dolls could also help a child develop vocabulary. I developed a special nick-name of "Chatterbox."
This article is FREE to publish with the resource box
© 2007 Connie Limon All Rights Reserved
Written by: Connie Limon. For more information about starting and maintaining a Vintage Doll Collection visit http://smalldogs2.com/VintageDollCollecting For a variety of FREE reprint articles as well as special sections in U.S. History and the Kennedy Administration visit http://www.camelotarticles.com
HELLO, I HAVE A NO 1 CHATTY CATHY AND A CHARMIN CHATTY DOLL THAT NEED VOICE REPAIR WORK...?
I HAVE A 1961 VINTAGE ALL ORIGIONAL CHATTY CATHY DOLL THAT HAS HER ORIGIONAL PULL STRING BUT IT JUST HANGS LOOSE, DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE IN ENGLAND I CAN GET IT REPAIRED TO " TALK " AGAIN???
I ALSO HAVE A CHATTY CHARMIN MADE BY THE SAME COMPANY (MATTELL) SHE HAS HER ORIGIONAL PULL STRING INTACT AND IT STILL WORKS, BUT CHARMIN SQUEEKS RATHER THAN TALKS AND HER RECORD SEEMS LOOSE INSIDE, AGAIN DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN GET HER FIXED ALONG WITH HER COUSIN CHATTY???
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
TAKE CARE.
POOHBEAR.
There used to be someone in the USA who did repair them years ago, they are hard to do.
I pulled this from my repair manual this should help I hope.
The boxes are very hard to repair, I have special repair book from a school, I thought it has a diagram but only a pp on the voice box. The basic principal of the mechanism is simply a coiled spring like the ones you used to see in the old time alarm clocks. The strings merely tightens the spring. There is a governor which controls the record operation and a tiny tone arm and needle just as in larger phonographs. The last item is a speaker unit consisting of a cardboard cone similar in its design and operation to much larger speakers in radios and etc units. The principle of the unit is of course, not at all new. Soon after Edison invented the phonograph he invented a talking doll using this phonograph as a talking unit. This doll is based on that basic principle.
Hope this helps
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