Temple Tuesday: Lucky Penny Doll

While not one of her bigger hits, “Just Around the Corner” is certainly an enjoyable Shirley Temple film. Released in 1938, I enjoyed this movie as a kid, especially the cute little caricature of Shirley featured in the opening and closing credits. As an adult, I had to convert it into digital art!



In the film, Shirley wears this cute little dress most likely designed by Gwen Wakeling:



Even if you’ve never heard of Gwen Wakeling, surely you’re familiar with one of the most iconic costumes in TV history that she designed. Yes, the “I Dream of Jeannie” harem outfit worn by Barbara Eden!



But I digress. Want to see Shirley’s dress in color?



In this hand-tinted promotional lobby photo, Shirley wears the same dress in this scene with Charles Farrell, who plays her father:



Apparently the artist was not tipped off to the real color of the dress…or they didn’t care.



In this publicity shot, Shirley is in her dressing room trailer, playing with a scale model of the set which shows her character’s apartment and the dog salon featured in the film. From Liberty Magazine, November 26, 1938 issue:

One of the elaborate scenes shows a super dog lounge with some forty pooches. These were hired from the See-Are Kennels in Hollywood, owned by Comedian Charlie Ruggles. The canines were valued at $30,000. Doing a comedy dance on this set, Joan Davis tripped over a prop fire hydrant and gashed her head. Nothing serious, however. 



A closeup of Shirley’s outfit, including the adorable beanie. Unfortunately, neither one of these items appeared in the Love, Shirley Temple auction held by Theriault’s. Note the Dictionary for Boys and Girls in the magazine rack:



For Thanksgiving, Shirley wore the dress again as she carved a turkey:



One of the promotional items released to coincide with the film was called a Lucky Penny doll (Shirley’s character in the film was Penny Hale, and the original title of the film was “Lucky Penny”). The Ideal Toy Company updated the famous composition Shirley Temple doll with a slightly different hairdo to match Shirley’s new ’do of the time and added a bit of makeup (eye shadow and more rouge), which is why these later dolls are referred to as “makeup dolls.”



Very few of these dolls were made and it is extremely difficult to find one, let alone in good condition. Here’s one I found on the net awhile back, looking minty fresh.



Recently, I was able to acquire one for my own collection. A before shot:



…and the after. I added a red silk ribbon as the dolls originally came with one, as seen in the photos of the boxed doll above. I cleaned up the compo a bit and touched up her lips and eyes. She is ready for her debut!



A shot of the back of the doll, which features the looser hairstyle with curls at the bottom:



A closeup of the face:



Besides the composition doll, you could get a paper version of the outfit, as seen in this page from one of the Saalfield Publishing Company’s Shirley Temple paper doll sets:



See more Shirley Temple doll photos at my website.

Gene: Spring in Central Park

This FAO Schwarz exclusive was released in 2002 in an edition of 1000. Designed by Tim Kennedy, “Spring in Central Park” is the perfect ensemble for this time of year…especially in New York’s Central Park! I combined my photos of Gene with shots of Central Park that I snapped back in 2016.






Even Super Models get tired and need to rest!





Manhattan Holiday is one of my favorite Integrity Genes; I believe she is just about the loveliest. She is also modeling “Spring in Central Park.”



While she’s a beauty, the Ashton Drake Genes have a certain versatile retro-beauty that the Integrity Genes do not.



See more Gene Marshall fashion doll photos at my website.

Gone with the Wind tribute

In honor of the 85th anniversary of the premiere of “Gone with the Wind” Atlanta, Georgia, I will be doing a series of posts telling the story of the film using varioius dolls from my collection. The opening image shows heroine Scarlett O’Hara (played by Vivien Leigh) on the steps of her home, Tara. I used a Tonner doll and squeezed her into the Franklin Mint version of the white ruffled dress also viewed in the scene below where she chases after her father to find out if the rumor is true that her beloved, Ashley Wilkes, is going to marry his cousin, Melanie.



Gerald confirms it, so Scarlett prays that evening that once Ashley learns that SHE loves him, that he’ll break off his engagement and marry her instead. Gene Marshall models the white ruffle/evening prayer outfit:



See more “Gone with the Wind” fashion doll photos at my website.

Lone Star Soirée

Lone Star Soiree was the name of this Gene Marshall doll from the 2006 Lone Star Doll Convention, released in an edition of 350. There was a blonde helper version, edition of 55. While I do like the outfit and its bold splash of red, the hairstyle is not one of Gene’s best looks.



Here’s the mermaid-style gown without the dramatic cape and collar:



Oh that hair…



Using Jamieshow Phoenix instead with a wig cap styled by Kathy Johnson, I am much happier with the result!



She prefers the collar down!



Giving the blondes a chance, I let Ashton Drake’s Fit For A Queen doll have her turn.



The inspiration for this outfit came from the fashion show sequence in “Lucy Gallant” (1955). The story involves a dressmaker who is forced to choose between love and a career. Does she get both? You’ll have to watch the movie. Jane Wyman played the title character (a role originally envisioned for Joan Crawford) and Charlton Heston as Casey Cole, her love interest. Costume designs were by Edith Head.





Jane looks stylish in her simplistic little black dress.



Here, Edith Head herself attempts to style the gown for the model. A perfect “caption this” opportunity!



See more Gene Marshall fashion doll photos at my website.

DeeAnna in the Easter Parade

DeeAnna Denton is modeling a few choices of “bonnets” for the Easter Parade. Sadly, the Tonner hats just do not look right on our beautiful gal. I spent a lot of time in Photoshop trying to get the “Spot On” hat to look normal in the first shot. Below, DeeAnna gives up and just takes it off.



“Favorite to Win” is a cute outfit, but once again, the execution of the hat is not up to the level that DeeAnna deserves.



Trying to artfully disguise the hat:



Once again, DeeAnna gives up and takes it off. Much better!



See more DeeAnna Denton doll photos at my website.

35th Anniversary Barbie

After seeing the “Barbie” movie, I was inspired to look at some of the original dolls that brought this pop culture icon to fame. While the original 1959 doll is out of my financial ballpark, some of the later replicas are much closer! The 35th Anniversary Barbie, released in 1994, is shown here in all its pristine boxed glory. As you can see the hairdo is a bit different when compared with the original release (pictured on the back of the box below). I prefer the 1994 version, which is more flattering on the 12" doll.



When I unboxed her, I noticed that the 30-year-old rubber bands that held her classic ponytails in place had all disintegrated. Before I could photograph the de-boxed Barbie, I had to fix her hairdo. My dental bands were too small, so for a temporary fix, I used gold thread and wrapped/tied it around the base of the ponytail.



Photographing Barbie reminded me while I focus on the 16" gals vs. the 12" ones. First, Barbie cannot stand on her own. Without a stand, she will fall over. I’m not sure how much harder it would have been to design the feet/shoes to be able to stand on their own, but for photographs, it’s a pain in the a$$. For the shot below, I had to use Photoshop to remove the stand and place Barbie on the beach of Santa Monica. I also took the liberty of removing her seams.



Here is Barbie with Malibu behind her.



Barbie Land from the movie is the background here:



The sunglasses look great on Barbie, but they are EXTREMELY tight. Getting them properly placed on her face was quite a process, and caused her hair to unravel. “But Dave,” you say, “her hair looks good here!” Of course it does; I spent a lot of time digitally cleaning it up!



On the plus side: I love the retro face and classic styling of this replica Barbie. The sculpt of the contemporary Barbies is just too bland for my taste. For a cool retro toy to fill up your display cabinet, Barbie is great.

On the con side: For playtime, dressing/redressing, and posing…this is a very frustrating doll. Since this is a mass-market doll, the tailoring (and clothing quality) for Barbie outfits at this size is not all that great. I can easily understand where “Weird Barbie” came from. The hair and clothing can easily become ratty. When it comes to posing, this Barbie is extremely limited; the elbows, wrists, and knees do not bend; the head spins around, but it doesn’t tilt up and down. For little tots who want to play with Barbie, these are probably non-issues. A toy that retails for approximately $15-25 can only be expected to do so much!

See more doll/action figure photos at my website.