Rags to riches, part 2

One of my favorite parts of complete a project doll is finding the correct clothes and accessories to complete the doll, as I did with the Davy Crockett doll that is now in my display of 1950s Disney dolls.

My last post about this doll demonstrated how much a doll can be transformed by cleaning and restyling its hair. But that transformation is not complete until the doll has appropriate clothing, too.

I actually did not intend the Davy Crockett outfit for this doll when I first saw it — I just knew that I wanted the outfit. A couple of days later, I restyled this doll's hair, and knew then that she would be perfect for the outfit.

The outfit was boxed — in the wrong box, but as I discovered when I got the outfit, it had probably never been on a doll. It was therefore very stiff, as the suede material they used didn't really age very well. I steamed the outfit to make it flexible enough to get on my doll, but even so, it took a lot of coaxing. Now that it's on, I am never going to take it off!

The outfit is great — it includes the suede fringed skirt and top, red suede boots, a red belt, "saddle bags" to hang on the belt, and of course a darling rabbit fur "coonskin" hat with a little "tail." The outfit also has the rifle, which I was thrilled about, of course!

Even with her pale face and rebraided hair, this outfit transforms this little Ginger from a six-dollar doll into one of the sought-after Disney Gingers. I'm very proud to have uncovered this little diamond in the rough!

Greek key snaps on vintage doll clothing

Greek key snaps, or "P" pattern snaps, were often used on vintage doll clothing in the 1950s and 1960s. Sometimes they were painted, sometimes they were left unpainted. The unpainted ones could be made of either silver or gold-colored metal.

They are often referred to as "Ginger snaps," because they were used so much on Cosmopolitan Ginger clothing. However, they were also used by other clothing manufacturers on shoes and clothes.

Here are a few of the places you can find Greek key snaps:

On a tagged Ginger dress:



On a mint in box Fortune Ninette's clothing:



On a Fortune Pam's dress:



On an A&H Gigi outfit (identified in Small Dolls of the 40s & 50s by Carol Stover, pages 11 and 13):



On an unidentified Ginger clone's dress:



On a pair of fuzzy-bottomed center snap shoes from the early 1950s (worn by an 18-inch Madame Alexander doll, but may not be original):



On a pair of replacement side snap shoes for a Madame Alexander Alexander-kins:



On a pair of center snap shoes worn by Ginny, Muffie, Ginger, Ninette, and other high quality toddler dolls in the early 1950s: