The '30's Girls

They cleaned up pretty nicely! Here are Elizabeth, Sally, Jane, and Elizabeth. (Names came with them from the manufacturers.)

The Elizabeths are Madame Alexander dolls with "Princess Elizabeth" stamped on the back of their necks. Their blonde plaits are standard, so I was careful to re-braid them after giving their hair a much-needed spritz of conditioner and a bit of a brush to get all the stray bits back in place.  

Sally is a Petite brand doll and the back of her neck and back have stamps ("Petite Sally") that say so. Her tin eyes are rusty which gives her a bit of a frightening look (Dave says "CREEPY DOLL!" and scoots away whenever he sees me working with her) and her hair was one big mat -- with a braid stuck on with a single rusty bobbypin. 

Oh, girl. Let me get my brush.

Braid Spray, folks. The stuff is a miracle. Composition dolls shouldn't get wet, so I couldn't wash her hair like I wanted to -- and also I figured her wig would come off! -- but I spritzed on some Braid Spray and as soon as I started brushing, Sally's dull grey-yellow hair turned golden and soft, and fluffed up like a baby chick! I left her braid off so she's got a sweet blond bob. I'll put the braid in with her clothes and if a buyer wants to restore her further, they'll have it. I think she looks just as cute without it.

And yes, she's wearing a pink bathrobe because she's having a spa day. She's 80-some years old; I think she deserves some comforts in her life.

Jane, in the pink plaid and molded hair, is a Horsman doll. There's no mark on her, but apparently that's the way they made them that year. She's the only one with eyes that don't make me itch, and she has a very sweet face. Unfortunately, she's missing half of her right foot, but we can't have everything. 

So now you've seen the dolls and some of their outfits that came in the barrel. There's one more blog post I'll be doing that will cover the rest of the barrel's contents. I promise you it's not dolls or doll-related. Stay tuned!