It was sooooo hot yesterday (Michigan is not used to the triple digit temperatures we had yesterday!), so my mom and I decided to go to the mall to escape the heat. That plan didn't exactly work since the mall was hot and stuffy, but on the bright side, we found the Target exclusive The Best of I Love Lucy DVD set I wanted (thanks mom for buying it for me)!
We tried again at dinner to escape the heat by going out to dinner. Again, our plan didn't work since the restaurant's a/c was on the fritz. Oh well, my nachos were good anyway!
Back home after dinner, my parents gave me my gift...a real Ricky Jr. doll from the 50's! Of course this prompted us to have to watch my favorite episode ever of I Love Lucy - Lucy Goes to the Hospital (I love Ricky at the hospital when he's got his "woodoo" ("woodoo...woodoo...you know v-o-o-d-o-o- woodoo"...I love Ricky's accent!) make-up on!
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| Source |
Anyway, back to my new little guy! There's a website I've found called Doll Reference and under their American Character (the company that made Ricky Jr.) section they have a description of the different Ricky Jr dolls made (they varied almost each year they were made from 1952-1956). My guy happens to be from 1954 and his description from Doll Reference is as follows:
1954 Ricky, 17 & 21" tall, all vinyl with rooted hair, wore shorts with suspenders in a hen print, white shirt with name embroidered and sandals.
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| Picture from Doll Reference website. |
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| My Ricky Jr. |
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| Cute cheeks! |
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| Full length |
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| His sleep eyes still work! |
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| His name is embroidered on his little shirt! |
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| Ricky Jr. with a replica ad and hangtag (you know the tag that hangs from the doll's wrist) from my book, Lucille Ball Treasures. |
Ricky Jr. Doll Hangtag
"Little Ricky" truly was the world's most popular baby after his birth in January 1953. For young I Love Lucy fans, a doll was manufactured in his image, so lifelike it drank, blue bubbles, and even wet its diaper.
Ricky Jr. Doll Advertisement
Lucille and Desi are shown in this ad for the Little Ricky doll, and a child model demonstrates how fun it is to play "Mommy."
If you couldn't tell, I'm in LOVE with my gift! I'm not sure where he'll sit on display yet, so for now he's hanging out on my desk, on the shelf above my computer, so I can just glance up and admire him whenever I want!
Dear Jamie,
ReplyDeleteBelated HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes are being sent your way.
I don't know how I missed this post - sorry my dear!
I can relate to your weather story - here it has been so strange and from one extreme to the next. Fortunately in my studio I have a/c which makes me want to sleep there!
I'm happy to read that even though a/c was hard to find you still enjoyed yourself - the true test of a person's character...suffering with a smile during a heat wave!
Now...on to your gift, your little Ricky doll - he is adorable. He's from my neck of the woods (1958) and I remember my own little doll, Cheerful Tearful, which I still have - ahh, the good old days...when being a little girl meant dollies and hours and hours of make-believe.
In a way I feel sad for little children nowadays with all this technology I think they are missing out.
My little doll sits on a shelf in my home office and on occasion I actually take her down a revisit a memory or two.
So...dear Jamie, I hope the year ahead is full of happiness, joy, good fortune (maybe that job your hoping for) and love.
Cheers, Jenny