Do you remember what you used to call your dolls - and why?

Short of inspiration, I called my dolls Elizabeth and Margaret. I probably wasn't the only little girl that used the princesses' names.

I had a black rag doll which I called Topsy.

I don’t know the name but we’ve just found my OHs daughters old dolls in the garage roof. They’re horrific. Big, with long hair and very strange faces. They’re a bit like Chucky. He’s taking them to her as soon as possible!!

I had a doll with an old fashioned look, so I named her Emmeline, which seemed to suit. I was chief storyteller to my two younger sisters, so she had many adventures with Jacko, our naughty monkey and my teddy bear from my grandmother which my mother threw out on a move ?

Yes, I had Patch too.

'Little Poppet' that was my dolls name. She was around 18 inches tall with long brown hair. She had a string in her back attached to a ring pull. when pulled she said different things. Twelve different sentences. My name is little Poppet, I do love you mummy, please read me a story, I'm so tired, can we play out, are we going shopping are some of the ones. I loved her so much. I still have her but she does not talk anymore. My mum let a neighbour's child play with her and she broke the string.

Mine were called Juliana, Belinda, Selina and Nugly, who was the oldest. She was quite big and not really nice looking.
Evidently my elder brother said, “She’s big an’ ugly.” I heard the nugly bit and that what I called her.

I remember all my dolls, I loved them dearly. They were, in order from the first, Judy, Dinah, Vanessa, Lulu, Belinda, Caroline, Penny, Barbara and George Washington.

I can remember getting Sylvia. She had a little wardrobe for her clothes and a little bed.

I was never into dolls - too much of a tomboy.

My Granny, who was bed ridden, used to make them and give them to the church to sell. I have a beautiful black doll that she made and gave to me when we visited one summer. I called her Chloe. I thought that was a suitably exotic name for her!

All this talk of dolls made me go away and look up Tressy - and here she is in her green shopping suit with her platinum hair and blue eyes ? I'd totally forgotten about the little pink key for rewinding her hair, which was the only reason I played with her anyway.

tressybypalitoy.weebly.com/1st-version-tressy.html

My first doll was called Judy. I think it was after a dog we used to meet on the walk home from infant school. I also had dolls called Kathleen. Anne, Jane and Kimmy. I think Kimmy's name was written on the box she came in. I got her from an aunt in Canada. It's not a name that was around when I was a child.

I had two baby dolls, one black, one white, my Mum knitted clothes for them - Belinda and Melissa I think.

Then there was a walkie talkie doll called Caroline. She arrived one Christmas morning.
In those days you could order dolls' wigs, there were adverts in the newspaper and I remember ordering her a wig!

Ps I don't know why I picked those names, probably I thought they were far more exotic than mine

I still have my favourite doll Carol. I’m 67 so she must be around 62. My mum used to have a couple of cotton dresses made for me by a local dressmaker at the start of summer. Carol had a matching dress made at the same time from the left over material. Here she is in her original polka dot from over 60 years ago.

I had very few dolls. I preferred soft toy animals. The only doll name I remember was Karen. She was a very pretty doll with red hair. She was called Karen after the character in The Red Shoes danced by Moira Shearer who had red hair. The dancer she played in the film The Red Shoes was Victoria Page, but the character in The Red Shoes ballet she danced was Karen.

I still have the doll I've had for over 60 years. Her name is Mary, which is my middle name. She wears a red dress and a tweed coat, both made by my late mother. When DGD, aged 4, is here she loves to undress her and give her a bath.

My doll is called Gennie, I was given her for Christmas when I was 13 days old. She is upstairs on her little rattan chair in her new dress, cardie and hand knitted socks.
I don’t know where the name came from, I think I tried to change it over the years but she IS Gennie.
She’s not been banished upstairs, she’s in my “craft room” where I spend most days, definitely not hiding from semi-retired husband. He finds her a bit disconcerting when she is sitting in the living room. I’m my defence the chair was bought for grandchildren, it just suits her and she’s keeping it warm

I have just realised that I didn’t have a teddy bear until I was about 9 when I had a huge one I called Tabitha. I now have a great niece called Tabitha!
My Grandad bought me a doll with a sparkly strapless blue dress, high heeled shoes and a very grown up figure! She was Miranda.

Deborah was my biggest one, then I had Pamela and Tina and Tiny Tears who was always just called that I don't remember the rest.

I only had one doll as I was born just before the end of the war. I still have Dolly Mary as she was always called. A pot rosebud doll. I had a much loved teddy and golly called Teddy and Goggy. Also a scottie dog called Scottie. I still have them except Teddy who wore out.

My favourite was Petronella and the one I didn’t like much was Betty. Where I got Petronella from I have no clue.

I had one doll - named Suzie. No longer have her as when I reached the age of 10 my mother gave her to the little girl next door as she said she thought I was too old for dolls. Don't think I ever forgave her for that

I wasn’t really into dolls. The only one I remember was a black one called Topsy - ? fodder nowadays. This would have been in the 50s.
I was born too soon for the likes of Sindy but suspect I wouldn’t have been mad about those, either. I was more keen on things like stick insects. ?

I had a ‘baby doll’ called Rosemary (actually I think that was on the box she came in - no imagination me ?)
A big doll with hair which I cut off not understanding it wouldn’t grow again) was Belinda. Susie was a tiny doll ‘of colour’. I loved her. Definitely my favourite. Then there were Teddy Trousers, Teddy Brown, Teddy Growler and Rough, a dog with rough not soft fur. All gone except Growler, Trousers and Rough.