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

(58 Posts)
JackyB Sun 09-May-21 15:55:49

Un thé thread about names, people have been saying "I loved the name x" so I called my favourite doll by that name.

I remember I had 14 dolls. The best and biggest one was called Sue. My mother sewed some beautiful clothes for her. I had a wooden one called Peggy and my big Teddy bear was called Penny. I think there was also an Angela and a Polly. I played with them up till I was 13 or 14.

Anyone else have memories of their childhood toys to share?

Amberone Sun 09-May-21 16:09:21

I had quite a few dolls because my DM used to play with them ? Apart from my Tressy doll I wasn't much interested in them, and lost interest in Tressy once I had cut her hair off and it wouldn't grow any more.

The only doll I really remember was chocolate brown with the most beautiful face. She was named 'Jenny' after my then best friend who was Anglo-African.

MayBee70 Sun 09-May-21 16:15:25

My mum got rid of all of my dolls and teddies and also a photo I’d taken of them. I know I had one called Sylvia and one called Margaret. I can cope with not having the dolls but I’d give anything to have that photo!

AGAA4 Sun 09-May-21 16:15:30

I had a doll I called Margaret for a reason I don't remember. I loved that doll and was very upset when I came home from school one day to find that my 2 year old sister had poked her eyes out! Mum tried to fix her but she was never the same.

Sara1954 Sun 09-May-21 16:22:28

Amberone
I wanted a Tressy so badly, I never got one, but I did have Sindy, auburn hair version.
I loved my dolls, I had a Susan, a Louise, a boy doll called Timothy, I wanted to call him Paul, after Paul McCartney, so must have been quite old, but my mum said that was a horrible name.
I had a beautiful doll called Bella, her head fell off and we had to send her to the dolls hospital.

Oopsadaisy1 Sun 09-May-21 16:49:28

I hated my dolls and never named them, I had a Sindy doll and made clothes for it on Mums old Singer machine, but never actually played with it.
I loved my Teddy as a child, but just called him Ted, I still have him, plus Little Ted, my brothers Ted and DHs Ted, no proper names though. Don’t know why.....

eazybee Sun 09-May-21 16:52:45

Susan, the first and favourite, Margaret and Betty, baby dolls, Chloe a black doll, Peggy, a celluloid doll who sadly melted in front of the fire, Rosemary a walkie-talkie doll whose long hair I cut, and Elizabeth, a teenage doll, One bear was called Brumas and the other, belonging to my mother I called Rosie. I had a knitted rabbit called Gollyribbit because I was hoping for a gollywog and he came instead.

Lillie Sun 09-May-21 17:06:11

Jacky. Deborah. Wendy (from Peter Pan). Vicky.

BlueBelle Sun 09-May-21 17:11:39

I can’t remember many but my first one was NumNum a soft bodied doll and I had a boy doll that I called Boy you can see how inventive I was
I had a black doll that went everywhere with me but I can’t remember what I called her

Lexisgranny Sun 09-May-21 17:15:36

Not a one - I was not a fan of dolls although I was given quite a few, nobody picked up that I didn’t play with them, or the elaborate dolls pram. However I adored my blue teddy bear and he was similarly loved by my children.

Amberone Sun 09-May-21 17:28:57

Sara1954 I think I had a Sindy as well - she had a smart 50's style green skirt suit and black shoes for going into the city. Or maybe it was Down Town, not the city. The record 'Down Time' always reminds me of her - Cilla Black? Petula Clark?

That's about all I remember about her as I thought her suit was very smart. She had other outfits as well, and I used to dress her in all sorts of of weird things. My DM then had her fun undressing her and putting her into a proper outfit ?

Maggiemaybe Sun 09-May-21 17:29:45

I didn’t play much with dolls, but had Ann and Theresa and before them a black doll I loved, who I think was Rose. I crawled into a clothes horse den with her and when we crawled out her face was completely bashed in. sad I still have Ann, who my DC think is really spooky with her staring eyes and moulded curls, and Edward my teddy, who has been much loved and has lost his voice box and much of his (straw?) stuffing.

Santa never did bring me that Tressie, or even a Sindy - my mother didn’t approve of “teenage” dolls.

Chestnut Sun 09-May-21 17:34:59

My first was a large doll called Rosemary who was like a toddler! Then my favourite later on was Jennifer who was a teenage doll with long blonde hair. I don't know if anyone remembers them (around 1960). She was like a large Barbie doll and had real stockings! I thought she was so glamorous. I don't know what make she was.

monk08 Sun 09-May-21 17:36:14

I still have my black doll who I named Pepe it's a crock one with a padded body made in Germany well over 60yrs old.

Sara1954 Sun 09-May-21 17:39:41

Chestnut
I had one, she had pointy little breasts.

Calendargirl Sun 09-May-21 17:46:22

My dolls were called Angela, Pauline, Jane, Jenny. My last doll was called Kim, she had washable hair, it was black, I was never allowed to wash it though. I wish I had kept her, she had a lovely ‘new doll’ smell.

My teddy was called Keith.

Ladyleftfieldlover Sun 09-May-21 17:51:20

My favourite doll was called Flower. She was made of rigid plastic. I was always breaking her. Dad used to take her to the Dolls Hospital in Reading. I have a photo of me siting in my grandparent’s orchard holding her.

timetogo2016 Sun 09-May-21 17:57:39

I never liked dolls,but had a teddy i called ted and a golliwog i called Mr G and they both slept with me.
I wonder where they dissapeared to ?.

Elusivebutterfly Sun 09-May-21 18:02:57

I had a doll called Anne and another called Jean. I still have Anne, complete with clothes my mother made. My teddy disappeared in a move. I always wanted a Sindy teenage doll but my mother wouldn't let me. She didn't like them and said I was too old for a doll then.

rafichagran Sun 09-May-21 18:07:21

Rosebud and Deborah. Rosebud had lovely yellow hair.

Sara1954 Sun 09-May-21 18:24:45

Elusivebutterfly
I had to save my pocket money to buy my Sindy. I think she was 24 shillings.
She wasn’t as posh as Amberones though, she came in jeans and a striped T-shirt.

Chestnut Sun 09-May-21 18:29:35

Those teenage dolls from 1960 were like early versions of Barbie/Sindy but much larger, so they were easy to dress. The Barbie dolls of today are small and skinny, and some of their clothes are so tight my granddaughter can't dress them herself. They are cheap rubbish, but I suppose profit is the driving factor. They should make larger Barbie-type dolls, I'm sure people would still buy them.

ElaineI Sun 09-May-21 18:32:47

Michael - baby doll, Wendy, Fiona, Deborah, Sindy and Patch (Sindy's little sister). I always wanted a Tiny Tears but never got one.

Amberone Sun 09-May-21 18:35:31

ElaineI I had a Patch too - she had brown hair and freckles! I'd forgotten all about her. I think I preferred her to Sindy really, but didn't play much with any dolls.

Charleygirl5 Sun 09-May-21 18:38:24

Mine was Rosebud. She had a very substantial pram which any mother with a baby now would be proud to own but it was of solid make and obviously not collapsible.