Treasure Chest Thursday--My Jill Doll

Ah, my old Jill doll. As a young girl, I did not have all that many dolls probably because the doll buyer (my Mom) was not a doll fancier. She loved stuffed animals. I had so many plush critters covering my bed that it was difficult to get into it at night.



I can remember three dolls....Betsy Wetsy, Ginny and this Jill doll. Girls from the 1950's will remember Betsy....feed it a bottle filled with water and it would wet the diaper and cry "real" tears! There was also another version by a different company--Tiny Tears.

Ginny was my favorite. I have none from my childhood, but have collected the old, hard plastic ones as an adult. Truth be told, I became somewhat obsessed with doll collecting as an adult. Perhaps that is another blog. I don't know if I was trying to make up for not having dolls as a child....or what....now I currently have hundreds of them in antique display cases around the house.

My Jill doll shows some wear. As a child, I was not too "easy" with my toys or dolls. They were played with, taken into the bathtub and I usually gave them a haircut or two ;-) Enough to make any collector cringe.

The necklace is original to the doll. I'm not certain if it was actually purchased with an outfit or if I custom made it from a broken piece of jewelry I already owned.

When I found Jill among boxes of my saved memorabilia, she was wearing a little dress that was handmade by my maternal grandmother, Martha Marie Frederick Stark aka Teek. Back in the day, Teek made most of my dresses and she would always make a smaller version for Ginny or Jill. Come to think of it, I need to get a photo of that little dress!

For this photograph Jill is appropriately attired in a late 1950's ensemble with strappy gold heels.

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser