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.