I am in the process of sorting through everything in my parents' home, and in so doing, I have been looking through all my childhood memorabilia, the majority of which I hadn't seen since my parents packed up my belongings and moved them from the home I grew up in to this house some 45 years ago. My 2024 A to Z Challenge theme is based on the treasures I have found in the boxes and the drawers and closets. Join me on my bittersweet journey back to my childhood.
Have I mentioned before I had a lot of dolls? I had a lot of dolls.
This is Baby Secret. She has had a wonky left arm since I can remember. Her hair used to be in a ponytail, but I took it down and tried to make her wear it other ways. Note to doll manufacturers: don't make a doll whose hair can only go in ONE style. Baby Secret is mostly bald except for the hair around her hairline and a weird strip around the middle to make the pony tail. That was very disturbing to me then, and it's still disturbing to me now.
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| This is the back of her head with pony tail down and it's just wrong |
Baby Secret was released by Mattel in 1965. I probably got mine in 1966. She whispered when you pulled a string AND HER MOUTH MOVED. I never thought of it as creepy, but in retrospect, yeah, I guess it was. Here's the commercial from 1966 to prove it (fun fact: the little girl is none other than Eve Plumb, aka Jan Brady!):
I didn't play with Baby Secret like I did with my doll Cindy. She wasn't a baby doll to me but more of a novelty. Most of the time, she was relegated to being a member of my doll classroom, but that's not all she was good for! I liked pulling her string and holding her against someone's face (usually my poor, patient mom's) and squealing with glee as Baby Secret chewed their cheek. I also liked sticking the end of my finger in her mouth after pulling the string and feeling her gumming it. It was also loads of fun to follow our cat around while pulling Baby Secret's string. Cats LOVE that....
Somehow, Baby Secret survived all this, plus a move to a new town while I was in college. She also survived the great basement flood, which got her relocated to my bedroom, and she survived my kids playing with her and is no worse for wear than anything I ever put her through. Sit back and enjoy a few words from her....
Tell me YOUR secrets! I'll never tell....
I'd never heard of this one, it does seem a bit creepy to me.
ReplyDeleteIt's a stereotypical image for only girls to have dolls as toys. But I had a couple of them. I used to dress them up and take them along with me. It was a great comfort factor for me.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very creepy doll. Those twins in The Shinning probably had one.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of this doll before. My mom is a doll collector and she had some that were really creepy because I felt they were the kind you'd see in the shows where the doll comes alive and is evil.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a commentary on society that Baby Secret could be marketed then without anyone thinking it was creepy. I can't imagine it would make it to a mass-market retailer now.
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