EEGEE's Walking Annette, a Makeover

The doll in the black velour top is Walking Annette by EEGEE

Walking Annette is a 32-inch doll by E. Goldberger.  The company is also known as or referred to as  EEGEE or simply EG.  Several versions of Walking Annette were made circa 1970s, possibly as early as the 1960s.  Later versions also exist.  I own two of the 1970s versions.  The first one I acquired was in played-with, nicely redressed condition upon arrival.  She was for sale in a local doll shop that one of my brothers happened to stop in during the late 1990s/early 2000s to see if there were any black dolls that would interest me.  There were and my first Walking Annette was one of the two or three dolls I received in a trade with the shop owner.  The shop owner received from me a couple of Home Shopping Network porcelain dolls from the late 1990s/early 2000s that I no longer desired, so I thought it was a fair trade.

I thought this pose was so precious and had to capture it in a photograph.

Recently, I took the first and the above photograph of my first Walking Annette because she and the doll behind her (1961 Coloured Nurse Walking Doll by Reliable Toy of Canada -- yes, that is her manufacturer's given name) had fallen into what I thought was a precious pose.  (Actually, someone might have bumped into them as they entered or left the doll room because they are near the entrance.  The bump probably caused the pose, but I'd like to think they created it themselves.)

After taking the above two photographs, I noticed how dusty Walking Annette's black velour top had become and how "fried" her hair looked (which is the way it was upon her arrival over two decades ago).  Other than brushing her "shag" hairstyle, I had done nothing more to it throughout the years.

The dusty top and fried hair led to washing her top and shampooing, conditioning, and setting her hair.  I wiped off her black and white saddle oxfords as well with a warm, soapy towel.  Photos of most of this are captured and captioned below.

Before Photographs

Walking Annette's hair was rooted by EEGEE in layers to create the 1970s popular "shag" hairstyle.

"Don't worry, anything will be better than the way your hair looks now," said the nurse doll to Walking Annette.

In the above "before" photographs, Walking Annette's top has been removed for washing.  These photos illustrate how dry and lack-luster her hair looked.  In the final photo, the nurse doll appears to reassure Walking Annette that everything will be okay, that I would take great care washing and styling her hair.

Washing and Deep Conditioning

In these two photos, Walking Annette's hair has been washed and conditioner applied.  I used liquid black soap to wash her hair, which created a nice lather and washed all the dirt out.  The rinse water was brown!  Next, I applied a generous amount of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration conditioner and left the conditioner in for several hours before rinsing.

Setting the Hair

With the hair still damp, I applied olive Eco Style Gel to small sections before rolling each with a combination of magnetic and rod rollers.  Because I wanted her bangs to lie flat, I did not roll that section, but the ends of the bangs were trimmed.  The rollers were left in over 24 hours to allow the hair to air dry and for the curls to set.

The Reset Hair

After the rollers were taken out, I gently combed each curl to reshape Walking Annette's original "shag" hairstyle as illustrated.  It is now nicely reshaped.

Back In Where She Fits In

Walking Annette was returned to her original place in the doll room, in between Patti Playpal and the walking nurse, who said to her, "I told you it would be okay.  Your hair looks so pretty and your top and shoes are no longer dusty or dirty.  Aren't you happy?"

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NRFB Walking Annette

My second Walking Annette is shown above in a photo from page 75 of my first book, The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls, which was published in 2003 (so the value shown was based on the 2002/2003 doll market.)  My doll remains in the never-removed-from-box state.  This version has a huge Afro hairstyle and was dressed in granny-style clothing, which was popular in the mid-1960s to 1970s.  All this version of Walking Annette needs to complete her granny look is a pair of round gold-rimmed rose-tinted glasses, which were frequently worn with granny-style clothes in the mid-1960s to 1970s.


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