Today is TUESDAY! Tuesday Taylor

Vintage Childhood,

I can only imagine how tough all other toy companies had it when Mattel launched Barbie.  Well, Ideal Toy Company  had an idea.  And it was to make a Barbie-ish doll. But far far groovier for the seventies. Tuesday Taylor.

With a name like Tuesday Taylor, you had to kick ass. And she did.  This versatile lady entered the disco dolly scene in the mid seventies before burning in 1978. But for those few years, Tuesday owned the world.

Tuesday was a girl of  many styles. Being just a brunette wasn’t enough for Tuesday. No, no. Flip her scalp and BAM, Tuesday is a blonde.  Tuesday had blue eyes with rooted eyelashes for extra glamour which would allowed her to sashay right into Studio 54 in a hot second. But Ideal saw room for improvement introduced the world to Suntan Tuesday Taylor doll, who came with a sheet of suntan doodle stickers that when the doll was placed in the sun would give her a tattooed look. BECAUSE THE DOLL WOULD TAN IN THE SUN(!)

And it goes without saying that Tuesday had a KILLER wardrobe too! Gold lame and prairie skirts? But, of course!

All of that awesomeness needed a place to call her own.  Tuesday needed a place as versatile as her own scalp.

Behold, the beach cottage/ski chalet!

RIGHT?

And yes, Tuesday did have a pied a terre in the city, too. All the easier to hang out with Halston and Liza.

But of course she invited her fab friends over to her pad. Her boy Eric and gal pal Taylor Jones (who had her own two toned hair situation).

Oh, Tuesday, you are just like the seventies–always changing. According to Jewels Doll Castle, Ideal truly experimented with Tuesday   She noted:

“There was also a Beauty Queen Tuesday Taylor doll who is a great doll that has only blonde hair that does not change to brunette. She is a straight leg doll that comes dressed in an orange and yellow ribbon bathing suit with orange platform shoes. The platform shoes have magnets on the soles to attach to her round stand. The stand is just a circular metal disk that says Tuesday Taylor on it. Then the last edition of Tuesday Taylor was the Super Model with her Fashion Stepper. The Fashion Stepper allowed Tuesday to walk like the Walk Lively Barbie & Steffie dolls of the 70’s. She had blonde hair that is usually styled in a curlier hair style and, like the Beauty Queen doll, she does not have rooted eyelashes. The Super Model Tuesday also came in a black version but she was not named Taylor Jones as the previous black dolls had been.”

But, man, what a great ride it must have been for Tuesday and Ideal!

Pictures from Oh My Dolls, Jewels Doll Castle and Flickriver.com

Did you have this doll? Were you a Barbi fan?

 

 

The Spoookiest Round Up Ever!

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Well, there is something so marvelous about the first week in October.  The leaves are at their color peak and all thoughts turn to Halloween!  And coming up with the best Halloween costume ever!  So, I found some wonderful vintage Halloween costumes for your wee ones!

What’s up clown? From Etsy seller, Brushing By Beauties.

I am such a fan of this showstopper of an costume. Would it be cool to dress your little kiddo as a 1950s chorus girl?  From Etsy seller, The Vintage Mistress.

Homemade vintage Star Trek outfit? Sign me up! From Etsy seller, Nance’s Nostalgia.

I think this little Dutch girl outfit is so darling even if it is a dance outfit. Very close call for the Peach. From Etsy seller, Hornets Nest Vintage.

This to me looks like the base of an AMAZING Carmen Miranda outfit!  Someone please buy this and slap a pineapple on your kid’s head! From  Etsy seller, One Sweet Dream Vintage.

Wouldn’t this be a great vintage Hallmark paper bowl from the seventies to hand out your Halloween candy in on Oct. 31st? From Etsy seller, The Dizzy Apron.

Ahoy Mateys! This is the cutest little sailor ever! From Etsy seller, Field House Goods.

This alligator outfit is perfection.  And someone should buy it NOW. From Ebay seller,

These sassy vintage little paper napkins and cups make you want to have a party! From Etsy seller, Teresa Tudor. This seller also has a lot of great vintage Halloween goodies if you want to stop by her shop.

Who wouldn’t want to read this chuckle of a book this month? From Etsy seller, The Whimsical Hatbox.

And for the bakers out there, here are some vintage Halloween cookie cutters to make someone very happy in October. From Etsy seller, McCombs General Store.

Vintage Flashback :: Never Bored of Boardgames

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image: maeve dooley

Like most thrifters, I usually have my little “areas” I like to check out at the thrift store. Of course you want to check out everything, but you really have to prioritize, ya know? When I was younger, I used to bee-line to the dresses and lingerie (for groovy nighties and slips) and then I’d hit the shoes and  jewelry and purses. Once I had a nicer flat, I branched out to include housewares and occasionally furniture (I didn’t have a car, so that limited my “big items”) and of course records. As I got older, and eventually had a bebe, I developed a passion for graphic design—unearthing vintage children’s books was on the top of my list. And then one day, right around when Wolfie was born, I cruising through the toy aisle and I spied this:

It was a simple Memory game….the box was a bit beat up, but I loved the type in the title so I stuck it in my cart. As I wheeled around the store I kept glancing at it. I decided to open it up, carefully prying the masking tape that help the sides closed. I was DEEELIGHTED to find the most wonderful collection of little picture tiles imaginable.

My favorite part of thrifting is when you when find something you didn’t even know you wanted. And this was like a little box of mid-century modern chocolates. Each little illustration was more special than the next. Some were actually Eames illustrations (yes, “those” Eames….) from their House of Cards deck. The others were just super cool and charming little drawings.

I was smitten! And also delighted. Just when I thought I had figured out all my little “areas” in the thrift store, here was a whole new category. Board games! It had never really occurred to me to check that section. I remember thinking, “Have I been under a rock? Is everyone snapping up games?? How have I missed this!” Luckily my friend Jenny said to me, “You know after you found that Memory game, I always make a point to swing by the games!” She’s a consummate thrifter so I felt better knowing that I wasn’t alone in my new discovery.

Ever since then, I always make sure I take a little stroll down the toy and puzzle aisle to look for fun board games. I’m rarely disappointed. The games are usually fun (we love to play boardgames and card games) but even when they’re a little lame, the graphics more than make up for it. Check out the mysterious 3-Up. No clue how to play this, but I loved the colors and had to buy it!

Here are some others that I thought were really fun:


image: e.e. reilly

Heh. I remember this one….featuring the exciting SLAM-O-MATIC!


image: christian montone

These little shopping cart game pieces are brilliant.


image: neato coolville

So good, it’s NIRTZ. (huh?)


image: christian montone

Please note the “cootie” in the bottom right corner.

This one I left at the store—not sure I would ever be up for a rousing game of FINANCE. But I do love the cover and snapped a photo of it.

Hee. For some reason Wolfie loves this next game, even though he doesn’t really “get it”. It’s from 1967 and it’s called Chutzpah. It’s essentially a Jewish version of Monopoly—a mazel to the illustrator because the lettering is pretty awesome.

Often you’ll find the artwork changed from year to year and I always love to discover different versions of games I loved. Take this classic, Go to the Head of Class. In the 50s it looked like this:

image: susanna ryan

So sweet, isn’t it? But then check out the 60s version….this is the one my cousin had in the 70s. I think the illustrations on the game pieces are soooooo terrific!

Butch! Susie! Cowboy Joe! Oh how I love ya. They totally remind me of Art Seiden drawings.


image: popkulture

And finally. One of my faaaaaaavorite games growing up was CLUE. I loved it. My 70s version had photographs of all the characters—I loved the vampy Miss Scarlet the best. Then I found THIS:

Colonel Mustard, in the library, with the leadpipe…

Aw yeah, so fantastic, eh?? Miss Scarlet is so much sweeter than the 70s version I grew up with. I wonder who made the call, (“Let’s vamp her up!”) my Miss Scarlett was asian with a sultry stare and a red cigarette holder. A far cry from that demure cutie up there! You can see more on the post I did about vintage Clue games.

So there you have it. Pretty fun huh! And if you don’t want to play the actual board games, you can always hang them up and enjoy them as art—which i think is a pretty swell idea.


image: buddy rooster

What are some of your favorite childhood board games??

Happy CRAFTOBER!!

Crafts + DIY, Uncategorized

(Image: the incomparable  Cathy of California)

Hi, crafty folks!  What is it about Fall that just gets me wanting to pull out my knitting needles and dust off my sewing machine?  I don’t think I’m alone in this feeling. So, I’m throwing down the glue gun gauntlet and calling this month CRAFTOBER!  After all, this is a month that demands we all become a little bit crafty, thinking up those sweet Halloween costumes for our little ones, as well as for ourselves.

This month I plan to share with you some of favorite vintage craft books, some original and easy tutorials I’ve been developing, and some great craft inspiration from around the Web every Thursday in October.

I thought I would start Craftober off by sharing with you my first craft book, The McCall’s Golden Do It Yourself book, printed in 1960.  It was a rejected book from my school library sold to me for five cents and I would spend HOURS pouring over these pictures, fascinated with the crafts and the young children dressed so nicely in the photographs.

Here are a few of my favorite crafts from the book.

I loved this flying fish kite!  Look at the concentration on that little boy’s face when he is cutting.  BTW, don’t you love that you can tell the kid actually colored the fish in? So great!

I really think I need to make that elephant!  That might be the cutest thing in the book!

This easy craft would be a great way to get the Peach into drumming.  It uses parchment paper, which I’m not sure is the same parchment paper I’m thinking of. I think it is actually is sheepskin parchment. Don’t know how easy that is to find…

I think I’ll clearly need to eat a lot of ice cream for this toy. No hardship is too much for crafting!

I remember wanting this perky paper doll so badly…  Hmm.. I might need to ruminate on this one a bit to see if I can make something out of it for the Peach…

But some of the crafts were even a bit too crafty for me!  Like this “cat” and hungover queen spool marionettes. Eek!

But out of all the pages in this book, this is one that had the most impact on my as a child.

I learned to knit from this book. OK, I tried to learn to knit from this book.  Honestly, I don’t know if what I created was actually knitting–more like knotting things on two pencils, but man, it started a passion in me and a drive to do more crafting, which was hard as my mother was and is the least crafty person I know. (Although mind you, the most amazing and loving and funny mother a girl could want!)

Do you ever try crafts from old craft books? How did you get into crafting?  Do you have any crafting plans around Halloween?

 

Today’s obsession: braids!

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My name is Dottie and I am awful at doing my own hair.

If I had a superpower, it would be the ability to do my own hair in fabulous styles in under two minutes, which is how much time I like to spend on my hair.

I am not one of those people who have been blessed with beautiful heavy locks that look amazing when your hair is long.  I would have loved to inherit a stunning combo of my Dad’s Afro and my mom’s thick hair, but alas, I inherited my grandmother’s thin hair that likes to frizz out if I even think about humidity.

So, what is a girl to do?  Become one with a short bob for the rest of my life.  Normally, I’m OK with that. Except right now everyone is braiding their hair.And it looks stunning!

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You can’t go on to Pinterest without seeing the most glorious braid hairstyles ever.

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But to do some of these braids, you need a degree in Trig to figure it out.

And guess what you need for 99.9 percent of these braids?  Rapunzel like hair. Sigh.

Image via: Natalie Dee (the most awesome comic artist ever!)

My ultimate obsession is with crown braid or milkmaid braid. Sigh!

Here is the best tutorial I’ve seen on that. And of course you need four foot long straight hair…

Now not all braids are created equal…

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But all are interesting.  But what about my short hair.  Can I do anything? My goal this month is to find some tutorials on short hair braiding and see what magic I can do!

Have you ever tried braiding your hair? Any tips, tricks? Anything!  Hmmm… Maybe some hair pieces… Thoughts?