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?"

__________

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.


dbg
__________
Thank you for following this blog, for reading the posts, and for your comments. If you are not already a subscriber, go to the homepage. If the right sidebar is not visible, scroll to the bottom and click "desktop view," locate and click "subscribe to posts." Optionally, also subscribe to comments. There is also an email subscription box for those who would like to receive posts by email.

Follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black
View the Doll Events page for updates. Check out my eBay listings here.

14R and Other 1950s-1960s High-Heel Fashion Dolls

Last year in anticipation of buying birthday and Christmas gifts for a friend, I asked her to share names or types of dolls that were on her want list.  "I'm always looking for 1950s high-heel fashion dolls" was her answer.  I was able to find five for her last year, which will be shared here, along with two that I own, and photos of others that she owns (shown on the left and later in the post).

All of the dolls I purchased for her and the two I own are categorized as 14R dolls.  The dolls I purchased and the two I own vary in size from 18 to 19-1/2 inches.  All have brown sleep eyes.

According to page 138 of Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide 1820 to 1991 by Myla Perkins (Collector Books, 1993), "Dolls marked 14R are a collection of glamour dolls made between 1957 and 1965.  It is not a company mark.  Dolls marked 14R were sold undressed to a variety of companies who then dressed and marketed them.  Companies known to have used the 14R doll were Bell, Deluxe Reading, Eegee, Natural, Rita Lee, Royal, and Sayco.  In some cases, other marks were added to the 14R.  An example of this is [a] doll marked 14R-1.  Some dolls with this mark are known to have been made by Eegee."  A very informative website devoted to 14R dolls also attributes 14R dolls to Roberta Dolls.  See link at end of this post.  As a result of my purchases, I can also attribute 14R-type dolls to Eugene Dolls.

All except one of the dolls I purchased needed a little help to make them presentable as gifts for my friend.  I will share before and after photos of these with details of what I changed or added.

The doll in the ill-fitting blue ball gown and light blue faded shoes, above left, was redressed in a pink ballerina outfit that includes white tights, white slippers with white ribbon ties, pearl earrings and necklace (above right).  The doll's hair was quite dry upon arrival.  I washed, conditioned, reset and styled it as illustrated in the photo on the right before sending her to my friend. The complete ballerina fashion and jewelry were found on eBay from a seller who continues to sell this in pink and a variety of other colors.  (The before photo above was taken by the eBay seller.)



The above photos on the far left and in the center are before photos of Eugene's 18-inch My Little Lady from the 1960s.  The doll arrived in her original box, which is an added plus.  Her hair, however, was jacked up, very fuzzy and flyaway.  I washed, reset, and styled it, as illustrated in the photo on the far right, which was taken by my friend because I failed to take an after photo before sending the doll to her.   Before sending, I also had to repaint the doll's black shoes as some of the original black paint had begun to chip away with the slightest touch.  Now she is near mint with original box.  (The before photo above was taken by the eBay seller.)



This doll has the loveliest face of all the ones I purchased.  Unlike the others, she has a stuffed vinyl body.  She arrived wearing a lovely pink satin dress, white satin panties and slip, and bare feet.  (Her before photo was also taken by the eBay seller).  I redressed her in a two-piece aqua sweater fashion (above right), added the pearl necklace, and purchased shoes (poorly) handmade for 14R and Miss Revlon dolls.  To make them fit her ankles, I had to cut and resew the elastic straps on the shoes.  Mounds of glue residue also had to be removed. Needless to say, I did not provide this eBay seller any feedback.

The aqua two-piece wearing doll's hair was pretty unruly upon arrival.  After shampooing, I applied gel and placed several metal hair clips on both sides and in back to create waves.  One side is wavier than the other.  (I tried.)  I gave her a new pair of vintage doll earrings, too.

Except for wiping off their vinyl, I did not have to redress or restyle the hair of the next two dolls.




The doll in the lime green hand-crocheted dress is 19-1/2-inches tall.  She has frosted brown hair with brown sleep eyes.  The doll on the right, also 19-1/2 inches, is My Dream Bride by Eugene.  She wears her original bridal gown, veil, and white high-heel shoes.  Much to my surprise, after their arrival, I discovered that the above two dolls are featured in Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide, books 1 and 2, respectively. Based on the return shipping label, I concluded that the eBay seller was Perkins' granddaughter.  I shared their provenance with my friend.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        

My Little Lady (the center doll in the photo on the left, previously described) was photographed by my friend with two 25-inch 1950s high-heel fashion dolls.  Two other 25- and 23-inch 1950s high-heel fashion dolls from her collection are shown in the above photo on the right.  She has stylishly redressed each of the taller dolls.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The two 1950s high-heel fashion dolls above have been part of my personal collection for several years.  Both wear their original fashions.  The bride is marked 14R while the one on the right is marked with a P.   Both wear the typical pearl drop earrings.  A full view of each is next.




I have also created a Pinterest board where photos all dolls featured here, as well as others, have been pinned.

A prior post on two additional 1950s high-heel fashion dolls can be read here.  These are not 14R dolls but they do fall into the 1950s high-heel fashion doll category.

This website is devoted to 14R dolls and includes a wealth of information about the dolls and the companies that used 14R- marked dolls.

dbg
Check out my eBay listings here.

Wild Wild Sunflower Child Anna

Anna by Alice Darling for Madame Alexander (click the pictures to enlarge).

Anna is from the 1990s "Let's Play Dolls series by Alice Darling (Robin Woods).  Designed for the Madame Alexander doll company, she is an all-vinyl, 13-inch doll with black wig styled in a curly side ponytail, which is accented by an over-sized bow of graduated colors.  Anna has brown painted eyes.  Her original floral print cotton dress is in pastel colors of yellow, mint green, pale pink, and light blue.  She wears white fishnet stockings and yellow Mary Jane shoes that have an embroidered basket with floral bouquet at the toe.

I purchased Anna at retail in approximately1994.  (The copyright date on her hang tag is 1993, so she probably entered the market a year later.)  I was very much into artist dolls then and purchased many newly released African American dolls with reckless abandoned.  Price was not an issue, well, mostly it wasn't because I had not yet established criteria for collecting and basically purchased what I liked, or what I thought I liked, and I liked and wanted Anna.

I still like her, but I grew to dislike her painted eyes.  They are not very realistic looking.  For years she has been on the top shelf at the back of the doll room collecting dust along with several similar dolls.

Earlier this month I received an email from fellow collector, Dawn Spears, with a link to an eBay auction for Anna.  Dawn asked if I owned the doll on auction that had been inspired by a book because she is familiar with my Dolls with Books exhibit.  My reply was, "I'll have to check."  I thought I probably owned the doll but the name "Anna" did not ring a bell.  I knew her artist, Robin Woods (aka Alice Darling) had made at least two dark-skinned dolls that use the same head and body sculpts as Anna, but I could not remember my doll's name.

Anna gazes at the book that inspired her creation.

The book, Wild Wild Sunflower Child Anna by Nancy White Carlstrom, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, was first printed in 1987.  At the time I received the email regarding Anna and the book that inspired her creation, I did own the doll but not the book.  I had no idea Anna's creation had been inspired by this book and had to learn more about this.

I did not have to look too far for the confirmation I needed.  It was right on Anna's wrist hang tag in big bold letters, confirming that she is from the Read Me a Story series by Alice Darling.  According to Anna's hang tag, "The dolls of  'Read Me a Story' are inspired by children’s love for stories and by contemporary children’s books.  The dolls provide interpretations of story book characters who become friends to play with and love."

A paragraph on the wrist hang tag about Anna reads:
"Anna, whose name means 'grace,' is appropriately named.  In a lovely book that tells its story with a poem, Anna frolics through the world of unfolding summer beauty.  Anna is of the age where every growing thing is full of wonders to be uncovered.  With unusual grace, the poetry of the book WILD WILD SUNFLOWER CHILD ANNA, celebrates the ability of children to see the world within the world we know."

My new-found doll knowledge prompted me to order the delightful book that inspired Anna's creation.   Had I known about it, it most certainly would have been purchased when I purchased Anna.  The book's illustrator, Jerry Pinkney, is described on the final page as:  "a talented artist who has illustrated a number of children's books..."  For previous illustrated books, "he was given the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration... He has also designed eleven stamps for the United States Postal Service..." (and probably more by now.)

While Anna the doll, is the three-dimensional character illustrated by Pinkney in the book by Carlstrom, another doll in my collection looks more like Pinkney's illustrations of Anna.

Jerry Pinkney's Anna

Above is another illustration of Pinkney's Anna as she explores a field of beautiful sunflowers.  The feet about the illustration are attached to a doll that looks more like Anna

Super Saucy-type doll by EEGEE, 1961

Up until now I have referred to the above doll as a Super Saucy-type because she uses the same mold as Ideal's 1960s Saucy Walker  (aka Super Saucy).  My doll, however, was made by EEGEE in 1961.*  She stands 29 inches and has been redressed and rewigged.  Her yellow pleated dress is almost identical to Pinkney's illustration of Anna and except for her bangs, their hairstyles are similar.

*(In the past, many doll companies used the same molds, having purchased them from the same manufacturer.  Dolls made by major doll companies were usually more popular than their sister dolls made by smaller companies.  This is the case with my Super Saucy-type.  With Ideal being a more prominent doll company, their Super Saucy was more popular than EEGEE's version.  I am grateful to EEGEE for making a black version because I am not aware of a Super Saucy with dark skin by Ideal.  Until I discover my doll's given name, I guess I'll call her Anna!)

Thank you for the heads up, Dawn, about Anna's book.  As I indicated to you in my email subject line:  "It's always good to learn something new."

 ~~~~~~~~~~

With an original retail of $95, Alice Darling's Let's Play Dolls series can be found on the secondary market today for $25 to $40.  Additional Let's Play Dolls by Alice Darling and other artists commissioned by Madame Alexander can be seen on Flickr where several scanned pages of ads and catalog pages appear.

dbg

Follow my Dolls for Sale blog

Please visit and "Like" The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak I Listen