1938 Toddlin Sue by Ideal

When you find an old doll, it is not easy to identify them when they have no markings. So you start the process of what you THINK they are and go from there. I bought this doll on EBay for a small amount. I KNEW she was a mess.  The lady selling her did not know really what she was selling. Valuable? No not in that shape. But to me she was valuable for the practice I could get on her.

 the dress is a real child's size 5 made by Cinderella Company. I am going to try and clean it up a bit and see how much I can do with it.

 The eyes are cloudy with dirt, the skin dull and minute crazing all over the face.

The compo has come loose on the back of the head, but I could tell she had a wig at one time.

That helped when I went searching for who she was. I knew the arms and legs were a rubber/new skin type vinyl that did not last as long as most things used for the arms and legs. Usually when you see them like these , they are rotted or discolored badly.

 So first I took her apart and cleaned the head. VERY pretty. Used a filler on the gaps where the compo flaked on the back of the head to stop it from going further. But the face I only cleaned it .

Wow, look at those eyes now!   She is beautiful.  So I looked for a wig in my collection and that was what helped me to find her.

this same head mold was used for close to 20 years by the Ideal toy company for baby dolls to toddlers. You can see it on some with the molded hair being spray painted.  But since she had a wig I wanted to go to what she was. After hours of pouring over pictures on the net, I found this one that is closest to any I saw.

Called Toddlin Sue and put out in 1938.

My goal is to get my little lady as close to this as I can.  I slip covered the body in a pale flesh to retain the size and shape of what she had.

Now to replace the arms and the legs. I found some on EBay and have to wait for them.

I now have some composition arms and legs to restore and then put her together and dress.