Thursday, November 4, 2010

Treasure Chest Thursday, Toni

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

From my youth, my Toni doll.  Dress is not original, I actually made it years ago, well over 20 years ago.  (I made it to match the colors in my bedroom, so she was color-coordinated, but of course!  LOL)


I cut her hair when I was young, ooops.  I'm not sure if the original dress is in my possession, but I have a drawer full of clothes my mother made for Toni.  (Note to Carol, need to get a photo of those!)

Snooping around on the net, I found several web sites with all kinds of information about Toni, which I found extremely interesting, as when I frequent antique stores and ask about Toni, not many have heard of the doll. 

Surfing tells us:  "The Ideal Toni doll was introduced in 1949 and was an advertising doll for the Toni Home Permanent"  (see this web site)   We also learn that Toni was "Designed by Bernard Lipfert, Toni made a smashing debut circa 1949. Not an inexpensive doll for that era." (see this web site)   All I can say, is, who knew?  Home perms??  What a hoot!

I can see I made a grave error with those scissors so long ago.  Toni's are posted on EBay for $135.00 to well over $400.00.  Oh, My!  I just never know what I will discover while I write a post for Reflections.  LOL

No matter, with her hair cut and wearing a dress I made for her after she was mmmmm, 25 years old, she is still my Toni, and a treasure to me.  (In my eyes, she does not look a day over, ohhhhh, 5.)



This article was scheduled to post early this AM, and for some reason it did not.  When it did not, I decided to go find all of Toni's outfits and take the photos.  I was going to add them to this post.  However, after I took the photos, I realized because of the packing and organizing frenzy going on around here (for THE Trip), I simply do not have the time today. SOOOO, as they say, stay tuned for a future Treasure Chest Thursday, when Toni's wardrobe will be featured.  (Maybe next week, if I can manage it!  LOL)

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7 comments:

Susan Clark said...

Can't wait to see the rest of the wardrobe. And you're not the only one who fancied herself a hair stylist. I gave several dolls a trim, but the ultimate victim was my Kissy doll. She ended up with a hole burnt in the back of her head after sitting under the "hair dryer" (also known as a desk lamp).

Your Toni is gorgeous and probably the better for haircut. That's what makes her yours.

Debbie Blanton McCoy said...

I think I had one of those dolls. Interesting. Thanks for the info. You're lucky to still have your dolls.

Linda McCauley said...

Has there ever been a little girl who didn't cut at least one doll's hair?

Heather Wilkinson Rojo said...

I'm surprised she doesn't have curls, since she was an advertisement for home perms. I have several dolls with home haircuts, including a several Barbies with strange, very short bangs. I'm not surprised, since I wore bangs and my Mom trimmed them weekly. I still have lots of homemade doll outfits, too. My Nana was a whiz at making doll sweaters out of leftover yarn. Your post will bring out a lot of memories for your female readers!

Barbara Poole said...

Carol, she is beautiful, and to me, her hair is still long, just short bangs (is that what you cut?) Great condition and I can see she brings back wonderful memories of the love you two shared. Can't wait to see the other clothes as well.

Nita said...

I guess that was a very expensive haircut!! But the memories are priceless!

Greta Koehl said...

I love homemade doll clothes - my grandmother used to make really wonderful clothes for my dolls, and sometimes she would work in an old piece of costume jewelry. And the haircut thing - yeah, me, too. Thanks for sharing her and your memories.