Doll-A-Day 2019 #329: Effanbee Punkin as Holly from The Story of Holly and Ivy

Today's doll is this little girl.

Or should I say, 'doll'? Because she's not meant to depict a little girl. She's meant to be the doll named Holly,from the children's book, "The Story of Holly and Ivy", by Rumer Godden.

Originally published in 1958, it was named one of the Top 100 Children's Books of All Time by The Boston Parents Paper.

Ivy loved the book when she was little. We read it many times. It was one of her very favourites, which was special to me, because it had been one of my favourite books when I was a little kid. In fact, the copy we read was my childhood book. You may have read my review of it HERE. One year I decided to make ivy a Holly doll. I searched online for a doll that would be appropriate. The doll I got doesn't completely satisfy me, (She's a little stubby and her face isn't right.),but the internet wasn't as full of things then as it is now. If I were making Holly now I'm sure I could find a better doll. The doll I chose was this Effanbee doll. I think she's made with the 'Punkin' head sculpt.

She's marked 1966.

This doll isn't very accurate to the description of Holly in the book. She's supposed to be 10 inches tall,(Ok,close. This girl is 11 inches tall.),and 'carefully jointed',with 'real golden hair',and BROWN glass eyes, and 'teeth like tiny china pearls'.
I needed a doll who started out with a dress I could turn into Holly's dress. I have no idea which Effanbee doll this girl really is,and the only picture I could find of her in her original state was an auction photo,so I apologize for using someone else's photo.

 

The seller had no idea who she is either. If any of you know,leave a comment.
  I'm not much good at sewing,and sleeves are something I have never mastered. Of course, Ivy gave me lots of practice later on,as she had to have Halloween costumes that were usually 'pretty dresses'. I still can't claim to have gotten very good at it. This doll had blonde hair and a dark red dress with puffed sleeves,like the illustrations by Adrienne Adams in our book.
 

 The only problem was, she had a stand up lace neck on her dress, as well as a built in white pinafore that reached her feet,as did the skirt of her dress. I could take off the lace at the neck,remove the pinafore,and shorten the dress though. I also had to add the waistband,the piece of holly at the waist. Now that I look at the illustrations again, that holly at the waist is not from the book, but the animated TV special.

 

The animated special first aired in December of 1991. Emma was six months old,and I taped it so she could watch it when she was older. Good thing, because years later I had Ivy, who loved the book.
   I also needed to add a white, lace trimmed Peter Pan collar,which I did very poorly!

It's so crooked!

But I did make the collar from scratch. I think I also gave her a bit of a haircut.

She also needed red shoes,green knee socks and a green petticoat. I couldn't find any shoes to fit her,so Ivy got her shoeless. Shoeless dolls seem to be a thing in my collection too. These days I would try to make her some shoes,but then it didn't occur to me that it was possible. I did find a pair of white doll socks and tried to dye them green. They are nylon socks, so it didn't take very well. The green petticoat was just green tulle on a piece of elastic waistband,but I didn't do that very well either.

Her petticoat actually looks green here. In some of the illustrations it appears to be white,but the description in the book says green.

 

Looking at the illustrations now I see that she also should have had a little short sleeve jacket over her dress. I don't know how I left that out. I'm usually such a stickler for details. I think I made her more like the animated version. If I made her again I'd have to include the jacket with the little buttons.

She also appears to have jointed knees.

The doll I made Holly out of has sleep eyes with hard,molded lashes.

She has the Punkin head sculpt, which has a sort of concave face.

 So that's the doll for today.
 

  You can watch the animated special based on The Story of Holly and Ivy, "The Wish that Changed Christmas", HERE. I recommend the book over the TV show though. Rumer Godden,the author,wrote some other books with doll characters,including "Miss Happiness and Miss Flower" and it's sequel "Little Plum", "Impunity Jane:The Story of a Pocket Doll",and "The Doll's House". Several of her books for adults were made into films, including "The River", "The Black Narcissus", and "In This House of Brede".
   Tomorrow I pick Ivy up from college,and her room is STILL not ready! It has taken a long time to sort all her tiny doll things and pack them up accordingly. I have gotten a bit farther than just that,but that's been very time consuming. I'm nearly done with that though.
  I think we'll be seeing some of Ivy's dolls next year. I won't be doing daily posts after December 31st,but I'll be here at least once a week,if not more. I've been thinking about weekly playset posts,as well as occasional reviews and looks at dolls I come across. Ivy still has lots of interesting doll things we'll be looking at. And I have plans to renovate Emma's old room... See you tomorrow for another doll.

December Doll Reading: The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden

 Throughout December I'll be suggesting some nice doll books to read with your children. First up is The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden.

This is the version I have. The pictures are only coloured in green and red.

 Rumer Godden wrote several children's books with doll characters, including "Miss Happiness and Miss Flower", about a pair of Japanese dolls, and the sequel "Little Plum",and  "Impunity Jane: The Story of a Pocket Doll".She also wrote many books for adults.
  The Story of Holly and Ivy was a book I had as a kid. It became one of Ivy's favourites because one of the characters had her name, so we read it every year for years. Still do sometimes.It was originally published in 1958, but I believe it's still in print. You can even get it for your Kindle!

This is a more modern edition.

   It's a very sweet book. The first sentence is a very good description of the story: "This is a story about wishing. It is also a story about a doll and a little girl."Set at Christmas time, it follows the story of an orphan named Ivy.When all the other children at Ivy's orphanage are taken in by families for Christmas and the last staff member must leave to take care of a sick relative,Ivy is sent to the babies orphan home. Stubborn Ivy insists that she is not a 'baby', and sets out to find the grandparents she is certain must be out there waiting for her. She gets off the train, only to find herself alone in a strange town, with no money and night quickly falling.It's also the story of Holly, a doll who has only just been unpacked for sale on Christmas eve. Holly is afraid she won't be sold in time for Christmas. The other toys warn her that with her red and green outfit, she is considered "a Christmas doll", and Christmas dolls will be returned to storage when the holiday is over, to wait out a long and lonely year in the dark.As for the wishing, Ivy wishes for the beautiful doll in the window,and a home and someone to love her. In spite of the warning that a child's hands are rough, Holly wishes for 'her' little girl, who will love her and muss her clothes in an embrace. Of course, we know they will end up together, and maybe Ivy will find the grand parents she's looking for. At least, we hope so. So many times it's so close, and yet so far that we're on the edge of the page, so to speak. The story is well  written.When Ivy falls asleep in a bakery shed and wakes up to find the shed has cooled in the night, we can almost feel how cold and stiff her legs have become. The ending always has me crying happy tears, which has always prompted Ivy to laugh at me. (Such an insensitive child for someone who cries at the drop of a hat to have had!)
It's a fairly short chapter book and can be read in one sitting if your kids are patient. (And so are you!) If not, you could surely do it in a couple of readings. Young kids can read it themselves.Age recommendations are all over the place on this book.The younger scale is for having it read to them obviously, but I've seen 4-8, 5-10, and up to age 12.As usual, you know your child and what they can understand, and what they'll put up with. (The story might be a bit slow moving and serious for some very young children to stay interested in.On the other hand, the characters of talking toys,and a villan that's an evil owl might do the trick!)

And even more recent.

 The book was made into an animated tv special called "The Wish that Changed Christmas" in 1991. The tv show isn't nearly as mystical (Was that toy owl really alive?) or beautiful as the book, but it's nice. I know it was released on video, but I don't know about DVD.

 It can also be viewed on YouTube. But read the book instead. And if you happen to cry at the end, well, maybe your kids won't make fun of you.