Feelin' groovy

Momma's been taking a sentimental journey the last month or so.

It all began at a local doll show when she "rebought" a childhood doll for $10: Velvet.

Then last week, a friend asked Momma if she'd like a Crissy doll.

Would she?! Momma never had Crissy, but her childhood best friend did. 

(Poor Crissy had braided, tangled dreadlocks which took Momma about four hours to comb out. Crissy was also the victim of a budding barber at some point in her history.)

Crissy, with adjustable hair, was created by Ideal Toy Corporation in 1968 and started selling in 1969.

Crissy has auburn hair, black eyes, an orange lace dress, and is 18 inches tall. While having rooted hair, Crissy also has a section of hair that emerges from a hole on the top of her head, giving kids the ability to adjust the length of her hair. (The first Crissy had floor-length hair but that was quickly switched to hip-length hair.)

Turning a knob on her back retracts the hair into the torso. Pushing and holding Crissy's bellybutton disengages the locking mechanism to allow the hair to be pulled back out of her head.

This ability to “grow” hair was her main appeal, as Crissy (and her friends and family) had the potential to sport various types of hairstyles by adjusting the hair to different lengths and styling the hair appropriately.

Crissy was joined in 1970 by her shorter cousin, Velvet, who Momma got for Christmas that year. Velvet is 16 inches tall and was released in both white and African-American versions.

Momma's Velvet doll had blonde hair, lavender sleep eyes, and a purple dress, while the African-American Velvet version had black hair and black sleep eyes.

Momma also had Velvet's 16 inch tall friend, Mia (1971). Mia had brunette hair, blue sleep eyes, and a pale-blue romper.

Many other dolls joined Ideal's adjustable-hair family over the years, including Tressy, Kerry, Brandi, Cinnamon, Tara, Cricket, Dina, and Baby Crissy, but Momma didn't have those so they don't have the same sentimental value.

But we were delighted to welcome both Crissy and Velvet back into our family.

Welcome home!