In Search of Nancy by Bella

Internet-found picture of side-glancing Nancy by Bella, 1966

Nancy by Bella, copyright 1966 uses the American Character Tressy body.  After American Character filed bankruptcy in 1968, the company was acquired by Ideal Toy Company and many companies purchased their doll molds.  The French doll company, Bella, is one such company.  Bella also continued to manufacture American Character’s Tressy (the original grow-hair fashion doll) using molds acquired from American Character.  See the Tressy Dolls by Bella link below.

I saw a headshot of Nancy in a Facebook doll Group.  The only information provided was the doll’s name.  I asked for additional information, but nothing was added.  I copied and saved the photo to my computer (like most doll enthusiasts are known to do when they see a doll they covet).  I also pinned the doll to my Barbie Clones Pinterest board thinking that Nancy was a clone of Barbie, which now I know she is not.

Michelle Obama gives some serious side-eye during the 2012 presidential handoff.

After a few weeks of viewing the saved photo, I mustered the nerve to post it to my doll Facebook group along with a photo of former First Lady Michelle Obama with the caption, “I would love to own this doll! A Barbie competitor that was probably made for the 1960s European doll market, her name supposedly is Nancy. I have never seen a doll [from this era] with lips this full and shaped as though she is slightly perturbed. (Reminds me of some of Michelle Obama's expressions at the [person] in the WH's inauguration when she later admitted she stopped trying to smile.) I initially thought the photo of ‘Nancy’ might have been photoshopped. I asked the poster [in the other group] to share the manufacturer's name, but there was no reply.”

White and Black versions of Nancy by Bella are described and valued in Poupées Mannequins des Annéss 60 Guide du Collectionneur by Kathy Moreau which was published in 2005.

After a few days, one of my group’s members, who goes by Tammy Teej (of Curiositeej Dolls & Collectibles), shared the above image from the above-named title which provides Nancy’s date of manufacture, the manufacturer’s name, and the country of origin (1966, Bella, France).  Woohoo!  I had been given a jumpstart to commence further research on Nancy.  Translated from French to English the text from the above scan reads:

Nancy (mid-length black hair version 1966) Very rare doll of 30 cm in black vinyl; head, arms and legs movable; non-folding legs; painted features; big mouth; black hair implants mid-length, without bangs and without wicks of hair that grows; straight legs.
Marks: Bella in a rectangle vertically on the neck.
Clothing of origin; a dress with multicolored triangles; pink, orange, yellow, blue and gray.
Value: 700 Euros and more in a box
500 Euros and more without box

Google searches for “Nancy doll by Bella of France 1966” resulted in several images of Tressy.  This is how I discovered that Nancy is not a Barbie competitor.  I briefly considered her next as a Tressy competitor, but other than using American Character Tressy’s original body, Nancy has her own head sculpt.  Like Tressy and Barbie, Nancy is 11-1/2-inches tall.  There are short-hair and long-hair versions of Nancy, first and second editions.   At the previous link, the short-hair version wears her original dress, which fits the description written in the French publication. 

Because of her beautiful head sculpt and fact that she reminds me of Former First Lady Michelle Obama, and because I owned the original American Character  (AC) Tressy as a child (the white version) and now own a colorized version of AC’s Tressy, I would love to add Bella’s Nancy to my collection.  If you have one for sale or know someone who does, please let me know.  I am seriously on the lookout for Nancy by Bella.

Related Links:

Tressy Dolls by American Character:  http://www.tressydoll.com/page2.htm

Tressy Dolls by Bella: http://www.tressydoll.com/page3.htm

Curiositeej Dolls & Collectibles

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