Evolution of The Little Colonel

In 1935, Shirley Temple starred in one of her most popular movies, “The Little Colonel.” Set in the post-Civil War south, Shirley had the opportunity to wear a number of period costumes, most notably the southern belle outfit shown above. Thanks to her mother’s careful storage, the delicate costume made of silk taffetta survived in Shirley’s possession until she passed in 2014. I had the privilege of seeing it in person at the Santa Monica History Museum just before it was auctioned off in 2015.



The Ideal Toy Company created a special Shirley composition doll, wearing a replica of the very same outfit. Many different sizes were produced, including this large one that Shirley is holding for a promotional photo:



Shirley owned the 27" tall doll shown below, and it was auctioned off in 2015 for a whopping $5,500! This particular one also used a taffetta fabric. An original bonnet is coveted and very hard to come by, even if this particular one is a bit limp!



The 13" version shown below did not come with a bonnet, and was made with a pink organdy fabric. Unlike the regular Shirley Temple dolls of the 1930s, the Little Colonel dolls came with lace-trimmed pantalets.



The 1950s saw a line of Ideal vinyl Shirley Temple dolls, but for some reason, a Little Colonel doll was not part of the lineup. In 1974, Ideal released a Little Colonel outfit that kids could put on their 1972/1973 vinyl Shirley Temple doll. It was cheaply designed and obviously not produced with the care or attention to detail that the 1930s version boasted. The boxed outfit consisted of a lace trimmed dress and a hairbow. The red plastic shoes that came with the doll were meant to be used with the Colonel outfit. C-H-E-A-P!



Ten years later, another line of vinyl Shirley Temple dolls was released, and this group produced some never-before-leased outfits as well as some interesting interpretations of the old favorites. At center in the picture below you can see Ideal’s version of the Little Colonel, which is neither accurate in color or concept. Still, it’s much prettier than the 1970s version.



Shirley herself licensed The Danbury Mint to produce high quality porcelain dolls next, and naturally, the Little Colonel southern belle outfit was one of the first. To say it was garish would be an understatement. The all-too bright colors and cheap fabric choices lacked the charm of the 1930s original. Don’t even get me started on the oddly shaped body, with arms that looked like they could reach out and strangle you.



Finally, the Danbury Mint righted all the previous wrongs by releasing a porcelain replica of the 1930s doll, which used one of the organdy dolls for its inspiration. Standing at approximately 14", this doll also included the pantalets AND a nice bonnet! What it didn’t have was a decent wig or a sleep-eye mechanism with sable lashes. This helped Danbury cut corners by using a synthetic wig instead of a quality mohair wig like the 1930s dolls. Regardless of the changes, it is still a very cute doll.



Recently, I was able to acquire a 20" version of the 1930s doll. I could not believe my good fortune in stumbling upon one that also included a bonnet!



You can see why these dolls were so popular, even back in the Depression-era!



And for the all-important question that burns on all Shirley doll collectors minds: “Is it tagged?”



You bet your sweet bippy it is!



See more Shirley Temple doll photos at my website.

Temple Tuesday: Wee Willie Winkie Dolls

In 1937, Shirley Temple starred in “Wee Willie Winkie” with Victor McLaglen (typically found in a John Ford movie). In the scene shown above, Shirley wears a Scottish Regimental costume. Below is the outfit and how it looked in 2015 when I photographed it at the Santa Monica History Museum, as part of the Love, Shirley Temple auction by Theriault’s. From their catalog description:

The costume includes plaid woolen kilt, twill jacket with ornate brass buttons with royal crest design of the Black Watch, Third Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, white leather belt with emblem "Dieu et mon droit" (God and my right), sporran, argyle plaid wool leggings, woven spats with buttons, and cap with Latin motto emblem of the Royal Stuart dynasty of Scotland (translated "no one attacks me with impunity"). Excellent condition. The young star Shirley Temple, named Priscilla Williams in the 1937 film, wore this uniform in multiple scenes alongside co-star Sergeant MacDuff (Victor McLaglen) as he trains Priscilla in the proper discipline of a Scottish soldier. The costume designer for the film was Gwen Wakeling. In later years, Shirley Temple declared that "Wee Willie Winkie", which had been directed by John Ford, was her favorite film of all that she made. Sold for $14,000.



The spats that Shirley wore in the film were in a framed display:



When the film wrapped, the cast gathered around a cake with a custom-made Shirley Temple doll in the center of it. Director John Ford holds the knife with Shirley next to him, Shirley’s stand-in, Mary Lou Isleib can be seen seated, and co-stars McLaglen and June Lang are at right:



A closer view of the cake:



This doll was put together for Shirley by the wardrobe department, who used scraps of fabric from the actual costume for the miniature outfit:



It was also part of the Theriault’s auction in 2015. Edited from the catalog description:

Composition Doll as Shirley Temple in Scottish Costume from the Film "Wee Willie Winkie"13". Composition doll with socket head, hazel sleep eyes, human hair lashes, open smiling mouth, teeth, impressed dimples, blonde mohair ringlet-curled hair, jointing at shoulders and hips, marked "Shirley Temple 13". The doll is wearing plaid wool kilt, sporran, twill jacket and matching spats, belt, argyle leggings, black wool cap with emblem, and original Ideal undergarment. Generally excellent, few minute age lines. Included is a vintage photograph. The doll is by Ideal, circa 1935. The costume was created in the Fox Studios, according to Shirley Temple's memoirs; it was the habit of the seamstresses to save scraps of fabric from Shirley's costumes and fashion them into a like costume on a Shirley Temple doll, a veritable one-of-a-kind. Sold for $8,500

The Ideal Toy Company also sold their own version of the “Wee Willie Winkie” doll in the 1930s. Below is an 18" sample that recently sold at auction. These dolls are rare and usually sell for well over $1000. Variations abound, as Shirley Temple dolls were sold in different sizes and the outfits were sometimes sewn by different seamstresses across the country using different fabrics.



In the 1950s, when “The Shirley Temple Storybook” anthology series was on television, Ideal brought out a vinyl version of the “Winkie” doll. While not as detailed as the 1930s doll, it is still very cute. Below is a veritable pristine version from the collection of my friend, Lori Breen. She was kind enough to send this photo:



Shirley appeared on “Good Morning America” in February 1983, along with former costar Buddy Ebsen (“Captain January,” 1936):



Shirley posed for pictures with a 1930s Ideal “Winkie” doll from the collection of Temple expert supreme, Rita Dubas:



At about the same time, Shirley partnered with Ideal again to release another series of Temple dolls wearing outfits inspired by her childhood movies. Below is their 12" “Winkie” doll in its original box:



I can’t say I was a fan of this version. The eyes are creepy and the sculpt gives Shirley’s face a very hard edge. The costumes seemed to be of an even lesser quality than the 1950s versions. These are fairly easy to find on eBay for cheap.



When Shirley partnered with the Danbury Mint in 1987, the quality level shot up. Their dolls were much more faithful to the actual movie costumes, like this 14" version which was part of the Silver Screen series:



Danbury also released a series of dress-up outfits that could be paired with their 16" vinyl dress-up doll. I chose to use the 1973 Ideal vinyl doll as the model, since I prefer the look of that doll to the Danbury version! The outfit is fairly similar to the one created for the porcelain version, but when looking closer, you can see that in order to cut costs, there was a bit of skimping done in the construction and choice of materials used. I can’t really blame them, as the purpose of the line of dolls and outfits was for kids to play with them, not to just put on the shelf to collect dust. 



Recently, a collector’s miracle happened. I stumbled upon an original 1930s “Winkie” doll for sale on eBay for under $100 in a buy-it-now auction! I looked at it carefully, thinking it was too good to be true.



I went ahead and purchased it, as I knew it would not last long once others viewed it. 



I was very glad that I did, as when it arrived, I was able to confirm that other than the belt, it appeared to be all original. It was also on a coveted Shirley Temple make-up doll, with perfect curls and the paint in fabulous shape (other than a small missing piece on the leg which was easily covered).



Inside the jacket is the original Ideal label. What a find!



All these years later, collector grails can still be found!
 
See more Shirley Temple doll photos at my website.

Temple Tuesday: How Can I Thank You?

In the 1938 musical, “Little Miss Broadway,” Shirley Temple sings “How Can I Thank You” to her friends and family when they throw her a surprise birthday party. Below is a screenshot from that scene:



This photo with Donald Meek gives you a better look at Shirley’s outfit, which consists of a blouse and embroidered jumper. Deceptively simple, when translated to an outfit for a doll, it could really rack up the costs on skilled labor. Pleating, embroidery, and of course the ability to translate the outfit into doll size ranging from 13" to 27".



The embroidered detail:



The Press Book from the film (courtesy of Melissa, aka “The Colonel”) gives a wealth of information about “Little Miss Broadway”…



Including the doll that was created to commemorate that scene.



The ad copy is a bit suspect, as the “exact facsimile” has painted cross-stitch instead of embroidery. From the below photo I found online of an original 13" boxed version, it’s still a cute doll and includes the pleating seen in the original costume. The faux embroidery was ditched for the blouse.



Many years later, the Danbury Mint did their version of this outfit for the 16" Shirley Temple dress-up doll. While much more authentic to the original movie version, be very careful if you have one of these as all the embroidered details are merely glued on.



Don’t be surprised if you find a few on the floor after handling this outfit.



Flash forward to a few months ago, and I saw this blouse for sale on eBay. An original Ideal Shirley Temple piece from the 1930s, sans jumper. I bought it for a song and hoped that maybe lightning would strike twice and I’d eventually find a lonely jumper for sale!



It fit great on my 13" Shirley, but she felt a little odd without a jumper to cover her vintage onesie.



Reaching out to my good friend from the doll world, Madame X (she prefers anonymity!), I asked if she’d be interested in taking a stab at this. Next thing I knew, we were talking fabrics, doing fittings, and deciding all kinds of other important details. The original doll had grosgrain straps. The color was not a perfect match to the jumper, and I can’t say I was a fan of them. I also didn’t really understand the faux embroidery, but have to assume it was a cost-saving issue for production. Shirley expert supreme Rita D. surmised they were done through a silkscreen processs. In the end, rather than be a stickler for authenticity, I wanted the jumper to look good. Madame X showed me a sample of the belt with both painted X’s and embroidered ones. I chose the embroidery.



Next thing you know, little Shirley was bare-no-more! The jumper turned out great and I couldn’t be happier!



What does Shirley have to say about this?



“How can I thank you? How do I start?” Shirley fans know the rest…

See more Shirley Temple doll photos at my website.

Shirley Projects, Pt. 4

One of my very favorite Shirley Temple musical numbers is “Fifth Avenue” from the 1940 film “Young People.” Not surprisingly, I commissioned the talented Lolly Moran to recreate the tuxedo that Shirley wore in the film for one of my 18" Ideal composition dolls. Unfortunately, Lolly could not do the gloves, hat, or cane. She did however suggest Dollspart for the top hat, which I immediately ordered. Not sure which size to get, I bought the two sizes that I thought would be close. Sadly, it was a Goldilocks situation and I was missing the “just right” size. There was the too big one:



…and the too small version, which wasn’t even the right shape. It would have been better suited for an Abraham Lincoln doll.



I ended up putting a silk ribbon with bow around the larger one, as I figured at least it was the right shape, and by putting it on at an angle, I could (slightly) disguise the fact that it didn’t really fit. Fortunately, the 18" doll I had chosen to model the hat had a BIG head full of curls! The gloves were easy; I’d made many pairs before, so that went off the checklist immediately. The hardest part was the cane. Buying wooden dowels, I painted them first with black enamel, and then the tips in silver. Easy.



The glitter for the top of the cane came out messy and clumped. I had dipped the top in glue and then dipped it in the bottle of glitter. No control with that method and the glitter stuck haphazardly. Back to the drawing board.



After a few more unsuccessful tries, I finally hit paydirt. In putting the ensemble together, here’s how it came out:



The too-large hat still bothered me. No matter how jaunty the angle, it still didn’t look right. Then one day I tried the hat on a 20" Shirley. BINGO! Guess what happened next? Lolly was making a 20" version of the tux (this time with pockets to hold the miniature pocket chain, just like Shirley in the movie) and I was busy making a larger cane and gloves! To say I was pleased with the final result is an understatement. The outfit looked so much better in the larger size.







Still more Shirley craft project posts to come!

See more Shirley Temple doll photos at my main website.