The first one. A pedigree 1960's doll. ( maybe 1950's)

A Pedigree doll from the 1960's as she arrived. In a box delivered by a courier who avoided my big Monza dog as he was dozing on the rug and I was too quick to close the inner door when the knock came. So big delivery of dolls all from the 1950's  1960's all as old or older than me.

 Some have very bad discolouration of the vinyl or plastic and at least two have an unhealthy green tinge. This girl that I started with is very badly stained. I think by the sun as when I took off her clothes to wash them there were very big differences in the colours  of the body legs and arms. all various shades of yellow and green tinged.

These girls are old now. In the 1950's  1960's they would have been state of the art as the 1960's is when manufacture of dolls really took off.
The girl on the right in the photo.  in the red dress is the one I am washing and cleaning up . I have no idea what her name is yet. but I know it will come to me.
I have left her alone now after washing and fabric softening her hair then styling it more forward to hide the missing hair plugs. The vinyl discolouration I am leaving. There are recipies out there on the internet to "bleach" the discolouration using Hydrogen peroxide and baking powder, also acne cream and sun light. For this girl I have decided to quit whilst I am a head and have settled on just taking off the vicious red lipstick and eye liner. For this I used surgical spirit on ear buds. I am going to give her a more gentle pink lip job.
I have researched other dolls of this period and discovered the red lips and eye liner is quite common. This lady look quite scary , though the gentler look is not original it suits her better in her old age.

Rather scary . So now these old ladies have come to me. In their old age. The make up here is a bit vicious. I just wonder if she was used as a prop in a ghost story or something like that.

In my small opinion she looks much better now. here I have some more red lipstick to remove but that will happen on my next day off.

I have put her in this pinafore just until her own dress dries out after a wash......

The Pedigree Doll Company.

"Pedigree dolls were very popular in Australia during the late forties and through the fifties. They came in many sizes and styles. They were manufactured by Pedigree Soft Toys Ltd. of the United Kingdom, which had factories New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, and was a subsidiary of the biggest toy company in the world from the 1930s to the 1950s: Lines Brothers Ltd. Pedigree's Sindy was the great success story of the 1960s toy industry, cleverly catching the mood of the new teenage culture. Sindy, first made in 1962 by the Pedigree Company, is the best-selling 'teenage' fashion doll ever produced in Great Britain. Pedigree, in financial difficulties, sold the Sindy licence to toy giant, Hasbro in 1986, and her popularity with modern children has now been somewhat eclipsed by her rival 'Barbie'."

'Pedigree' English 16 inch walking doll with short hair & blue sleeping eyes

Pedigree walker doll 1950s.



Here are some other Pedigree dolls similar .




We are now the thirteenth of March 2018 and we both and Monza are still in bed. It is a gorgeous morning and Monza is jollying us along to get up and take him out . I have not been getting up and going out to take photos...as I do not like the cold ! though I have put on washing and drunk a shed load of tea as the light appears this morning. I have been fiddling with this blog about these old dolls for days and have come to the conclusion that I will "just do it" and stop faffing with it.

So here is the doll so far. I intend to dress her in the outfit and shoes she arrived in and then she will be ready to join my other girls from this period in the bedroom.

So what shall we do today? well we are going to Harrogate for a traditional root through the charity shops and call into the art gallery and find some shops we have never been into. 
The camera  battery is charging and the fonz car beckons . Best get on some street clothes and walking boots then!