Krissy and other Barbie Babies

Kelly/Chelsea isn’t the littlest kid in Barbie’s world.  Over the years there have been several baby sized friends and family dolls, not the least of which is Barbie’s youngest sister, Krissy. Here are the ones in my collection, all shown with Grandma, to give you a sense of scale, and a size comparison to each other and Ryan, who has the first issue Kelly body.

Released around 1998/99, Krissy is Barbie’s youngest sibling (poor Mrs Roberts, how many is that now?) and is much smaller than Kelly/Chelsea.  As Kelly seemed to be getting increasingly older than the toddler she was originally intended to be, I suppose there was a gap for nurturing baby play and Krissy definitely fills that gap.  This little cutie is definitely a baby, there’s was no way she can be ‘aged’.  First released as Krissy Baby Layette in both blonde and AA versions, Krissy is jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips.  She has tiny bent arms and legs which also have looser joints, so can be posed in a laying or slight sitting position, if supported, pretty much like a real baby.  Her layette provides everything a wee bairn needs including multiple clothing pieces  – tiny nappies, tee shirts, overalls, a tutu and Christening gown – toys, feeding utensils, wrap and hanging nappy holder.

Krissy was issued in several sets on her own – Layette, Scrub a Dub, Swing n Play – as well as with big sister Barbie taking on babysitting duties. I know I bought my blonde Krissy Layette at a doll club meeting, so I have an inkling the initial, singular releases may not have been available here in Australia.  If anyone can clarify this for me, I’d be grateful.  Some of the Barbie and Krissy sets definitely made it here as I have found a few Krissies for customising at the op shop.  I also saw the singular AA Krissy sets at the Mattel outlet in the US, but didn’t buy one due to my only-one-doll-per-face-mould rule, but really regretted it.  Luckily, I picked up the doll and most of her layette accessories at another doll club meeting, so have five Krissy sized dolls in all.  Krissy was only around for about five years which is a shame as she really is a cutie and all her little bits and bobs are so well thought out and made.  Her clothing especially is so well designed – although sometimes hard to get on, they’re oh so tiny. 

The very first baby in Barbie’s world is part of Barbie Baby Sits, first released in 1963.  This set not only included a cute little soft plastic, blonde headed baby in its floral lined bassinet with baby bottle, but an apron, glasses, school books, a bottle of coke and box of pretzels, clock, phone and list of phone numbers for Barbie. I’m missing most of the accessories but I picked up the baby at a doll club meeting.  Like Krissy, this baby is jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips and its limbs are similar in shape.  The safety pin in its nappy is a wee bit big, Barbie would have been dangerous wrangling that on the poor kid’s change table, but it adds to the charm of the set. This set was available until 1965, which brought a couple of small changes to the accessories.

Barbie Baby Sits was updated in 1976.  This time the baby included was one first used in The Sunshine Family dolls, also by Mattel.  This little cutie has fixed limbs and a moveable head with big blue inset plastic eyes and blonde hair. There are a few variations in the colour of outfits, blankets and accessories, which include a nappy, jacket, blanket, christening gown, bib, soap, duck, bear bottles, dish, highchair, bath and cradle as well as an apron and list of phone numbers for Barbie.   Some of the furniture and accessories are borrowed from The Sunshine family too. I’m not sure if this set was available in Australia, I don’t remember seeing it, if anyone knows, please let me know. I don’t have this set but I do have Sweets from The Sunshine Family, who you can tell saw a lot of play in my childhood.

The Rosebud/Heart Family-type baby dolls were used in the Barbie line, in 1995/96 they were included as young students for Teacher Barbie. These dolls are kind of cute in their own way, but they are way out of scale for Barbie, their heads are huge in comparison.  They’re most definitely babies, their wee legs moulded as a lot of baby doll’s legs are with bent knees and little feet that cross.  They’re fine laying or sitting down, but they can’t stand up. Each Teacher Barbie set included a boy and girl doll of varying ethnicity and hair colour, so collecting all the variations of these dolls is an exercise in itself. I find them a very strange inclusion for the Barbie line considering the scale, but I suppose they were the only small dolls Mattel had at the time.  These dolls were also sold in Europe and Asia as Barbie Lil Friends.

A new tinier baby appeared in the Heart Family line as a ‘new arrival’ around 1986 and was soon co-opted into Barbie’s world in sets with both Barbie – including in a couple of Doctor Barbie issues – and Skipper. I think my doll is from Skipper Cool Sitter 1998, and was an op shop rescue. This little cutie has an unbending body very similar to that of Sunshine Family Sweets, but the head has been updated.  There is a variation head mould that has a slightly different hairline, and occasionally these wee dolls were given a tuft of long rooted hair.

A new baby and toddler joined Midge and Alan’s Happy Family range from 2002/3. Hiding within Midge’s magnetic pregnant tummy was a tiny little Nikki doll.  And this doll really is tiny. Perhaps a touch too tiny to be in scale for even a new born in Barbie’s world. I know it had to fit inside the detachable belly, but I think it is a touch too wee. It is jointed at the neck, shoulder and hips, with little bent limbs. My baby is another op shop rescue, and thankfully it was wearing its weeny clothes. They’re so well made and I doubt I would have been able to find or make anything that small. I thought Krissy’s clothes were hard to get on and off, these are next level difficult.

In the later Happy Family sets, Nikki had grown to toddler size – and got some same-size friends – while the baby became an unnamed third child in the Midge, Nikki and Baby set from 2004. These little toddler dolls are jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips, with straight legs and slightly bent arms.  My Nikki is an op shop find and is from the 2004 set.  She has slightly different arms, one has a moulded cookie in its hand, the other hand contains a small magnet so she can pick up some of the grocery items in the set.  As I found both of these Happy Family kids at op shops these sets must have been sold here, as was the toddler sized Happy Family Neighbourhood Baby Friends set, which also included a little table and chairs.

Skipper Babysitters Inc from around 2017, introduced yet another range of babies.  These littlies have a body shape similar to the Sweets body, but with joints at the shoulders and hips.  There are several variations in vinyl colours and hair colours.  There are also probably a few tiny dolls I’ve missed, there have been so many over the years.  I’ll add them here, when and if I come across them.

Don’t forget, I’m now on Instagram – @jenjoysworld(and a non-doll photo art account @jenniferbs_world). There’ll be some unique content and behind the scenes stuff, so head over and follow.

(C) Jennifer B – All content is subject to copyright and may not be re-published or reproduced without written permission. 

Holly Hobbie and her Gazebo

One morning a few weeks ago, I woke up with the immediate thought, ‘where’s my Holly Hobbie Gazebo?’ Which is weird, because it was never a favourite toy, and I hadn’t seen it or thought about it in years.  But I had to get up and start searching, and luckily, it was where I thought it was, in storage.

I can’t say I was a particular fan of Holly Hobbie, but in the 70s you couldn’t turn around without seeing the aesthetic – either genuine Holly Hobbie, or a knock off version – everywhere, so of course lots of branded and clone items made their way into my possession (and a quick rootle in a cupboard or two revealed that I still have some of them). I also remember having a couple of long peasant-style patchwork dresses that I loved, and which were the height of fashion at the time.  As a budding artist Holly Hobbie also impacted my artwork, making me realise that figures could be drawn without complicated facial features, or indeed, without faces at all, a lot of the Holly Hobbie et al figures have their faces hidden under big hats, drawn side on or even from the back.  And when I started researching my gazebo I was really surprised to find that Holly Hobbie was a real person, the artist after whom the character was named.

I bought the gazebo at a church fete at a time when I was getting too old for dolls, but I just loved the idea of it. It was in excellent condition, especially considering it is largely cardboard, and it came with a Holly Hobbie doll.  One pin that holds one of the sides closed is broken and Holly is missing one shoe and her picnic accessories, but these problems were happily overlooked. I can’t remember how much it was, but it can’t have been very cheap as I remember umming and ahhing for a while, and mum asking me if I really needed it, before deciding that I did.  It was a slight disappointment that it was out of scale for Barbie, and even a little small for dolls such as Charlie’s Angels, but I found it fascinating nonetheless, even though I didn’t really play with it very much. I vaguely remember having a small Holly Hobbie or clone rag doll at the time, but I don’t really know why I didn’t have any of the other vinyl Holly Hobbie dolls.  I remember seeing them when I was a kid, but I have an inkling they were quite expensive.  They were also not really fashion dolls and smaller than the other dolls I owned, so there were probably other things I wanted more. 

I still love the gazebo, and I still wish it were Barbie sized.  The Holly Hobbie dolls were made by the Knickerbocker Toy Company around 1976, so the gazebo must have been a couple of years old by the time I got it.  The main body of it is made from hard plastic, with six heavy, printed cardboard panels that extend the play area and then fold up to enclose the structure.  One panel has a hard plastic swing attached to it, and another has an orange polka dot fabric hammock suspended between hard plastic supports.  The others are printed with a vegie patch, stone path, picnic rug and barrel of apples.  The outside of the panels is printed with pictures of the Holly Hobbie characters and the gazebo.

The Holly Hobbie doll is six inches tall.  Her outfit of printed patchwork dress, blue floral bonnet and matching bloomers, white socks and blue shoes, is really well made and quite a good replica of the artwork fashion.  I only wish she had little brown boots instead of the blue shoes.  The doll itself is quite cute, the facial features are quite stylised – big round cheeks, a small mound for a nose and tiny printed eyes and mouth – and long strawberry blonde hair. I have a feeling I wasn’t a fan of the face as a child, but now I can appreciate its simplicity.   

I was just thinking I must find a friend for Holly, now that I’d rediscovered the gazebo, when a visit to a friend saw me presented with a gift of Carrie and her cute wee cat (thanks heaps Jason).  Carrie has short reddish hair and wears a little brown polka dot dress with attached calico apron, huge floral bonnet, white tights and brown shoes.  Better still, her wee grey cat is pictured on the gazebo, so fits in perfectly.  She also has her table, but is missing the stool, bowl, cup, spoon and ladle. There is a third doll in the series, Amy, with long blonde plaits, so perhaps she may cross my path at some time.  Of course, these dolls were just the tip of the Holly Hobbie marketing iceberg, there were twelve inch dolls, rag dolls, dolls houses, doll’s clothes as well as all sorts of other toys, cards, gifts and homewares.  And now, I’ll have to pull the place apart until I find my wee rag doll.  I know she must be here somewhere, and although she doesn’t really work with the gazebo, I’d like all my Holly Hobbie toys together. 

Don’t forget, I’m now on Instagram – @jenjoysworld(and a non-doll photo art account @jenniferbs_world). There’ll be some unique content and behind the scenes stuff, so head over and follow.

(C) Jennifer B – All content is subject to copyright and may not be re-published or reproduced without written permission.