1961-1970

Liddle Kiddles

I was a child myself in the late '60's through the '70's; my passion for dolls started early! These tiny treasures I remember well - though as a child I only really ever owned three, my sister another two - both of which were lost by me - and my "little dolls" included a so-called "knock-off" manufactured in Hong Kong; Mattel was at the time manufacturing out of Japan.

Starting in 1965, diminutive characters were produced, portraying different professions (in the vein of "When I grow up I want to be..."), and other situations of childhood. They were 3"- 4" in height, made of soft vinyl, and unfortunately jointed with copper wire, which over time usually corrodes and causes the vinyl around it to turn a moldy-looking green. The specimens without such stains are highly desirable by collectors, and priced accordingly (even a "mint-in-package" Kiddle can be subject to this discoloration, so non-use is no guarantee of its lack).

The original editions produced were of the character type; they were closely followed by fairy-tale figures, including Sleeping Biddle, Cinderiddle, Peter Paniddle, and Liddle Middle Muffet, who came with story-books. These fairy-tale characters complete with books are among the most highly-priced collector's-items in this category.

There were others of the 3 1/2" type to follow, namely so-called Skediddlers (who were outfitted with a mechanism and gadget to facilitate running movement), and Tea Party Kiddles, elaborately-dressed ladies with their own teacups and saucers. They came housed in large, clear plastic bubbles.

Many accessories were provided for the line, including pop-up houses and towns, and peripheral items such as a toy puppet theater which came with a record, coloring books and even Color-Forms sets.

I had a coloring book featuring this size of Kiddle's very first edition; of course I wanted all the dolls I saw on the covers (except possibly Bunsen Birnie, an icky boy!), an unattainable dream; I did have Lucy and Charlie Brown Skediddlers, as Peanuts was brought into the realm of Kiddledom. (There was also a Snoopy and a Linus.)

The next size down - 2" Kiddles - were brought out in 1967. These tiny dolls were charmingly and amusingly packaged, in a very early example of the now-well-known marketing ploy of packaging-as-accessory.

The first in the line of the middle-sized Kiddle were called Lucky Lockets; rather large plastic bubbles containing the removable dolls were decoratively framed in gold-colored plastic curly-cues. They had a chain by which to wear them. One of these was a rare thing - an African-American example, Lois by name. (There was also an example of this in the larger-bodied dolls.)

After these came Kologne Kiddles, a lovely selection of flower-themed dolls in their very own little plastic bottles, even being scented to match (my sister's was of this type, a Honeysuckle - I can't smell honeysuckle to this day without going back to my very early childhood!).

There was also a highly amusing line of this size Kiddle with an outer-space theme, called Kozmic Kiddles; they had tiny plastic flying saucers with wheels on the bottoms, which when rolled caused the doll inside to gyrate back and forth. The bases for these were plastic "rocks." They came in a variety of "Martian"-inspired colors.

These were soon joined by Kola Kiddles, who likewise were contained in little hinged pop-bottles. The last of all (circa 1970) were the Sweet Treats, who came in their own little treat-themed plastic containers (there was a short-lived revival of these and of the Lockets around 1973, but the quality is very markedly downgraded in these later examples).

Also in 1967, there were produced some of the tiniest non-dollhouse, vinyl dolls ever made, the Jewelry Kiddles. These, as their name suggests, were tiny (7/8"-1 1/16") dolls with real hair and tiny clothes, encased within various wearable baubles outfitted with tiny doors through which to remove the doll for play. (This particular kind of doll was, and still is, very much an obsession for me as a collector!) There were even three of these tinies with their own pop-up buildings! They were folded together in the form of a "story-book;" the doll was located in a clear plastic bubble that folded into an aperture in the front board, and had a door to take the kiddle out through (it had to be punched with a sharp instrument by Mom or another adult when new, however). Their liddle and adorable stories were told in a few words on the back of the package.

My own few Kiddles consisted of, first, a Pop-Up Castle with a wee green-haired Princessa (as she was called in her story), whom I managed to lose in the front yard - a thing that makes me quite sad to this very day! This same Kiddle - the Princessa with green hair - was also the flower-ring Kiddle; this was pink and orange with green leaves. I had that one until I lost it when traveling as an adult; however, I have replaced it with a lovely NM example of my own from the one marketplace that is sure to provide them, namely of course eBay!

Between those two, I also acquired through an older neighbor a Kozmic Kiddle; this one was Purple Gurple, with googly eyes and a tiny green curl on her purple forehead. I had the saucer for her but not the base, and I believe that the plastic bubble at the top was missing when I got her.

My sister's were, as I have stated, the Honeysuckle Kologne, and also she had a flower pin, who contains one of the slightly larger dolls. She has a tiny orange sausage-curled lock of hair, and tiny flowers on her dress. After having lost that one long ago, I replaced this pin; she is my current favorite of my Jewelries (which I have a good many yet to go to make a complete collection of!).

The rarest of alll the Jewelries - and possibly Kiddles in general, other than the 1-off unreleased prototype specimens, particularly of Jewelries - are the two necklaces. These were released in a limited number of sets, containing flower-themed and heart-themed jewelry pieces. The heart has within it a wee girl with bright fuchsia hair, dressed in "Princess Leia"-type cinnamon buns. The other is the Flower, with a green and white-lace dress. Her hair is yellow.

They just don't seem able to grasp "cute" in this era the way it was captured for posterity by these little gems of the mid-to-late 1960's.