Crazy for Crissy

February 11, 2015

Crazy for Crissy

Baby Crissy with cut hair

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been revisiting childhood the past few days working on a Baby Crissy doll. My sister had Baby Crissy and we played with her all the time. We had this same version. Amazingly, my sister's Crissy survived unscathed and with un-cut hair and is now owned by my niece. My sister sent a picture of Crissy wearing one of my baby nephew's diapers sitting in a chair in their family room the other day. This Baby Crissy was not so lucky. Her hair wasn't just cut; the entire ponytail was missing, along with the cord and pull ring. I replaced the ponytail and rooted in a little human hair for extra thickness around the crown of her head. You can find a tutorial showing how to replace Crissy's hair here.

The Ideal mark

The hair "grows".

Crissy was a play doll as recently as the late 1990s, I guess, because she came wearing a real baby diaper I recognize as being a store brand worn by my own son. It made me nostalgic! I cleaned her inside and out, but there are a few play marks here and there I couldn't remove. The rubber bands which originally tensioned her arms and legs rotted and I removed them, so her limbs are a bit loose. She can still pose, however. I only had giant curtain rings to replace the plastic pull ring on the cord, so I find the diaper useful for storing the ring when Crissy's hair is short.

Crissy has some play marks I couldn't remove.

I dressed Crissy in real baby clothes that came in the same lot of dolls as she. I'm guessing they're from the 80s or maybe early 90s but I really don't know. They're a good fit, however, and cute on Crissy. I gave Crissy a vintage squeaky rubber doll toy. Then I tagged her with my own tag and gave her a hair net, so she's all ready for a new mommy. You can find her, and many other dolls including a 1990s Ideal/Tyco growing hair Baby Crissy, in my store, Atelier Mandaline.