Repairing a Ginger doll's broken walking post

A common problem among Cosmopolitan Ginger dolls from the 1950s is that they are found with broken walking posts. The post that connects their head to the walking mechanism in their hips is made of plastic, which makes it susceptible to breaking. If the post breaks, not only does their head not move back and forth when they "walk," but it only wobbles and can spin all the way around.

Several years ago, I bought a nude Ginger doll that arrived with a cracked walking post. The crack, which I could see through the arm holes, went about halfway through the post, so I knew if I wasn't careful it would break off the rest of the way. I decided to try gluing the walking post in the hopes of saving her.

I actually glued her twice. The first time I used super glue, applied painstakingly with the tip of a toothpick. Once I felt I had enough glue in the crack, I positioned her head to close the crack, held her like that for several minutes, and then very carefully laid her on her back to dry.

The super glue actually held for quite a while, but one day when I was dressing her or styling her hair, I wasn't quite careful enough and the glue failed. This time I didn't have any super glue handy, so I decided to try the glue I use for wig replacement and touch-ups. I think I used a little more glue this time, too. Again, I held her head in position for several minutes before laying her down to dry. So far, the Tacky Glue has held, and I haven't had to reglue her walking post again.

I took a couple of photos to show my repair job. In the first photo, you can see the crack at the top of the curve. If you look closely in the second photo, you can see the clear layer of glue over the outside of the walking post.





A little bit of work, and I was able to save a perfectly good Ginger doll from the trash bin!

Vintage doll wig replacement, part 2

More than a month ago, I blogged about replacing the wig on one of my 8-inch Ginger dolls. Here at last is the rest of the story, as well as a few pictures.

As you'll remember, she wasn't the prettiest doll starting out — her crazy wig inspired me to nickname her Medusa. So I took the wig off of another Ginger doll with a walking post that was broken beyond repair.

Once I had the new wig in place (all of this is described in detail in the other post), I tied a ribbon around her head to keep the cheesecloth wig cap flush against her head while the glue dried. (I don't recomend fast-drying glue unless it's something that is reversible — too easy to make mistakes. Better to learn patience!)

After about 24 hours, I took the ribbon off. Although I had rebraided the wig before switching it, I did have do a little restyling after transferring it. Once the braids were how I wanted them, I put an extra spot of glue on each of side above the ear, so that the hair alongside her face stayed down instead of peeling up and making her look funny. That meant putting the ribbon back on again, of course.

When I took the ribbon off for the final time, I was duly impressed with my own work. Because I'd done such a thorough job of removing the evidence of glue and hair from the original wig, it's not immediately obvious that the wig is a replacement.





I also found her an outfit that I thought appropriate: #666 from the 1955 catalog. I bought the dress separately, so the yellow taffeta fat pants, yellow rayon socks, and white shoes are all appropriate vintage replacements. I'm still missng the hat, which I believe should be a lacy-looking white hat.



A lot of doll collectors shy away from dolls with replaced wigs, but I think the key is finding an appropriate vintage replacements. Most modern replacement wigs will be glaringly obvious, but you can easily find an appropriate vintage replacement by buying a parts doll with a good wig.

Of course, replacing the wig does affect the value — my doll might be worth more than she was with a Medusa wig, but not by much, and definitely not as much as if it were her original wig. Therefore, I don't necessarily recommend doing this on a doll you plan to sell; but if it's just a doll you plan to display and enjoy, I think you'll be pleased with the results.

Catching up

A friend scolded me lately for not having updated my blog lately, so I have to apologize — I've been extremely busy lately with work and my other hobbies, which involve enjoying the nice springtime weather.

However, today I bit the bullet and took a whole bunch of really great pictures, so you can expect new posts again! I'm especially excited about these pictures, because I've put together a new backdrop and studio setup, and I'm extraordinarily pleased with the results.

Check back soon for updates and more eye candy!