Effanbee Honey Doll

I have a rule in my doll room.

Everyone must have a place to sleep.

This keeps my doll collection from getting too

big and overwhelming for me.

Sadly, this means I sometimes have to

decide between dolls to keep and dolls

to sell. One doll I regret selling was...

My 1951 Effanbee Honey Tinthair.

(I really should ask your opinion first)

I thought she resembled Marcella in

this, rather sad, Raggedy Ann story.

Raggedy Ann Collection

So, I dressed her like Marcella and she

had these 8" Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls.

But, I sold her...

So, on an impulse, I did a quick

search online and look who I found!!

Another Honey doll!

These photos are from her eBay ad.

She has her original outfit.

She is in really good condition, 

just a bit faded.

She arrives very soon!

These Honey dolls originally came with hair rollers

and hair coloring solution. They came in three sizes,

14", 16" and 18".

(The hair coloring sounds like a huge mess!

Especially with little girls.)

Here she is just opened!

Look at this sweet note!

The doll world is full of the sweetest people!

She has her complete original outfit.

The slip has built in bloomers.

Here is everything she came with.

Her dress and slip got put in soap and water to soak.

The photo does not show how really dirty 

this wash water was!

Time for a spa!

Her wig needs to be reglued in places.

You can see old dye dripping out in the sink.

Much better!

I rolled her hair and left her overnight.

Oh no! The curlers didn't work!

YIKES!  Not an improvement.

I did a little research and found her

wig is made with "dynel fibers".

This hair must be curled with heat, 

but not a curling iron or other electronic 

heat. This hair needs hot water. I was

afraid to do a boil perm...

So, I re-curled her hair and ran it under

the hottest water I could stand from the tap.

Now I wait another 24 hours.

Sigh.

A little better! I still need to play with her

hair a little.

As you can see her right eyebrow was 

rubbed off at some point in her past.

I have this brush that I picked almost

all the hairs from just for

eyebrows.

Her dress and slip get a good ironing.

In her freshly ironed chemise.

I like her hair in a loose style, just like 

a little curly haired girl with a busy 

mom who ties a ribbon around her hair 

and hopes for the best.

And here she is all done!

Before        and       After

This dress was originally white.

I think this is a definite improvement.

Very pretty!

Welcome Honey!!

Alaska!

I just got back from Alaska!

FAIRBANKS

Fairbanks was our first stop.

This is a mural in downtown Fairbanks.

In the Fairbanks Cultural Center I saw

this doll made by Dixie Alexander.

I love the beautiful beadwork in

many of the Alaskan dolls.

This doll was made by Ellen Savage.

These dolls made me think about

finding a doll during our trip!

Beautiful beadwork is a big part

of native dress in Alaska.

I loved this mural in Fairbanks of a sewing woman.

Our next stop was...

Denali National Park

Denali Mountain Range.

We saw wild moose.

We stayed at the Denali Education Center 

in a cabin like this.

The Nenana river ran right outside our window.

While in Denali, we were given a 

demonstration of native dances by 

the Topkop Family dancers.

Pavva Inupiaq Dancers

This style dress is called a "Kusbuk".

I loved her dress and the history 

behind it. In the 1890s, ladies in Alaska were

using flour sack fabrics just like ladies

in the lower 48 states.

The Kusbuk dress is made from cotton,

originally flour sack fabrics,

 but as you can see it has a

definite style of its own.

We also visited "Squid Acres Kennel" while in Denali.

(Nova the 12 year old retired sled dog who now

spends his days getting belly rubs from tourists)

They breed and train dogs for sledding.

These trainers and dogs have run the 

Iditarod over 12 times!

Squid Acres Sled Dog Kennel

The dogs getting ready to do a summer 

training run.

And after they got back. They were all such 

sweet dogs.  We got to give them scratches

and belly rubs.

Our final stop was...

ANCHORAGE

This is Downtown Anchorage.

The average temperature was 68 degrees!

I had this nebulous plan to find a cute Alaska doll

but nothing really caught my eye. 

How cute are these crochet dolls?

Another traditional Kusbuk dress.  

A group of dolls in an Anchorage shop.

Some of these dolls have scary faces.

These two have much nicer faces.

This doll was in the Anchorage Museum.

These two were also in the Anchorage Museum.

My favorite doll is below...

Sadly I saw her after the store closed and 

we were leaving early the next day for home.

I never found a doll!

When I got back home from Alaska, I looked 

for a Kusbuk dress pattern for 18" dolls.

Look what I found from 1997!

I started looking for fabric as soon as

I ordered this pattern.  This is what I found.

I selected 2 fabrics that I felt had a

flour sack fabric look.

Then I selected some fake furs. I was

full of fervor at this moment.  I was planning

on making two complete outfits. I had

never worked with fake fur before...

This is Grace in her Kusbuk dress.

I really like how it turned out, but I

think it may be too long.

Very pretty Grace!

Next came the fur Parka.  How hard

could it be? Same pattern, just with fur.

HA!

I did eventually get it made, but working

with fake fur was difficult.  It tended to slide

around. The top fabric would stretch out

longer than the bottom, but I just

forged ahead.

Here is the Parka.

Grace loves it.  She says it is 

so soft and warm.

I still need to finish adding fasteners, but

for now this will have to do.

Grace is ready for a dog sled team

of her own!

Stay warm Grace!