Three Little Girls, Three Little Dolls

Here is a picture of my sisters and I out in back of our old first house that we lived in. We have in front of us our Ginny dolls. Mine has glasses on and a lovely black beret. I believe I got her when I was seven. Dolls were my world then. The advent of new walking dolls with their own fantastic wardrobes you could buy for them made me over the top.

I remember telling you that we went to Cleveland, Ohio in the fall for new school clothes. Sometimes we got to see the toy departments of the great stores: Macy's, The May Company, and others. The Ginny outfits were a bit pricey for those times. I think the real fancy ones were about $7, quite a lot of money then.

My sister on the right of the picture, Jean, the one I traveled with, always found the truly different ensembles. Her doll had a rollerskating skirt and sweater and skates that moved. She had a turquoise velvet coat with pink fuzzy pompoms and a fuzzy pink muff and hat. And the best, her doll had a nightgown and lace housecoat and a little mirror and comb set.

My doll was not completely lacking in luxuries. She had ice skates, a whirly skirt, and a cute little pink plastic suitcase. I was a bit tight with a buck and my mom made me many nice little costumes. To this day, Jean always picks things that are classy and I am still trying to save money. Not that I don't have any, I'm just a bit of a Scrooge.

My other sister, Ellen, had a pretty Ginny, too. She had cute things but she and I were so young that our dolls didn't make it to "adulthood" as well as Jean's. Mine was nice enough that I gave her and some other collectible dolls away to three little girls a while ago. Dolls should be played with. That's my motto.