Sasha Doll Musings

Babies at Play on a Fine Spring Day

2011-06-26T17:22:00.020-06:00

We can't believe it's been 5 months since the last post. We apologize to all who have been watching for the next. Life has just been incredibly busy with one thing and another, and besides it has been the coolest, rainiest spring we can ever remember.

At last we had a fine spring day, and babies Sandra Varlene and Cara Linnea got out to play in our new playclothes sewn by Ebay seller, Shadowdancer9423.

First, they tried a game of row, row, row your boat by a stump piled with squirrel middens

They were delighted to discover that with all of the rain we've had, we have carpets of moss growing everywhere, and so many different kinds too.

Do you know this moss is called "scared cat's tail moss" (Rhytidiadelphus) because it looks like a bristly cat's tail? Don't forget you can click on the photo for a close-up view. It is also nice and cushioney for doing somersaults on.

Check out this moss with the cute little red stems!

Sandra says, "My moss looks like miniature Christmas trees (Polytrichum)," and Cara says "Mine is like soft turfy grass."

Even the roots of this old tree that fell over are covered in moss.
This looks pretty fun to climb and explore.

So let's go climbing!

My, how babies love to climb...

and climb...

and climb!

Here, let me help you up this last bit. We'll be queens of this giant stump!!!

Whoa, it's a little scary standing up on this giant fallen log.
Hold on to me, so you don't fall!
Wave bye to everyone.

Hope you all enjoyed exploring with us today!

Little Miss Cara
&
Little Miss Sandra

On Sasha Morgenthaler Course Dolls

2011-01-09T13:16:00.013-07:00

Happy New Year!
I am the newest doll in MamaT's Sasha family. MamaT has tried out a few different names on me, but the only one that seems to be sticking is Talia Jaelle, just because. I am not technically a Sasha doll. I am a homemade doll from Switzerland. Doll making was a very popular hobby in Switzerland for some years. Most likely I was made from a Glorex doll kit or something similar. These kits are still available (click Glorex for more info). I am 14 inches (35cm) tall (positive proof I am not a "course doll" which we'll discuss below). I have a firm (probably plastic) head covered with tricot cloth, real human hair, and a soft, stuffed body. While I am not a "real" Sasha doll, there is no doubt in our minds that I was made by a collector of Sasha dolls and I was Sasha inspired. My unmatched eyebrows and eyes are very similar in style to those painted by Sasha Morgenthaler, and while we don't know who the artist was who painted my face, we agree she was very talented.

Besides my face, the second reason we believe I originally belonged to a Sasha collector is based on my dress. It is a handmade dress, but it emulates the gingham yoke dress that was a classic Sasha dress made during all the years of the English production, and also found on some Gotz and studio dolls.

Further evidence is that while the dress actually doesn't fit me all that well (wide in the collar and a little too short), it fits a Sasha baby doll perfectly, and we believe that's what it was first made for.

Now enough about me, you probably didn't pull up this entry to learn about Glorex dolls. Because I resemble a Sasha course doll in some ways, I have been tasked with telling you all we know about Sasha course dolls. And in truth, almost all we know about course dolls, we learned from Dorisanne Osborne. Dorisanne was kind enough to give MamaT permission to let us quote most of a post she made on the Sasha-L list on 2/7/08, adding in a few bits from other posts of hers.

“I don't know when Sasha Morgenthaler began her doll making classes, but I think they were held for 25 years or more with Sasha teaching them before her death in 1975, and then her assistant Trudi Loeffler, continued teaching them until 1993.

The classes were held in Sasha's workshop in the basement of her home. There was room for 5 or 6 women to take a course which was usually held one day a week, for about 5 weeks. This limited the classes to women who lived in Zurich and the towns around Zurich. They would work on their dolls at home during the week in between classes.

I was a member of the last class that Frau Loeffler taught in December of 1993, which was put on for a group of 6 American women. We were in Zurich the end of November of 1993 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Sasha's birth so our doll making class was a very special time. Our classes were held all day long for a week, since we were only in Switzerland for two weeks. It was intensive to complete the two dolls in that time period.

The course dolls had Type A (non-jointed cloth) bodies and were about 20” (50cm) tall, varying both in girth and height because they were stuffed with excelsior (wood chips) by many different people with variable experience levels. The hardest work day was when we stuffed the excelsior into the cloth body parts as it had to be packed very tightly. We were exhausted after our day of stuffing our two course dolls because they have to be packed very tight, but I've seen some that are not so firm.

Hemp was supplied for the hair, but you could pay extra to have a hand-knotted human hair wig made by Sasha's own wigmaker. I used the hemp hair for my boy and the wig for my girl, as both were applied differently and I wanted to experience both processes. For the hemp hair we dug out a hole in the middle of the head and pushed the "hair" into it, then arranged it, glued it down, and styled it. We started with dyed raw hemp and spent an afternoon brushing (and brushing and brushing) the hemp with a dog brush, to make it silky. With the human hair wig, we sewed it to the head.

We practiced the eye and face painting under Frau Loeffler's direction before we actually painted our dolls' faces. Frau Loffler taught us Sasha's method of painting eyes. We painted a round eye in the color of our choice and then were instructed to put the pupil right in themiddle of the iris. If you stop to think of the human eye, it is a ball, with the pupil "dead center". The secret seems to be what you do after you have the pupil in the center of the eye. The lid is what changes the character of the eye, as it can come down and cover much of the eye, or be high for a wide-eyed look. And the addition of eyelashes can change the look too. The pupils on Sasha's studio dolls range from very large, to rather small. She tried to make individualized eyes. The "star pupils" on some of the early English dolls were made made by painting the pupil with a fine brush--I've heard that it was a brush with five "hairs,” but can't confirm so.

We dressed our dolls at home, though some people were able to find clothing and shoes to fit at the toy stores in Zurich. It was an amazing experience to make Sasha's dolls in her own studio. We expected her to walk in at any minute. Many women in the area took the class over and over, making two dolls each time. Some of them sold their dolls, and others still have them. Probably, hundreds of these dolls were made over the years.”
--Dorisanne Osborne

Thanks again to Dorisanne for her all of her wonderful information and first hand experience in a doll course. We have very little information other than what Dorisanne had to offer. We found no information on when Sasha Morgenthaler began giving workshops, how often or how many classes or how many dolls were made. She continued teaching them until she passed away in 1975.

Frau Trudi (Roos) Loffler, who began working with Sasha in the late 1940s, was considered her closest collaborator for the next 25+ years, continued teaching the workshops until 1993. Frau Loffler was also involved in preparing exhibits at the museum in Zurich and did a lot of hand sanding on the studio dolls, among other work, no doubt. According to Dorisanne's book, the course dolls had Type I faces (square shaped with medium full cheeks). We've seen a course dolls described with fleece hair, which was likely hemp fleece.

Here are some current links to photos of course dolls (for sale or already sold):
http://sasha-dolls.com/page7.htm
Previously sold doll on Ebay.
http://www.sashadolluk.co.uk/26247.html (Scroll to bottom of the page). This page also has information on how to contact Dorisanne to get a copy of the book, “Sasha Dolls Through the Years” which we HIGHLY recommend.
--And as Tigger would say, Ta-ta for now! Talia Jaelle

Merry Christmas from the S-kids!

2010-12-23T20:01:00.012-07:00

MamaT almost got Angela out to be the Christmas girl AGAIN, and we all started to whine, why does Angela get to stand by the tree EVERY year? So MamaT stopped and thought about it and picked ME, because my name is Tasha (which is a variant of Natasha, which means "child of Christmas," a traditional name for girls born near Christmas in Russia, like MamaT's sister (my namesake) who was born ON Christmas (even though she isn't Russian). So her family always got to have birthday cake on Christmas, which somehow seems appropriate. It is also Sasha's birthday, who is going to be forty-one-derful this year. None of the rest of us have specific birthdays... Many of us don't even know exactly what year we were "born." Here you see me holding the stocking with all the symbols of Christmas. If you want to read the poem about what they all mean, you can find it here.

But I'm not the only one out by the tree this year.
I'm joined by Patrick and Sandra, which is good, because they make good company while MamaT and her DH are busily preparing for the holidays.
Here we all are, ready to spread some holiday cheer!

Patrick sings, "Glad Tidings we bring to you and your kin, glad tidings for CHRISTmas and a happy new year!" He has a nice soprano voice.
If he would ever age past 7, he might make a good tenor.
Oh yes, and a note on Patrick's scarf. MamaT's mama taught all her grandchildren how to knit, both girls and boys. This little scarf was knitted by one of MamaT's nephews when he was about 10, and he gave it to MamaT who recently discovered it was in perfect Sasha scale by pure coincidence and gave it Patrick so he wouldn't catch cold while he was out caroling. Now MamaT wishes she had learned to knit from her mama.

Here is Sandy, playing with the train set again,
and licking on her everlasting candy cane!

Yours truly, Tasha, a child of Christmas,
thinking about Jesus, the real Child of Christmas.

We're feeling mighty cozy in our corner by the tree
as we eagerly await the big day!

We hope you had a peaceful solstice, and wish a joyful Christmas
and a fabulous new year to all of you and your dolls!

Ted's Pinafore Challenge #72

2010-12-04T12:22:00.009-07:00

Hey There! Now that all the voting is over for Ted's pinafore challenge, we can post our entry here. This was not the original planned entry. The first one planned was to be out of a nice corduroy fabric with a delicate print perfect for Sasha scale. There were a lot of complicated ideas in the plan, and MamaT was just figuring out where to begin when the idea for this dress flashed into her head. The fabric for this dress was a fat square for quilting MamaT found while looking for fabric for the baby cradle quilt (shown previously). She found this piece of fabric to be literally irresistible, because she purchased it without having a clue of what she might do with it later.

Once she got the inspiration for this dress, she decided she better try it first, because it would be much easier to start with than plan A, and would be good sewing practice. While the result isn't perfect (and the flaws don't show in the photos much), it's not bad at all for her experience level, we think. One of the most interesting parts of adapting the original pattern was in lengthening the skirt, since the bottom hem is curved. She figured out how long she wanted it to be at the edge and at the center point and made pencil marks there. Then using her arm like a "compass" and her elbow as the pivot point, she just free-handed a line between the 2 points, which came out perfectly first try. Those moments are so rare it's very exciting when they happen.

So as you might guess, the first pinafore planned has never been completed, and probably won't end up as a pinafore (or jumper) now, but MamaT still hopes to make a dress with it, maybe over the holidays when she has some time off work.

Cora claimed the dress immediately as hers alone when the dress was finished. She found a choker of MamaT's made from juniper berries that was the perfect accent for the dress. Juniper berries are supposed to ward off bad dreams, and Cora confirms that she hasn't had a single nightmare since she put it on. She won't say whether she ever had one before though. She also tried out a beaded hair tie as a necklace, but it was a bit much. Lona doesn't care about that and is wearing it now anyway, as you'll probably see in our next post.

One more thing to notice is to see all the photoshopping Ted did in the top photo to remove the back edging off Cora's modeling platform/dresser. He also improved the lighting. He said he even added legs to some of the models, so you can see he spent a lot of time on some of the photos. We'd really like to thank him for his huge investment of time on the project, because it was very fun, and the perfect motivation to get MamaT to start and finish a project. And THAT makes us dolls happy.

Lastly, we'll include a link to Ted's blog post that shows all the entries with comments by his fashion model daughter, Alex. She made positive, constructive comments on every single entry, another big effort. We really liked her comments on this dress. She said, "This elongated pinafore with overtones of an ethnic influence shows how any simple pattern can become the basis for completely different garments. Excellent solution."

If you haven't already seen them, I encourage you to check the link and see all the amazing creativity generated from one simple pattern and one challenge.
Alex's comments on Ted's pinafore challenge entries.

A Fall Fungal Foray

2010-10-17T14:57:00.024-06:00

Happy Autumn Everyone! We have been having a very wet fall, making it a great year for mushrooms. Patrick has been itching to get out on an exploration trip, so we thought we'd count how many different kinds of mushrooms we could find while investigating the backyard. While we won't try to identify all of them, we think this first one might be a slippery jack or Suillus luteus. In theory, it is edible, but not considered very palatable. By the way, please don't use this blog as an id. guide. You should never eat a wild mushroom unless you are 100% sure of your identification and its edibility. Never eat wild mushrooms that are raw or decayed, and never eat them in large quantities.

This cute little mushroom is a Lepiota cristata, sometimes called a star dapperling or a stinking parasol. Hmm. I like the first name better. Not recommended for consumption as it has toxic close relatives.

Okay, I'm not even going to try to identify this one or we'll never get through this post, but it IS hard to resist trying.

Looks like another Suillus type mushroom. Don't they look like just the perfect pancakes? Makes me hungry, but I will pass on eating these.

This large stump is a regular nursery. It has moss and fireweed, and baby birch trees, along with these adorable parasol shaped mushrooms

Ooooh. Now this stump is amazing. Check out this colony of mushrooms here!

Awesome! That big white thing is a giant mushroom pushing up out of the ground. They are coming up right through the moss all over around here.

Now this one looks like the earth itself is growing up out of the ground.

I am beginning to feel surrounded in fungus. These are called larch boletes, Suillus grevillei. They grow in a symbiotic relationship with western larch trees providing them with more water and nutrients then they can get with just their roots alone.

These cute little orange fungi are growing out of the side of a log with moss and lichens.

I'm starting to get bored with the whole mushroom thing. We found at least half a dozen others, but the photos didn't turn out so great. This stick is starting to look more fun to play with.

Besides mushrooms, there's also berries out this time of year. This one is called bunchberry. It is related to dogwood and is one of the fastest plants on the planet (the pollen is released by a little trigger when a bee lands on it.) MamaT insists I include the Latin names. That's Cornus canadensis.

Here's something to pucker you up. It's Oregon grape (Mahonia or Berberis repens). We tried making lemonade out of it once. Started with 10 berries and it took about 10 teaspoons of sugar before it wasn't too tart anymore!

Now Patrick is just exploring without looking for plants--walking along a rotting nurse log here.

Do you think anyone will think I'm holding this big log up on my shoulders? I didn't think so either, but it's fun to imagine.

This hollowed out stump is kind of fun to play in. I think there's a red squirrel who hangs out here shelling pine cones all summer.

Gregor showed you all kinds of hidey holes like this earlier this summer. I'm finding some cool critter haunts too.

Just a swinging in the trees. That little branch doesn't look quite strong enough to hold me, but it did!

I like all the different colors of rocks you can find around here--red, yellow, and green for starters.

And finally a trip to the dock where I got to look a large mouth bass in the eye. How cool is that? Thanks for sharing my little autumn adventure with me. See you later.
--Patrick Terrance (a red-headed Gregor)

Sari Dress-up Day

2010-09-25T11:43:00.016-06:00

Many years ago, when MamaT was in graduate school, she lived in a house with 2 kitchens and baths and 6 bedrooms and girls. One of her housemates was from India and wore traditional dress most of the time. She was also MamaT's all time favorite cook and got her addicted to Indian curry dishes. One evening the apartment pulled out Abha's saris and played dress-up, while Abha "dressed up" in western style clothes.

With this history, MamaT has always liked the Sasha Sari dolls, but they are not quite in her budget, so she thought she could make one of her brunettes into a sari doll and picked out some fabric that might make nice saris.

She also found instructions for making and wrapping saris. There is more than one way to correctly wrap a sari. She learned that a human sari is normally 45" (1.14m) by 6 yards (5.5-6m). Scaled down to Sasha size, that is about 9" (23cm) by 48" (1.2m).

You are supposed to have a half-slip to tuck the sari into. MamaT said she was too lazy to sew up a slip that won't be seen, so she used a rubber band instead.

About where the sari makes full circle around her waist, add 5-6 pleats. We hold these in place with a tiny safety pin.

Wrap the sari all the way around the waist one more time, and then throw it over her shoulder.
The Sari Sasha typically wears her sari over her head. It could also be left over her left shoulder, or brought around over her right shoulder, like MamaT and her housemates did. You can use another safety pin to hold the sari in place where you want it.
MamaT made two dragonfly saris and auctioned one off during the festival stay-at-homers raffle a few years ago. Here is the winner, Karen's doll, modeling her prize.
For some years, MamaT has envisioned making sari's for all the dolls, and as our Sasha family has grown, she picked up more bits of fabric to make Saris from, but the task of making us all saris become more and more daunting. One day MamaT's granddaughter found the fabric and wrapped several of us up and made this display.
MamaT decided it was as good a time as any to re-enact the sari dress-up day, even if all the saris weren't neatly sewn up like she planned. At least they were all cut to size. She decided that since there were 6 models in the original Sari dress-up day, just 6 of us would suffice for the Sasha sari dress up day. So here we are!
By the way, since you might wonder, MamaT is the one in green. The Sasha link we will share today is a site in Stockport, England that still has a few Sasha dolls and accessories for sale. ABCeta Playthings.

http://www.sashadolls.com/

Baby Sasha's Cradle

2010-08-26T21:42:00.025-06:00

Shhh, Don't tell, but baby Sasha is getting a pine cradle for a birthday present. MamaT wants me to tell you she designed all by herself and built it too with a lot of help from her DH.

It is stained with a cherry wood stain.

The babies can't wait to try it out.

Tasha is making up the bed for the babies.

First, the mattress goes in.

Now to fluff up the pillow.

Doesn't that fleece look cozy, all in shades of pepto-bismol pink.

Now for the matching blanket.

And finally, the quilt to inspire dreams of dancing fairy princesses.

After making up the bed, Tasha thought she'd try it out, but she really doesn't fit.

Here it is, all snugly made up and ready to surprise baby Sasha.

Oh, and there's a matching nightgown too!

Baby Cara is modeling the nightgown.

Testing the comfort level of the fleece blanket and snuggling Pepsi Koala.

I think Cara's eyelids are getting very heavy snuggled under the quilt there.

The twins fit too, snug as a pair of bugs.

Sandra & Margot insist on snuggling with Koko and Pepsi Koala.

Tasha plays rock-a-bye baby with the twins.

Is 3 a crowd? No way, we say!

How about 4 (or 6 counting the bears)? Well maybe it would be tough to sleep like this, but who cares about sleep when we're having this much fun?

We can hardly wait for baby Sasha's next visit (she only comes over with MamaT's granddaughter), so we can give her the cradle!

And today's link to share is by Andrea of the Doll Works. She has lots of clothes and very cool accessories to choose from, plus knitting patterns.
http://www.the-doll-works.com/index.html

How Tall is a Sasha Doll?

2010-08-22T17:16:00.010-06:00

We are called 16” dolls, but the book answer is that the English dolls ranged from 15.5-17” (39.4-43.2cm) and generally got taller as time went on, while German dolls were 16-16.5” tall (40-42cm).We got to comparing heights the other day just to see how we compared to each other. Do you see how much taller Lona is than I am?

So we all lined up and drew lines on the wall, and then measured the height of the lines. First time we measured, I came out the shortest of everyone. They started calling me Shrimpy Sasha. No fair. Here we are all lined up shortest to tallest with the Shrimp at the tail.
A week later, MamaT decided to see whether taking our shoes off would make a measureable difference. We all had our shoes on for the first round. She took my shoes off, and I stood as straight and tall as I could. Without my shoes, I was 3/8 of an inch taller than the week before. I grew! I grew! MamaT was not convinced. She muttered something about “must have measured wrong”. Then EVERYONE had to take their shoes off and line up to get measured. MamaT told us that's a lot what it's like to wait in line at an airport. I wondered if they had to measure everyone's height for some reason.

In round two, Kiltie grew almost as much as I did, and Patrick was next. Madie shrunk by an 1/8 of an inch. I think her wig adds to her height. I am mighty tempted to call her Midget Madie, but I'll try to be nice. I didn't like being called a Shrimp. Everyone else was within 1/16 of the first measurement (but even so most “grew” with their shoes off). What this shows is that depending on how we stand, you might get slightly different answers when making measurements. For one thing our legs are not exactly the same length (like real people you know). We had several ties in the first round. In the second round, we remeasured the ties for any subtle differences and got a different height for everyone. They are posted below the photo in inches and sixteenths.
Madie 16 4/16; Angela 16 5/16; Sasha 16 7/16; Cora 16 8/16; Gregor 16 9/16; Patrick 16 10/16; Kiltie 16 11/16; Shyvonne 16 12/16; Tasha 16 13/16, and Lona 16 15/16.

So in our little group we found the German dolls to be shortest. The one anomaly is Lona, who is most likely second oldest of the English dolls after me, but is indisputably the tallest at very nearly 17 inches. Everyone else seems to fit in with the theory that newer dolls were generally taller. So our little group is between 16-17” tall. That's kind of like MamaT and 3 of her sisters who are all between 5' 6” and 5' 7” tall.

Today's link is Lisa's dolls. She offers a wide range of shoes for Sasha kids and babies, a few dolls, and Sasha hospital services for the Great Britain area.
http://www.lisasdolls.eu/index.html

Trading Fashions - Sasha Style!

2010-08-13T09:09:00.010-06:00

Lately the dolls on Sasha Street have been trying out a lot of fashions from other dolls. For example, the Best Friends Club (BFC) dress that we posted earlier that Lona is modeling.

Sometimes all it takes is an accessory to create a totally new look. MamaT's granddaughter loaned us this ballerina skirt, which Tasha adopted and refused to take off until it was time for Ryin to leave. Tasha has aspirations to become a dancer.

For poor Sasha's with a limited wardrobe, we found another way to "trade fashions." You don't so often see Sasha's wearing original Sasha outfits other than their own, so we thought we'd try swapping our original outfits around one day just for fun. For starters, we have Patrick in the pajamas outfit usually worn by blonde boys and Gregor is wearing Patrick's blue cord outfit.

Here is Tasha again without the ballerina skirt wearing Shyvonne's white dress, and Shyvonne loves Cora's flower dress. She also swiped the shoes from the BFC outfit Lona is wearing.

Here we find Angela wearing Tasha's pinafore and Lona wearing Kiltie's dress. This was taken before she took possession of the BFC dress.

Now Cora is wearing my newer Kilt skirt. We know this should traditionally be worn with my sweater, but it is the middle of summer, and we couldn't bear to subject her to putting on a sweater this time of year, so we substituted Patrick's white shirt from the blue cord outfit. We all think Kiltie Grace looks fantastic in Angela's white dress, and yours truly is wearing Lona's pink dress.

And lastly one more group shot of the girls just for fun.

I think I've been forgetting to add an outside link to explore on my recent posts. Here's a link for exploring some beautiful fashions by Nikita at Dreaming Under the Lilacs (Eseascaper7 on Ebay). http://www.dreamingunderthelilacs.com/

More berry picking

2010-08-08T17:04:00.006-06:00

The strawberries are gone, but now it's raspberry season. We've all been picking our fill, especially Shyvonne who was a little reluctant to share her haul.

We also picked serviceberries and made a pie. Mmmmm. (aka saskatoon, juneberry or sarvisberry depending on your latitude--except MamaT and her botanist friends who would call it Amelanchier alnifolia.)

Best Friends Club Fashions

2010-07-29T21:03:00.013-06:00

MamaT's granddaughter was out to visit last weekend. We love it when Ryin comes to play, because always get lots of action even if we look a bit disheveled by the end of the weekend. Ryin has a baby sundress (named Sasha after me! or is that Sasha Morgenthaler?) and she brought baby Sasha to play, so we were all excited to see her again, because she lived here for a few months before going home with Ryin. Ryin told MamaT that what she wanted most for baby Sasha was a swimming suit, and there's MamaT thinking, "Oh dear, I couldn't possibly sew a baby swimsuit, and I bet their hard to find."

As it turns out, Uncle Ted Menten saved the day. He's been talking all about other doll lines with clothes that fit us Sasha's. (See http://sashastreet.blogspot.com) Recently, he introduced the Sasha-L list follower's to the Best Friends Club line sold at K-Mart. So on an errand to town, MamaT and Ryin convinced Papa to stop at K-Mart, so they could have a look. She wasn't sure what would be there since other folks had posted they weren't stocked locally. Turns out there was a Best Friends Doll and 3 different outfits available! We passed up on the doll and the shorts outfit, because it looked like it might require altering (and later found out from UncleTed that was so), but went home with a brightly colored dress and a bathing suit. Ryin was so excited and MamaT warned her it might not fit the baby, but they tried it, and it DID fit (with only a few stitches to take in the straps in the back). Now we have a happy Sasha baby, happy Ryin and happy MamaT!
And here's the results....

A sun bathing baby

Out on the dock.

Lona likes the Best Friends summer dress.

Ryin says "Sasha can hold onto me all by herself!"

Strawberry Fields

2010-07-21T21:05:00.003-06:00

The wild strawberries are getting ripe! We've discovered that if you wait until wild strawberries are entirely ripe, some other critter will get them first, so it's best to pick them when you find them. It is my opinion that a single wild strawberry, no matter how tiny has as much or more flavor than the giant strawberries you find at the store. Picking (and eating) berries are one of the many joys of summer. This reminds me of an old nursery rhyme.

Curly locks Curly locks

Curly locks, Curly locks
Wilt thou be mine?
Thou shalt not wash dishes
Nor yet feed the swine,
But sit on a cushion
And sew a fine seam,
And feed upon strawberries
Sugar and cream.

Oh, What do you do in the summer time...

2010-07-11T17:35:00.022-06:00

when you're a young boy named Gregor?

First you take a moment to smell the flowers.

Then check out the wind chimes.
Love the dragonflies! After all they're bugs.

Take a ride in a canoe.

And throw rocks in the lake, lots of rocks, but they don't skip so well...

Now to add to my rock collection!

And admire my collection on this old stump.

Digging into a rotting log...

and exploring a hole with a stick.

I'm king of the mountain!

Giddy-up, horse-tree!

There's lots of trees to climb...

MamaT said this looked too dangerous, but I don't think so.
Lots of footholds in that thick bark.

Who do you suppose lives in here?

or here?

And what about in here?

Peek-a-boo!Did you know this moss is called "scared cat's tail moss"?
Ha ha. I think that's cool.

Now relax and watch the clouds float by.
That one looks like a dragon, I think.

Hope you're having an absolutely terrific summer!
What do you do in the summertime?

Crafternoon

2010-05-31T17:19:00.013-06:00

The month has nearly passed without us making an entry here. The weather has been gloomy, and we Sasha dolls really don't like going out in the rain much. MamaT's been busy working both inside and outside and has left me free reign on the computer. One thing I've noticed about Sashaphiles is that a whole lot of them are extremely talented and creative, especially with sewing or knitting clothes for Sasha's and sometimes repainting our faces, or otherwise providing accessories for us. MamaT has made a couple of elementary attempts at sewing for us, and we hope she'll do more, and while she wouldn't call crafting her strong point, she has made a few things over the past couple of years. Today I've been going through the digital photos, and I'm going to show a few of them off to you without telling her.

First up is a necklace MamaT made last year. It's not anything she planned on, but she was in a hobby store with her husband, and while he was talking trains in the train department, MamaT fell for the stone beads and had time to find all the other ingredients for the necklace. She loves it, and later found a perfect pair of earrings to go with it.

Next we have a quilt square. In a weak moment, MamaT agreed to make a quilt square that in some way would represent Glacier National Park for a benefit fund raiser. She got the idea to create an image of Lake McDonald with the mountains and trees (larch and conifers) reflected in the lake. She was really happy to find fabrics at the store that worked just right with what she had imagined. She had never done applique before in her life, and so it was much harder and took hours and hours longer than she had bargained for. In the end though, she was so proud of herself she could hardly stand it.
Next we have a set of curtains started a couple of years ago. MamaT fell in love with the fabric, and just had to have it for her bedroom windows. When she got home, she discovered she didn't have enough fabric. She went back and bought the last of the bolt, but it still wasn't enough and she couldn't figure out a good plan B. So everything got stuffed in a drawer for a couple years. Until a few months ago when a friend came to MamaT's rescue and helped her figure out how to salvage the project and even helped a lot with the sewing. Now she needs to make a matching set for the second window....

In the next photo you'll see a bunch of spatulas that MamaT made as Christmas gifts in December. The uppers are in poplar, and the lower set in cherry. While the poplar was pretty and easy as butter to cut, they probably won't last as long. MamaT uses these spatulas all the time. She has one in every species they've tried out including, oak, cherry, apple, birch, myrtle and poplar. The cutting boards in the backdrop were made by her dear husband.

Several years ago, MamaT got a small window screen that she found was a perfect system for hanging earrings. After a while she found that her earrings were aggravating her metal allergy more and more and finally attributed part of the problem to the metal screen which was not helping matters. So she made this "hypo-allergenic" earring rack and replaced all her earring hooks with sterling silver or gold, and that has helped alleviate the allergy problem tremendously.

When MamaT moved into the house she now lives in, she painted the sunflowers on her mailbox. Last year the box was a target of random vandalism and was smashed with a framing hammer. One other box nearby (a standard plastic box) and several on a road about a mile away were also hit. Go figure.

So when she replaced the mailbox, this time she wanted a dragonfly on it, and since the stencil wasn't very big, she added flowers and butterflies, all representing species that can be found on the property.

Hope you've enjoyed these. Have a great day!

Where in the World are all the Sasha Lovers?

2010-04-09T08:23:00.012-06:00

Happy April! One of the fun little features we found for this blog is a map that shows where in the world this blog has had recent visits from. You can click on a map for more detail on where our visitors are from. I've been amazed by all the places we've found hits from on the map, and we've kept a running list. I thought it would be fun to make a post about this when we hit 50 countries. By the time we reached 40 different countries, the accumulation of new countries really slowed down for awhile. But we had a new little flurry last week and reached countries 48, 49, 50 and 51 all on the same day (or at least the same week--we don't check every day). Today's entry is illustrated by a few recent random shots just for fun, including the Moni dolls who posed as Adam & Eve for a recent Sunday School class. We think they're so adorable, we're leaving them in these outfits for awhile.

I've tried to list the top ten countries in order of popularity or frequency of hits, but it's hard to tell, because I can't get percentages for the whole world at once or for all past hits--it only gives it for the most recent hits regionally, so places 6-10 and especially 10 are kind of guess. After that they will be listed in the order that I encountered them on the map.
1) United States
2) United Kingdom
3) Germany
4) Canada
5) Australia
6) Switzerland
7) France
8) New Zealand
9) Ireland
10) Russia
11) Netherlands
12) Belgium
13) Sweden
14) Czech Republic
15) Spain
16) Latvia
17) Norway
18) Portugal
19) Turkey
20) Greece
21) Bulgaria
22) Romania
23) Poland
24) United Arab Emirates
25) Iran
26) Saudi Arabia
27) Egypt
28) Oman
29) Finland
30) Denmark
31) Austria
32) Japan
33) South Korea
34) South Africa
35) Argentina
36) Chile
37) Israel
38) Italy
39) Brazil
40) Hungary
41) Vietnam
42) Taiwan
43) India
44) Ukraine
45) Nigeria
46) Phillipines
47) Slovakia
48) Slovenia
49) Malaysia
50) Guam
51) Mexico

And in closing, today's link of the day is Anita Adkins' page, called Sasha World. -- http://community-2.webtv.net/gadka/sashaworld/

Crissy & Velvet Correspondence

2010-03-20T11:57:00.007-06:00

For those of you who are bloggers, have you ever come across something and thought, “I've just got to blog this!” This is one of those cases. For background, I should explain that while I was the only Sasha in the house growing up, I was by no means an “only doll” or a “lonely doll”. MamaT and her closest sister, AuntieN had an array of dolls that were well loved and played with. Besides me, MamaT had a Velvet doll (no not the 1981 Sasha Velvet), but an Ideal Velvet with blonde hair that could grow and retract, and was ecstatic to receive the talking Kenner Gabbigale from Santa one year, whose stay in our home was short-lived, because her voicebox didn't work, and she had to be returned and was never replaced, much to MamaT's disappointment. AuntN had Velvet's redheaded friend, Crissy, and her favorite doll, Susan. There was an also an assortment of dolls that their older sisters had left behind, such as Shirley, Samona, Poppy, and undoubtedly others. While Poppy seems like an unusual name, there was an empty field behind their house that grew California poppies in the springtime. At least, I think it was spring. In Salinas, it was hard to tell one season from another. They and their friends also spent hours and hours playing with the Topper “Dawn” doll family. There were one or two leftover strays from the Barbie family in the box, but they didn't see nearly as much use as the Dawn dolls.

So back to today's story, we recently unearthed a note between Crissy and Velvet. Crissy's note is encoded by being written backwards, so you have to hold it up to a mirror to read, so I will transcribe it, so you don't have to get a mirror out.

It reads: “Dear Velvet, how are you doing? I am lonesome for you. I am mad at Sosha now, because she said my hair is too long! I am best freind's with Susan again. I'll be glad when me and Sosha are freinds again tho. Who are [you] best freinds with now? Simona still? I hope so. You guys were always such good freinds. Love always, Crissy”

I tried to retain the original spelling, which the computer is reluctant to do. It keeps trying to correct friends. How do you like that I am only mentioned because Crissy was mad at me? I don't recall saying her hair was too long. I was probably jealous. Not only did she have longer hair, but I have always been a little envious of red hair. At least she said she hoped we'd be friends again, and I think we did make up again, so I will forgive her for spelling my name wrong, and Samona's too. And now for Velvet's response, which is on the back of the same sheet.

“Dear Crissy, Your handwriting is neat. I stil like Sumona. I like Shirly to, too, two. I fergot wich won. Poppy is being a brat! She's crying and sayeing nobody like's her any mor all the time. Mis Mousy is acting big! She say's the biger the beter. Really the biger the worse. The other stufet animals arownd here ar o.k. tho. Love, Velvet. Picture, Shirly, Poppy, Victoria Sumona, Velvet (me), Mis Mousy, I'm the Best.”

In some ways, Velvet's encoding is trickier than Crissy's, because the letter starts out backwards and needing a mirror to read, but as it goes along fewer and fewer of the letters are written backwards, so you can harldly read the thing either forwards or backwards. I love it where she got all the “two's” covered, but than she got the wrong “one”. I read this to the other dolls last night, and Shyvonne laughed so hard, she fell off the shelf, making a little “thunk” just as MamaT was drifting off to sleep. She saw Shyvonne had taken a dive and just left her to sleep on the floor for the whole night if you can believe that. When she reads this blog entry, she'll find out the explanation why Shyvonne fell off the shelf. To be honest, I always thought Velvet was my best friend growing up, so I have to admit I'm a little offended that she does not even mention me, or include me in her adorable drawings. But I think I should get over it, since after all these years, I'm the only one of the dolls that was kept long enough to become “real”.

Miss Mousy, who also got a bit of a bad rap in Velvet's note, is also still with us, so I've included a photo of her with Sandra, who is tugging on Miss Mousy's necklace as babies will, and a purple cow from the same era, whose original name no one can recall anymore. So as you can see, Miss Mousy IS big. Don't tell Sandra, but the irresistable new romper made by Diane Scarbrough she is sporting is just on loan until we give it baby Sasha who is in need of more clothes.

Just for fun, I've added one more photo of a few more old toys I used to know that somehow survived the years, including a cheerful old woman with oversized hands holding Sweet April, along with Raggedy Ann and Andy, Kanga and Roo, and one remaining Dawn doll dress, #217 Party Puffery to be precise. Most of these, we'd be willing to offer to collectors, but they are not in exceptional shape, so they will probably stay here.

And last, before I sign off, today's link is Karen Watson's page, who has a couple dolls and some clothes patterns for sale.
-- http://www.bestdollclothes.com/index.html

Sasha Memorabilia Book 4: Articles

2010-02-28T16:27:00.006-07:00

Hello! Many apologies for not posting for so long. MamaT was out of town for two weeks this month, and we couldn't hitch a ride to the computer while she was gone. It's been awhile since I've included an entry about the Big Book of Sasha Memorabilia. I think this will be the last one, as we've already covered paperdolls and ads, cards, and catalogs. While all of these are just a sampling of what's in the book, they give you an idea of some of the fun things to collect about Sasha besides the dolls and clothes. One thing the book does not contain much of is patterns. MamaT claims she's not much of a seamstress and doesn't know the first thing to do with knitting needles. She's made a couple of feeble attempts at sewing and fantasizes becoming more proficient at it.

Now that I've told you what today's entry is not, maybe I should say what it is. The big book contains about 30 different magazine articles ranging from 1964 to 2008. MamaT had about a half a dozen or so more that she had the nerve to part with when she sold some duplicates. There's no way to include all of the articles here, so we've photographed samples from 10 of the color articles with the best pictures. That's not to say some of the black and white articles aren't excellent. They're just not as photogenic to include here. I do recommend clicking on these photos for a close-up view.

Rather than list out MamaT's personal library here, I'll just list those photographed here and give you the following links:
Susanna Lewis' Sasha Bibliography. The red dot articles are worth searching for. MamaT has all of the U.S. produced red dot articles, plus some others.
A few additional articles encountered by MamaT. This entry also includes information on books and newsletters, so it's a bit long-winded.
Neither list is exhaustive.

And now for the short "top ten" list.

--Menten, Ted. Great Names in Dollmaking: Sasha. Dolls, Summer l983, p. 36-39.
--Remise, Jac and France Broutin. The Sasha Morgenthaler Museum in Zürich, Switzerland. Doll Reader, Jun/Jul 1987, p. 126-130.
--Guinard, Mavis. Swiss Museum Preserves Sasha’s Magic. Dolls, Sep/Oct 1988, p. 44-47.
--Votaw, Anne with Barden, Ann and Knüsli, Laura. Sashas, The First Generation. Dolls, Dec/Jan 1991, cover, p. 64-72.
--Knüsli, Laura. Sasha Morgenthaler: Pioneer Doll Artist, 1893 to 1975. Doll Reader, Feb 1993, p. 111-116.
--Votaw, Anne and Knüsli, Laura. Sasha: An Entertainment and Commercial Star. Doll Reader, Aug 1996, p. 74-78.

--Votaw, Anne. Sasha Morgenthaler Creates Sasha. Doll News, Summer 1999, p. 44-47.
--Newman, Penny. Sasha Dolls, a Story of Harmony, Simplicity and Love of Humanity. Contemporary Doll Collector April/May 2004, p. 30-35.
--Osborn, Dorisanne. Sasha Morgenthaler's Boys and Girls. Doll Reader, Feb. 2005, p. 24-29.
--Ndouop-Klajian, Ruth. Playing with Asymmetry. Doll Reader, December/January 2008, p. 62-64.

The Bear, the Doll, and the Wardrobe

2010-01-03T21:01:00.014-07:00

Hi, this is Lona here. Sasha says she's tired tonight, so my little friend, Pepsi Koala, and I get to introduce you to our Christmas present this year. MamaT found this nice green box at Joanne's Fabrics and left in on the table. While Pepsi and I were out exploring when the big people were away (and Cora followed us with the camera), we found the box and thought we might have a little peek inside.
Pepsi crawled up to the top of the box and pulled the zipper down, we opened it up wondering what sort of world might be inside, and what to our surprise, we discovered.....

SASHA CLOTHES!!! Pepsi was immediately attracted to the bear dress, but I'm partial to Cora's flower dress myself.
How do you suppose they put this thing together? The day MamaT brought it home, her DH immediately set to work making a little frame to hold the extension rods, because the box isn't really hard-sided. He used cherry wood, since pine is prone to leaking resins. We wanted to know how they made the extension rods too, so we pulled one down. We discovered they used two pieces of brass tubing, one just 1/32” larger than the other and a little spring the same size as the smaller tube, so it fits inside the larger tube, but not the small one. They chose a softer (as opposed to a stiffer) spring. They got these at the hardware store.

They made some temporary hangers out of copper wire they had laying around, which they eventually want to dip in plastic, the kind you dip your tool handles in, but that's not done yet. They just wrapped wire around a semi-triangular wooden block (with rounded corners), and wrapped the hook around the brass tubing, and trimmed it with wire cutters. Here's a link to another method for making hangers.
http://www.tinyzippers.com/hangers.html

Uh oh, I hear big people coming in at the door, and the clothes are all in a pile. Pepsi, we are so busted... Cora, where'd you go? Hey, we'll talk to you all again later. Lona & Pepsi Koala, signing off.

Sasha Hits the Big 4-0

2009-12-25T18:07:00.005-07:00

Christmas Day is a wonderful day to celebrate a birthday. First of all it's the day we celebrate Jesus' birthday. Second, MamaT's closest sister was born on Christmas day, so we always had birthday cake at our house for Christmas. And while I don't know my specific manufacture date, we celebrate my birthday on Christmas day too, because that's the day I joined the family--40 years ago today! And I know, I don't look a day over 7. =) I bet a lot of Sasha's joined their families on Christmas. You'll see one more in just a moment.

I also got the priviledge of meeting Billie the Kiddette. She is a cousin to Billy Bowman, the Glacier National Park mascot who also has his own Blog. BillyinGlacierPark
Billy is a mountain goat that travels all over Glacier and sometimes other places and gets his picture taken a lot. He even has a Facebook page. I asked MamaT about getting a Facebook page, and she said I wasn't old enough. Now how do you figure that? I am 40 years old now after all. I am glad no one brought out the black balloons.
Another Sasha was born today. MamaT's granddaughter got her first Sasha today. Remember when we introduced you to "Sunny Daisy". Well, Ryin named her Sasha--after me no doubt! I am so flattered. Well, maybe she did name her after Sasha Morgenthaler. Well, here is baby Sasha, with Ryin, Billie, and Meesha, the cat.

We wish all you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year!
And for nostalgia's sake, I'm going to give you a link to an earlier blog post with a video clip of when MamaT first pulled me out of my can (with help from her birthday girl sister) and put me in my high chair. I miss that old high chair. I used to sit next to her at the table a lot in that thing. See My Story.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

2009-12-13T16:48:00.007-07:00

At long last, we have gotten some decorations up here and are getting into the holiday spirit. Margot has been fascinated by the olive wood nativity scene and can't take her eyes off the little baby Jesus.

Meanwhile, Sandra found the Lionel train set we got last year and won't let anyone else have a turn with it. Doesn't her dress make you hungry for gingerbread?

Angela Karinne got a new dress for the season. It was a bonus dress we got from Nadiya. She is holding a very special stocking filled with all sorts of Christmas symbols, and wants to share with you the story that goes with them.

*********************

TEACH THE CHILDREN

Late one Christmas Eve, I sank back, tired, but content, into my easy chair. The kids were in bed, the gifts were wrapped, the milk and cookies waited by the fireplace for Santa. As I sat back admiring the tree with its decorations, I couldn't help feeling that something important was missing. It wasn't long before the tiny twinkling tree lights lulled me to sleep. I don't know how long I slept, but all of a sudden I knew that I wasn't alone. I opened my eyes, and you can imagine my surprise when I saw Santa Claus, himself, standing next to my Christmas tree.

He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot just as the poem described him, but he was not the "jolly old elf" of Christmas legend. The man who stood before me looked sad and disappointed. And there were tears in his eyes. "Santa, what's wrong?" I asked, "Why are you crying?" "It's the children," Santa replied sadly. "But Santa, the children love you," I said. "Oh, I know they love me, and they love the gifts I bring them," Santa said, "but too many of the children today seem to have forgotten or somehow missed out on learning the true meaning of Christmas. And so I ask you to teach the children."

"Teach them what?" I asked. Santa's kind old face became soft, more gentle. His eyes began to shine with something more than tears. He spoke softly. "Teach the children the true spirit of Christmas. Teach them that the part of Christmas we can see, hear, and touch is much more than meets the eye. Teach them the symbolism behind the customs and traditions of Christmas which we now observe. Teach them what it is they truly represent."

"Teach the children red is the first color of Christmas” he said as he drew forth a glittering red Christmas tree ornament from his bag and placed it on the mantel. “Red was first use by the faithful to remind them of the blood which was shed by the Savior. Christ gave His life and shed His blood that everyone might have eternal life. When they see the color red, it should remind them of God's greatest gift.”

Santa reached into his bag and dislodged a tiny Christmas tree from its depths and set the tree on my mantle and gently hung the red ornament on it. "Teach the children about the Christmas tree. Green is the second color of Christmas. The stately evergreen, with its unchanging color, represents the hope of eternal life in Jesus. Its needles point heavenward as a reminder that mankind's thoughts should turn heavenward as well."

Santa reached into his bag again and pulled out a shiny star and placed it at the top of the small tree. "Teach the children the star was the heavenly sign of promise. God promised a Savior for the world and the star was the sign of the fulfillment of that promise. Teach the children that God always fulfills His promises, and that wise men still seek Him."

Suddenly I heard a faint tinkling sound. Santa found a silver bell in his pack and placed it on the tree. "Teach the children just as lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it continues to ring today for all to be guided to the fold. Teach the children that each one of us are precious to the true Shepherd, and if we follow the Savior, we will never be led astray."

As the soft sound of the bell faded into the night, Santa drew forth a candle and placed it on the mantle and lit it. The soft glow from its one tiny flame brightened the room. Santa whispered "Teach the children the glow of the candle represents how people can show their thanks for the gift of God's son that Christmas Eve long ago. Teach the children to follow in Christ's footsteps...to go about doing good. Teach them to let their light shine before people that all may see it and glorify God. This is what's symbolized when the colored lights shine on the tree like hundreds of bright shining lights, each of them representing one of God's precious children's light shining for all to see."

Santa turned the tree lights on and picked up a gift from under the tree. He pointed to the large bow and said, “Teach the children a bow is place on a present to remind us of the spirit of the brotherhood of mankind. We should remember that the bow is tied as people should be tied, all of us together, with bonds of goodwill toward each other. Even its very shape is symbolic, representing eternity and the eternal nature of Christ's love. It is a circle, without beginning and without end. Goodwill forever is the message of the bow."

Again Santa reached into his bag and this time he brought forth a tiny red and white striped cane. As he hung it on the tree he spoke softly. "Teach the children the candy cane represents the Good Shepherd's crook, which is used to reach and lift us, who like fallen lambs, have gone astray. The red again, represents Christ's blood, which if we will follow Him, will cleanse us and make us pure and white as snow as the Savior was pure. The candy cane represents the helping hand we should show to one another. It reminds us we are our brother's keeper."

Santa at last brought forth a beautiful holly wreath out of his bag. “Teach the children that the wreath symbolizes the eternal nature of love—it never ceases, stops, or ends. It is one continuous round of affection. It is made of many things in many colors and reminds us of all the things of Christmas. Please teach the children.”

I asked, "But where does that leave you Santa?" The tears gone now from his eyes, a smile broke over Santa's face. "Why bless you, my dear," he laughed, "I'm a symbol too. I represent the spirit of family fun and the joy of giving and receiving. If the children are taught these other things, there is no danger that I'll ever be forgotten." "I think I'm beginning to understand." "That's why I came," said Santa. "You're an adult. If you don't teach the children these things, then who will?"

Pumpkin Carving Party

2009-11-07T11:10:00.005-07:00

Fall Greetings! I managed to catch the boys on candid camera on Halloween night, though it's taken me a week to get these posted. It's been hard to get them to pose in their new clothes, although Gregor is sometimes willing to pose while doing gymnastics like standing on his head, and you might get Patrick to pose while dancing, but mostly it's hard to get them to hold still when a camera is pulled out. I wanted to show all of you their new outfits. It's a lot harder to find boy clothes available than girl clothes for Sasha dolls. Gregor is wearing a nice fall outfit by Beverly (Ebayer Bammd). I like how his shirt coordinates with the pumpkin. I have to say the pants are exceptionally well made with great details. Patrick is wearing a cute, I mean handsome (he'd probably never wear it again if I called it cute), school outfit by one of our favorite seamstresses, Diane Scarbrough (dfscarbrough). He'd look great bobbing for apples in this outfit don't you think? Except he might want to take the cap off first.

Anyhow, I caught them surrounded by candy and busily at work on their pumpkins. The onlooking pets are a coyote (artist unknown) and a bighorn sheep by Navajo potter, Louise Goodman, who is much better known for her beautiful coil pots. Patrick is still designing the face for his jack-o-lantern and taking some harrassment from Gregor, because his "pumpkin" is really a squash, but the color is nice. Meanwhile, Gregor is diving right in to cut his pumpkin open with MamaT's leatherman. I experimented with posting larger pictures this time. I'm curious to see how they turn out.

Happy Fall days to you all!
For today's parting link, here is Patty's site, who had some nice autumn clothes, mostly sold now, but nice to look at, and plenty of other clothes available to purchase or enjoy viewing. Be sure to check out George and Mabel's holiday.

--http://www.sashawardrobe.com/index.htm

It's a Sunny Daisy!

2009-10-31T16:35:00.010-06:00

EEyikes! It's Halloween and I haven't posted an entry yet this month. That's pretty spooky all in itself. I have lots of excuses. Want to hear them? 1) The dog ate my keyboard. Shh, Sunny. They don't know we don't have a dog. 2) MamaT went on vacation and left the computer off. 3) There has not been a sunny day around here (not talking about you, Sunny) in like forever for doing a photoshoot. 4). We switched computers and only just today got the new photo editing software loaded for cropping and tweaking photos. 5) Sunny thinks I should admit to you that I'm just plain lazy. I could go on, but that's probably sufficient.

Now here it is Halloween, and we haven't done a fall photo shoot. MAYBE we can get that done before the snow flies. Actually, the snow has been flying. It just hasn't stuck much yet, because the rain is still flying too. That's been the only source of cats and dogs around here.

And now, it is my priviledge to introduce you to a new friend. We finally have another platinum blonde in the house (like me). She's a baby sundress, a Trendon kid from 1979 to 1986. We don't expect her to be around too long, because she is for MamaT's granddaughter's next birthday or maybe Christmas. She found MamaT's Osborn book and said she wanted "all" the dolls, but her mostest favorite was baby sundress. We will let her granddaughter name her, so we just picked out a nickname. We all got to suggest names and voted. So our new girl's nickname is Sunny Daisy, which was Cara Linnea's suggestion. She's always thinking of flowers. It is kind of cute though, so I voted for it too.

Sunny Daisy is a little shy. I may have to draw her out a bit. I told her she is not being introduced to the entire world, only just the Sasha lovers of the world in 42 countries (and counting, but that's another story), and the site has only been hit 13,000 times or more, so no pressure. Do you want to tell the world Hi, Sunny? "Hi Sasha Lovers of the World." Would you like to tell them about yourself? "I don't know." Let's say when were you born? "1979" How do you know? "That's the date on my catalog." What else did you come with? "My box and my basket." What does your price tag say on it? "$20" Wow, Is that all you're worth? MamaT paid too much. "That's not true. We gain value with age." But you're still just a baby, you can't be worth that much more. "I'll tell MamaT you said that!" Sorry, you're just so fun to tease, that's all.

Tell me about this picture with Margot. Who made Margot's dress? "Greta made it. It's a pretty white dress like mine."

Now here you all are wearing new dresses. Where did those come from? "Diane Scarbrough made them. Sandra was jealous that Margot got a new dress, so MamaT bought her the gingerbread dress from Diane off Ebay. Then I needed dresses to take with me when I leave, so Diane did a special order and made the pink dress and light blue dress. They are so cute. They are both my dresses. I let Cara wear it for now though. It does look pretty on her." So now that we've got you warmed up, is there anything else you'd like to share? "I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween day and eve whether it is sunny or not. I hope they get lots of candy, but don't get sick. " What's your favorite web link? "Well, first, they should be sure and look at all the blogs in the last message. MamaT says Kendal's brood is to swoon for, and Sasha Doll Style just posted a really cute Christmas story. Also Ted Menton has recently a posted a bunch of good fall and Halloween ideas. But for a new link, I think I will share Ruth's site, because I love pretty clothes and her site has so many. It's better than the old Sears Roebuck catalogs. Much better."

-- http://www.ruthsdolls.eu/

Thank you Black Doll Enthusiast!

2009-09-29T20:01:00.002-06:00

I am so excited. I have just been named the recipient of the "One Lovely Blog Award". I am very honored to receive this distinction which was bestowed on me by Black Doll Enthusiast of the blog, Black Doll Collecting.

Now in turn, I have the priviledge of passing this honor on to some of my favorite Blogs, some being more newly discovered than others. Here are my nominations for the One Lovely Blog Award. You can see they are mostly Sasha-centric, but what else do you expect from a Sasha doll?

Sasha, Sasha, Sasha
Kendal's Sasha Brood
Sasha Doll Style
Macon Street Studio
Sasha Street
Allegro Melody
Sasha's Closet
Dolly's Designer
Posh Knits

For the new Award winners, here are the rules:
Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award. Now it's my turn to pass it along!

Congratulations!

New Duds for a New Shelf

2009-09-12T09:35:00.007-06:00

Good day all! This is Sasha finally writing again. It seems like we keep getting new family members faster than I can keep up with giving them turns on the blog. Already, someone is in the cue waiting for their turn again, but it's my turn first. Our family has grown so much, we utterly outgrew our shelf. When Kiltie got here, we all had to suck in our breath and squeeze in to all fit together. Karinne climbed up on some blocks, so she could still see past everyone's heads, or was that so MamaT could still see her? MamaT's husband started making comments that he had underestimated our potential for growth when he built the first shelf. So all of his own accord, with no prompting or requests from MamaT, he took it upon himself to build us a new shelf for her birthday. Is that way cool or what? It was just in time too, because when Madie arrived, well, there just wasn't any room for her at all. She had to stand all by herself on the dresser, and I don't know if it's because she's a thrill-seeker or because her stringing's a tad loose, but she would stand on the dresser for days at a time, and then suddenly take a notion to dive headlong to the floor from time to time. Maybe she was just lonely and trying to get attention, because she hasn't done this from our new shelf. So here we are all posed on the new shelf with lots of room to spread out and stretch. Yippee!

You might also notice that most of us are sporting new clothes. To begin with MamaT thought she'd like to stay traditional and keep us in our original outfits. She had even gotten me a new kilt and sweater to replace the one I lost before my old skirt resurfaced. With us all out on display again, she started having second thoughts and decided it might be better to store our original outfits away, where they won't get dusty or faded, and get us outfits that are better for us to play in. So all the girls have new dresses now. Most of these were purchased from Nadiya of Scarlet Rose Designs (with exception of the jumper by Diane Scarbrough you've seen before). They were very affordable, which was a plus, since we had so many to buy, and that way the shipping was discounted too. Nadiya even threw in a bonus dress for Christmas you'll see in a few months which we thought was very sweet of her. It has been harder to find new outfits for they boys, although we finally have one on order that Gregor and Patrick will have to fight over. I suspect Gregor will get it, because I think it would clash with Patrick's hair. We got a beautiful white dress by Gretchen for Margot, so now it is easier to tell the twins apart, but of course Sandra wants a new dress too, and we're on the lookout for something just right for her too. Here are some closer views of the gang in our new duds.

For today's link, I realized I've never posted Nancy Miller's Let's Play Dolls site yet. Nancy Miller lives in Modesto, Calif. (where MamaT's Daddy grew up, and where she often visited her aunt/uncle and cousins as a child). I think Jackie Hyatt, whose blog we posted last time, is or was another Modesto-ite. MamaT tells us it is very hot there, especially in comparison to Salinas, where she and I lived as a children. Anyhow, Nancy often has Sashas and their clothes and some accessories for sale. She also sells other dolls. At the bottom of Nancy's page, you'll see a link that says “abused kids project”. Check it out. Nancy is involved in a program to provide nice dolls & clothes or bears for abused children and will gladly welcome your donations if you want to get involved and help this good cause.

http://letsplaydolls.com/cart/index.php?target=categories&category_id=173

The Unveiling of Magdelena Alexandra

2009-08-23T17:40:00.006-06:00

Hello there! Well, here I am, the surprise doll mentioned a couple entries back. MamaT has been nagging at Sasha to give me a turn on the blog. She's as excited as a kid to see me introduced to you all. But first, I have to back up a bit and tell you how I came into MamaT's home. You could call me a birthday present. A day or two before MamaT's birthday, her husband announced to her, “Do you know there's a doll you're watching on Ebay that closes in 10 minutes and no one has bid on it yet?” Really?!!! was her response. So she went down, waited for the last minute to put her bid in, and amazingly no else bid. Granted I wasn't a perfect doll, but it's enough to give a doll an inferiority complex to only get one bid at a low price. You see I am 1960s Gotz doll, and MamaT picked me up for a mere $200!!! She's seen dolls with split sides go for more than that. The same day I sold, a red headed 60's Gotz girl went for more than $900, and MamaT insists that I have a much prettier face than that doll did. I was in Switzerland, Sasha M's homeland, but I arrived in Montana only 10 days later! And so I was named Magdelena Alexandra in honor of Sasha, whose given name was Mary Magdelena Alexandra von Sinner. Sasha was a nickname, short for Alexandra I think. Magdelena Alexandra IS a bit of a mouthful, so I have my own nickname and usually get called Madie for short, or Alex for my tomboy image when my wig is off.

I started my life either as a unisex doll that later got a bad haircut, or more likely as a Gregor doll, we think since my hair is a bit shorter around my ears. But it's a bit uneven, so may have been cut. Now, it can truthfully be said that I am not entirely missing any hair plugs. However, I do have some plugs that are rather thin or short, especially the front row along my hairline. I also had a few marks from a life of being played with, most notably, one on my nose that couldn't be hid with clothes. I'm also missing a bit of paint on my upper lip. But MamaT says she could tell I had beautiful eyes and didn't hesitate to snap me up.

Once I arrived is when the real patience was needed. I first got an overall cleaning and then began the Oxy treatment. (See Patrick's entry on stain removal.) But the thing is, those dark purple stains that Patrick had practically disappeared overnight, while the dull dark spots that I had were far more persistent. MamaT was cautious about putting heat on me, so the oxy treatment seemed to go on for weeks. We don't remember exactly how long now. Eventually, it reached a point where the dark spots were mostly still there, but they were very faint and not very noticeable, and that's when she stopped the oxy treatment. If you push it too far you'll get bleaching and light blotches on our skin.

So while I was getting the skin treatment, MamaT set about looking to find me a wardrobe. First, she ordered a wig. She searched on the SashaL site for recommendations on what size to get and chose a Monique Gold mohair wig, Faith style, size 8-9 in carrot red, emphasis on the carrot, as you can see in the pictures. It is a beautiful wig, although it doesn't seem to take a curl at all when she tried to set in rags. But I don't mind the straight look. As for the sizing, size 8-9 MIGHT work on an entirely bald English doll, but never in a million years on a doll that had any hair. Fortunately, I'm a bit more petite than the English dolls. She really didn't want to be responsible for cutting my hair off, so she put it up, and actually got this wig to fit (almost). A larger size really would be better in this situation. She was almost tempted to clip the wig in back but glad she didn't have to do that. A bit of my hairline still shows if you lift up my bangs. Sasha says I shouldn't tell you that as you would not know from the pictures otherwise. I'd be a little frightened to pull this wig off and see what kind of hat hair or wig hair I have going on underneath now.

As for clothes, MamaT wanted to find a repro style outfit that looks like something an original 60's Gotz Sasha might have worn. She found something she liked on the Dayzee's website, but alas, Randall Craig was sold out of dresses. He is, however, still selling shoes, and they sell in sets of 3. Well, we had exactly 3 unshod dolls in the house, so that worked out perfectly. We thought 3 pair of shoes for $33 with shipping was a fantastic deal.

MamaT watched Ebay for awhile hoping to find just the right dress. There was one, not exactly repro, but very nice, she watched and then couldn't be there at the close of the auction, so she missed it. In all her searches, she kept going back to Jackie Hyatt's blog, Sasha's closet, and looking at this nice brown cord dress there. I think she was kind of hoping for something turquoise or the black and white check, but the brown cord dress was very common on the Gotz dolls, so she decided to order it and was absolutely delighted with the result. Myself, I love the dress, and I'm really glad MamaT got me this one. It wasn't til after she bought the dress that she realized it was one of the dresses made by Randall Craig that she had wanted in the first place, so I am fully decked in Dayzee's fashion after all. I kind of like my new look. What do you think?

So by the time MamaT paid for shipping, wig, shoes and dress, my total cost was close to $300, which we still think was an astounding deal. MamaT says she had always thought it would be several years before she could save up enough for a 60's Gotz Sasha, so I was a dream come true for her. Literally. She once dreamed she had a doll like me, only that one was blonde. But as we say around here, redheads have more fun. We are kind of dominating the shelf here, but that's a story for the next entry.

I am going to be indulgent and give you 2 links today:
1)Randall Craig's Dayzee's web page. The dresses are sold out, but the shoes are still available.
http://www.randallcraigrtw.com/sasha.html
2)Jackie Hyatt's blog, Sasha's Closet
http://sashascloset.blogspot.com/

Sasha Memorabilia Book 3: Paperdolls and ads

2009-08-07T15:36:00.004-06:00

That is to say this is the 3rd entry on the memorabilia book, not the 3rd memorabilia book. I have only 2 photos to share with this entry. Don't forget to click on the photos if you want to see them more closely. The first shows MamaT's Sasha paperdolls. They really are more clear than they appear in the photo.

Going clockwise from upper left: 1) A paperdoll depicting Sasha Morgenthaler as a child by Ann Barden for the 2003 paperdoll contest with Charlene d'Entremont's clothing entries; 2) Gregor & Sasha paperdolls designed by MamaT herself. She had great fantasies of making lots of clothes for them, but never got as far as finishing their underclothes, so there they are in the nude; 3) Paperdolls MamaT colored from the 2000 paperdoll contest that were printed in the Friends of Sasha newsletter. A copy of the original is just below the color dolls; 4) in the center is a Sasha & Gregor by Albert Elia from the May 1996 Doll Collector's Magazine; 5) the winning entries for the Ann Barden paperdoll (which Mama T has not blown up to full size and colored yet), found in Doll Castle News, Nov/Dec 2003 (with lots of other Sasha articles); 6) Baby Sasha paperdolls from Doll Castle News May/June 2004 (artist not named); 7) and finally a very nice set of Sasha paperdolls designed by Harriet Shoup in 1992. MamaT was able to purchase these from Cecile St. Gelais. Dorisanne Osborn has copies of the Doll Castle News issues and Friends of Sasha newsletters. No doubt there were wining paperdoll contest entries printed in the newsletter almost every year.

The second photo shows a sampling of Sasha ads MamaT has collected. There are about 9 pages of them in all, so this shows about half of them, since you can't photograph both sides of a page at the same time.

The link for today is by Anne Dean and her friend Frances. It has some very cute Sasha photo illustrated stories and some great paper dolls for Sasha.
http://www.geocities.com/mysashas/index.html

Strawberry Girl

2009-07-26T20:13:00.006-06:00

Hi World, I am very pleased to meet you all. Sasha recently added a map to the blog which shows where some of our visitors are located and was amazed to see we have had visitors from all over the world! U.S., Canada, U.K., and even Switzerland were not so surprising, but how fun to see hits from Australia, Japan, Korea, and even Egypt and Oman. Wow! Thanks to all of you for stopping by!

As promised in the last entry, Sasha has graciously offered me an opportunity to introduce myself. Tadatada! I am Kiltie Grace, a limited edition Sasha doll produced in 1983. Do you know there are only 3,999 other dolls like me in the whole world? MamaT wanted to have one representative of the English limited edition dolls in her collection, and she is a bit partial to redheads, so she chose me. And 1983 is a special year for her since that's when she graduated from high school. She is thinking the strategy has back-fired a bit, because rather than satisfying the craving for a L.E. Doll in the house, she has now become covetous of Velvet (1981, 5000 dolls) Pintucks (1982, 4600 dolls), and Harlequin (1984, 2500 dolls). There were also Prince Gregor (1985, 3000 dolls) and Princess Sasha (1986, 350 dolls), but she doesn't have to have EVERY Sasha ever made. As it turns out, I am more of a strawberry blonde than a red-head though. Tell me, have you ever seen another Kiltie with as light of hair as I have? I'm not trying to be vain or anything, I'm just wondering.

A little about my history: MamaT is ever the bargain shopper, and I was advertised as having a smoky odor about me. Since MamaT was so satisfied with the results of her efforts to de-smokify Lona, she thought she would take the risk and picked me up at a reasonable price, though maybe not the deal of the century. Aside from the faint smoky odor, I arrived in near pristine condition. Tranportation through the mail system always makes a doll a bit fuzzy headed about her past, but to the best that we can tell, it is unlikely that I was ever displayed before. I came in my box (despite the fact that MamaT is not fond of storing boxes), and it appears that my barette was never placed in my hair before. It is also our suspicion that all of my smoke odor seeped in through my box, and I was never really exposed to nicotene in the air. We think this because when my hair was washed, every trace of smoke odor was removed from my hair. She was prepared to put me in the kitty litter/charcoal tub, but realized Lona had been all in pieces during her stay in the tub, and it wasn't large enough to hold a complete doll. Anyhow I was given a washing and put out to air one fine spring day, and that was enough to do the trick in my case. No one can detect a trace of smoke odor on me anymore.

Then it came time to give me a name. It took MamaT awhile to figure out my name. She was all bent on giving me an Irish, Scottish, or Celtic name, and even searched Celtic names on the web. I can't even remember all the names she considered, Martha and Katelynn were a couple. She even considered Tara, but she's not used to sharing her name with others much, so couldn't do it. I just looked at her patiently, knowing she'd figure it out. She came across Grace once and paused, but thought it wasn't Irish enough, so went on looking. But after all the searching, she had to come back to Grace, because it was the only name that fit me perfectly. And so I became Kiltie Grace. Being a Kiltie doll, I always get called Kiltie sometimes, but I had to have a name of my very own too.

And for today's web link, I'll send you to Eric McLeod's site. She lives in New Zealand, but must have some Scottish roots (so how could I resist?), and she must be a very fine knitter.
-- http://homepage.mac.com/pistelli/SashaNZ/Menu7.html
And lastly a few photos of me and some of my new siblings for you to enjoy...
--Kiltie Grace

SASHA FESTIVITIES

2009-07-01T19:04:00.008-06:00

The annual Sasha Festival was held in Rochester, New York this past weekend. Gabi and Francine took photos and blogged the event. All we can say is wow, Wow, WOW! There was an incredible display of studio dolls that left us all breathless. I think MamaT went into a trance gazing at photo after photo with her jaw in her lap.

http://poshknits.wordpress.com/
http://sasha3times.blogspot.com/2009/06/sasha-festival-2009-post-1.html
http://sasha3times.blogspot.com/2009/06/sasha-festival-2009-post-2.html

The stay-at-homers like to have a little fun too as a small consolation for missing out on the festival, so they hold a raffle during the festival each year. MamaT offered up an afghan she made last winter. Karinne and Kiltie Grace (to be introduced next entry—I promise) had the honors of pulling the name out of the hat. We were excited the winner was a relatively new member of the SashaL list named Glynis who lives in the United Kingdom. She just got her first Sasha whose name is May. Lona really liked snuggling in the blanket, but she is happy May can enjoy it now. Besides it is summer now, and we won't be thinking about blankets for at least a few more months. Sooner than you think in Montana though.

While we're on the topic of blankets, we'll post photos, not only of the raffle blanket, but also a matching blanket MamaT made for her granddaughter (who is sound asleep underneath), and another doll blanket Lona had to give up for MamaT's grandaughter's doll, Edith.

PEN PALS

2009-06-14T19:27:00.004-06:00

Hi, Today I have the great priviledge of introducing you to some pen pals we (me and the other Sasha dolls here) have met through the Sasha L list. There are so many wonderful nice Sasha people all over the world. Our friends Thyrza (red hair) and Gina (brunette) are from the Netherlands. They are both 1960s Gotz girls, the first we've had the opportunity to post on this blog. Don't forget to click on the photo for a nice close-up look at these girls. Thyrza got her name because she has a bit of an oriental look, and Gina got her name because she came from the Italian part of Switzerland. See we didn't even know there was an Italian part of Switzerland, so we learn a lot from having pen pals. Gina's Mom says she was so gorgeous that a simple name suited her well, and we have to agree. MamaT's grandma grew up in the Netherlands before her family immigrated to Idaho in the U.S. Before that her family lived in the Rotterdam area for many, many generations. Thyrza and Gina live in The Hague. They once got a visit from Tilily, a world traveling Sasha. We will post Tilily's web page today, so you can see pictures from her visit to the Hague and many other places.

http://www.melodymock.com/AllegroMelody/tilily/index.html

Thyrza and Gina also sent us a picture of some of their other family members dressed up in cute Bavarian costumes below. They all belong to a very nice lady named Frances, who has some of the most beautiful Sasha dolls and is very talented with photographing them. Frances has worked with refugees and now makes handicrafts with immigrant children who don't speak Dutch. It sounds very much like something Sasha Morgenthaler would have enjoyed doing. There are often children from East Europe, Turkey and Africa. We hear it is a bit Babylonic at times, but good fun nonetheless. Frances gave us permission to post her photos on this blog. If any other Sasha's out there would like to be our pen pals and send us a photo, we'd be happy to introduce you on my blog too.

Big Book of Sasha Memorabilia 2: Cards

2009-06-06T20:39:00.007-06:00

Happy Summer Everyone!
Today I'd like to introduce you to a sampling of cards in MamaT's big Sasha book. First is a set of postcards that was produced by Trendon in the 1970s. There are 20 postcards in all, half of which are shown at left. Note there's a kilt girl like me and a brunnette Gregor in pajama's just like our Gregor Vaughn. It is more common to see blonde Gregor's in pajamas, as only blondes were sold wearing pajamas as far as I know.

Our next set of cards is a set of handmade cards by Anne Votaw, along with 2 postcards of 1990's Gotz dolls, Ruth and Marianne.

Below are some of our favorite cards which depict several studio dolls and were sold at the Sasha Morgenthaler Museum in Zurich, Switzerland. MamaT has never been to Zurich, but she got these on EBay. They were sold in 2 separate lots, and she felt a bit piggish for winning both lots, but no one outbid her, so that's how it goes.

Last is a set of cards MamaT acquired in the past couple years. We think that most of the photos are taken by Shelly in UK. The cards are made and sold by The Label Lady, Michelle Brown. Here is a link to her site.

http://www.picturetrail.com/thelabellady

MONI, MONI

2009-05-16T14:18:00.007-06:00

I'll tell you what, the nicer it gets outside, the harder it is to find time for blogging. We dolls don't get out in the winter much, so we love the spring and summer! I have two more dolls to introduce to you, but they are not “real” dolls like Sasha dolls, so they can't introduce themselves, so I will just have to do it for them. Besides they are much too small to learn to type even if they could be real.

These dolls are known as Moni dolls. They were produced by a Swiss company called Uranium in 1979. They are about 7 inches tall, just slightly bigger than the Topper “Dawn doll”. As an aside, a little known fact about MamaT is that she never owned a Barbie doll in her life, although there were a couple Barbie relatives in the house her sisters had, like Francie. Instead of Barbies, MamaT had Dawn dolls, and she and her sister and friends in the neighborhood played with these A LOT. But there is not much trace of the Dawn dolls left, except she found one blue gown at the same time she found my old skirt.

Anyhow, the Moni dolls belong to us Sashas. They are our dolls. Like Sasha's they have tan skin and a nuetral expression, but they are nowhere near the same quality, and are probably not assymetrical. I've never looked closely at that though. They were clearly a copy of the Sasha model, so the Sasha Morgenthaler family filed a complaint and the production of the dolls ceased. There were boy and girl dolls as both blondes and brunettes along with several extra outfits.

We have a brunette boy named Tony, and a blonde girl, named Mona. If I ever get a brunette girl, I think I will name her Joanie. And that just goes to show I'm just as bad as MamaT fantasizing about what doll I'll get next and what I might name her. Tony and Mona are in most of our family group photos, but since they are small, I've cropped a few photos in close up, so you can see them better.

MamaT bought our Tony and Mona from one of the nicest Sasha collectors. Her name was Monica, and she just passed away a couple of months ago. Monica was a great lover of Sasha and Lenci dolls, a talented artist, and had the amazing job of being a braillist (so her Ebay ID was braillistdog). She is very much missed by the Sasha community. Monica always said the dolls were made by Titanium, which was very cute, but off by an atomic weight of 70 (Uranium being 92 and Titanium 22). And no that's not something I ever knew, but Wikipedia is handy for things you don't know like that.

For today's link I'll include the Sasha info guide that Monica wrote for Ebay.
http://reviews.ebay.com/Lets-talk-About-Sasha-Dolls_W0QQugidZ10000000001896972

The Big Book of Sasha Memorabilia: 1. Catalogs

2009-04-11T14:25:00.007-06:00

Hi Folks, I've been thinking on introducing you to MamaT's Sasha memorabilia book for sometime, but it is so big and so overwhelming I haven't dared begin it. Finally, it occurred to me that I should take it more like eating an elephant, and just do one chunk of it at a time. At last, it seems doable to tackle it. The memorabilia book started in a one inch binder, but it soon outgrew that, so now it has expanded to a two inch binder, and quite frankly, it has maxed that one out, and she really should upgrade again. You see here we put Angela in the photo for scale. We scanned in a Sasha poster for the cover as the poster won't fit in the binder.

Hmmm. I can't explain to you why this photo loaded sideways. The thumbnail is not sideways. It was not even taken sideways and later flipped. This goes beyond my techno-skill. I am only a doll after all. Click the photo for a closer view.

Our first memorabilia topic is the catalogues. I'll spell it the English way since that is where they were printed. We have two sets, Trendon Catalogues from the 70s & 80s and Götz catalogues from the 90s and early 2000s. First, about the Trendon catalogues. The oldest catalogue we've seen is from about 1969 and has a Sasha lying comfortably in the grass. That is probably the catalogue that would have come with me, and it is one catalog we don't have. The next catalog has the black and white photo cover, leaflet #7 from 1973. Apologies for the flash glare in the photo. We thought we got one without glare, but it turned out too blurry, and we were too lazy to do the whole set up again. This catalogue features both blonde and brunette versions of Sasha in gingham, Gregor in Denim (having a bit of a tussle), babies in nightdresses and babies in overalls (dungarees) called the playsuit. The blonde babies were boys and the brunnette babies girls and were subtly sexed until 1978. There is also Cora in white knit, Caleb in his khaki pants and a black baby girl in white cotton suit with red trim. As in all of the catalogs, there are also a variety of outfits for sale.

Below that (also in the glare) is catalogue or leaflet #12 from 1975. It includes a nice photo inside of the boys playing soccer while the girls look on. The dolls are all pictured on the cover, but since you can't see it well, I'll tell you it has all the same dolls shown on the cover of the leaflet #14 from 1976 which is directly to the right of the 1973 catalog in my photo. Below the 1976 catalog is catalogue #17 from 1979. You can see a few newcomers on the cover of this issue. This is the photo MamaT has a poster of. All the catalogues beginning with the 1979 issue have a photo of Sasha Morgenthaler on the back. We also have a sheet with hair care instructions for Sasha that came with the dolls.

In January 1980 a one page leaflet was printed showing new dolls playing on a slide. This is when the black dolls were changed to a warmer skin tone. For that matter, the fairer skinned dolls were lightened at the same time. Another leaflet printed in September 1980, pictures Sasha Morgenthaler and tells her story on the back. The catalogue #18, printed in October 1980 features the honey blonde silk dress on the cover. Baby Sandy and the brunette Marina doll are also introduced in this issue. In January 1982 a leaflet identified as supplemenmt to catalogue #18 was printed featuring the new dolls, Gregor Redhead cord, Sasha blonde sweater (with short hair) and baby bear. Catalogue #23 was printed in November 1982 and introduces Sasha brunette dancing dress and baby Rosie with honey hair (on the cover). Baby nest replaces baby nightdress here too. Also printed in 1982 was a booklet entitled Where do Sashas come from? It has a photo of the factory on the cover, and explains the manufacturing porcess--very interesting.

Catalogue #25 from 1983 features school boy Gregor and school girl Sasha on the cover. The black baby, Little Flower is replaced by baby Cara, in a pink plaid dress. This catalogue also shows some of the limited edtion dolls, 1981 Velvet, 1982 Pintucks, 1983 Kiltie and 1984 Harlequin. The last issue we have is catalogue #27 from 1985 featuring Sasha blonde tunic, redhead baby Ginger, and Sasha honey blonde party on the cover. Inside, Cora in the flower dress is replaced by Cora in a blue cord dress and 1985 Prince Gregor is added to the limited edition dolls. The small leaflet #31 was also printed in 1985. It is Sasha in motion and features photos of Sasha dolls in a whole series of different poses. And now that is likely more detail on Trendon catalogues then you ever wanted to know. We notice we are missing a lot of issue numbers, but we haven't seen many other catalogues issues besides these available on the internet. A few of these are available on Carol Zody's site or you can just watch for them on Ebay.

And now I am almost burned out on writing and tempted to leave the Götz catalogues for another entry. This part should be shorter though. I will just briefly list who is in each catalogue. There are two catalogues from 2001 which are not Sasha specific, but feature many specialized Götz dolls. By the way, we don't have any Götz catalogues from the 1960s. The recent set is available from Dorisanne Osborn. The last item pictured is a wrist tag booklet that came with Angela. The other “modern” dolls had similar booklets. The limited edition dolls also had their own booklets.
1995: Angela, Maria, Gregor
1996: Laura, Maria, Lilly, Gregor, David, Angela; babies, Patrick, Celina, Andrea
1997: Lilly, David, Barbara, Maria, Muriel, Luisa, Laura; babies Celina, Christina, Patrick, Lukas, Claudia
1998: Luisa, Sarah, Anna, Alberto, Babette (like 1997's Barbara); babies Bianca, Max, Lukas, Claudia, Christa (like 1997's Christina)
1999: Annett, Marina, Trudi, Alice, Alberto; babies Linda, Toni, Jeanine, Bianca, Max
2000: Kyra, Marina, Daniela, Michel, Sofie, Stella, Wibke; babies Julia, Felix, Viktoria, Lena, Karin, Matti, Stine; toddlers Esther, Ollie
2001a: (fair brunette on cover) Ivette, Carmen, Anika; toddlers Iona, Erik; babies Lars, Simon, Meike. Also has dolls by Sylvia Natterer, Hildegard Günzel (Kinderland), Pampolina, Beatrix Potter, and other Götz dolls.
2001b: (Indian doll on cover) Yamka, Ira, Allan, Leon; toddlers Elke, Claudius; babies Lena, Irka, Alek, Like Also features dolls by Susi Eimer, Joke Grobben, Tara Heath, Ulrike Hutt, Didy Jacobsen, Elisabeth Lindner, Carin Lossnitzer, Sissel BjØrstad Skille, Sylvia Natterer, Götz faces, Principessa, and Welcome to the World collections.

I am so sorry for rattling on so long, but I can't leave you without a link for the day. Today's is by Jesse in New Zealand, Sasha Morgenthaler's grandson, about the adventures of his Gregor doll, Angelo.
http://www.picturetrail.com/angelos_world

11 is Enough, or is it?

2009-03-28T20:24:00.004-06:00

Okay, Sasha, I know how you are. You are going to type every word I say whether I want you to or not, so I will try not to make any mistakes. Just don't start until I tell you I'm ready, okay. What do you think I should tell them besides introducing myself? Okay, I guess I'll think of something. Okay, I think I'm ready to start now. You can start typing now.

Dear Everybody, My name is Sandra Varlene. I am the last of MamaT's Sasha's to be introduced. That does not either mean I'm the least, Sasha. Now don't type that. I was answering you. Don't talk to me if you don't want me to talk to you. Now back to where we were. My name is Sandra, which is formal for Sandy, which is the kind of Sasha baby I am. How do I explain Varlene? MamaT's Mama, our Gran-Mama is named Arlene. Her sisters sometimes called her Verla as a nickname, so Varlene is a combination of Gran-Mama's name. Even though I am a foster kid here like Tasha and Shyvonne, we all have the same Gran-Mama, so we are like cousins. And I am like a twin to Margot Monique, cuz we are both Sandy dolls. But we are not identical. At least MamaT can always tell us apart. We tried switching places on our shelf and she still wasn't fooled. Problem is, I have sort of a cowlick in my hair that I can't get rid of. NOOOOO, that doesn't mean a cow licked my head when I was a little baby. Sasha, don't be so silly. I'm not going to get off track again. Also, it seems like my hair is slightly darker than Margot's even though we're both honey blonde. That would probably be hard to see the difference in a picture I'd guess. (Pause....)

So now that MamaT has baby dolls, Gregor boys, Sasha (& Cora) girls, brunette, redhead, black, and both platinum and honey blonde dolls, English and German made dolls, and dolls from every decade, '60s, '70s, '80s, and 90s, you would really think that she would have enough dolls by now, wouldn't you? In fact, our shelf is plum full—one more doll and DearDaddy would have to build us another shelf. But I see MamaT at the computer drooling over Gotz dolls like toddlers and Yamka from the modern production, and '60s Gotz dolls even more so, and then she sighs over limited edition dolls like Kiltie or Sari Sasha. Most of these dolls are in the price range where one doll would use up her whole Sasha budget for the year, so I think she can't decide who to adopt next. I mean she could pick up one, and then maybe see a deal on the one she really ALWAYS wanted ALL her life after her budget is spent. Glad it is MamaT who has to worry about all that and not me. We all like having more brothers and sisters. It's fun that way, but poor MamaT is just going to have more and more skids she'll have to sew for or buy clothes for, because almost all of us are in need of some sturdy play clothes. (Pause again...)

But I wish I had lost my shoes like Tasha and Shyvonne. I don't love to wear them. What good are they anyhow? MamaT should relate to that. I've seen her childhood pictures, and she is almost never wearing shoes. My Mama, her big sister, says MamaT's shoes were always lost, and then they would find cobwebs growing in them. MamaT says her only concern about running around shoeless was that she might wind up in Narnia unshod one day and could regret not having shoes on in that case, because you never know what the terrain in Narnia might be like. But it wasn't quite enough motivation to make her actually wear them.

(Long pause....we're waiting, Sandra V....) Well, I think that's all I have to tell them, I mean, you. I'm still talking to everybody, not just you, Sasha. For now, I am the baby of the family. We'll certainly let you know if anyone new comes along to join us. Hope you all have a super terrific day and that spring will be here SOON. (And Sasha says Amen to that!)

--by Sandra Varlene (as dictated to Sasha)

P.S. I have a website to share too. It is Cecile's. We just got some nice paperdolls from Cecile.
http://www.ortakales.com/cecile/
P.P.S. Cecile's site seems to have trouble loading, but maybe the server is just down today, so if it doesn't work today, come back and try again another day. It usually works good.

About Studio Dolls

2009-03-14T18:07:00.004-06:00

Tasha's entry below makes me want to talk more about Sasha Studio dolls. I started an entry on this a long time ago and never finished, because there is so much that could be said it is overwhelming, so it's hard to know where to begin, what to say and what to leave out, because I don't want to write a whole book here.

So first, one paragraph about Sasha Morgenthaler. Sasha (a nickname) was born as Mary Magdelena Alexandra von Sinner in Bern, Switzerland on 30 November 1893. She studied painting and sculpture in her late teens/early 20's and married Ernst Morgenthaler, an artist, in 1916. She had 3 children, 2 sons and a daughter and made cloth dolls and animals for them when they were young. Sasha was trained as a mid-wife in 1934, and began doing commissioned art-work in her late 40's. She was 50 when she trained a team to assist her in production of her studio dolls. Sasha traveled all over the world and worked to aid refugees and children around the world. While her studio dolls were beautiful and popular, they were necessarily expensive because of the labor involved. She had a dream to have her dolls mass-produced so they might be affordable for all children to enjoy. This dream was realized in 1964/1965 when she signed manufacturing licenses with Gotz and Frido. She continued making dolls in her own studio and teaching doll making courses until she passed away 18 February 1975.

And now one paragraph on the studio dolls. Do you think I can do that? Sasha's earliest dolls had cloth bodies. Over time she experimented with different materials, such as gypsum (fiber reinforced plaster), wax, and early synthetic plastics. Sasha hand painted the faces on all of her dolls. The faces and even limbs are slightly assymetrical, and they do not have grins plastered on them. Because of this, the dolls can reflect a wide variety of different moods and emotions with a slight tilt of the head and can be sympathetic to any mood of the owner. As a child, Sasha once tried to scratch the grin off one of her dolls when she was feeling sad and her doll was not sympathizing with her. The dolls are proportioned like real children and are well balanced and free-standing. Sasha selected the fabric for each doll's clothing. Most dolls wore simple play clothes similar to what their owner's might wear, but some also wore lovely white dresses (which real little girls sometimes wore too). She made dolls representing all nationalities in the world and all socio-economic classes. Many represented street urchins. She also made commissioned dolls representing real individual children. The studio dolls were made in all different skin tones, though her signature brown-toned dolls were common. Most of the manufactured dolls were made in this brown tone which was intended to be a blending of the colors of all the children in the world.

Okay, one more paragraph. Sasha studio dolls are often identified with a letter and a roman numeral, e.g. Type C III. The letter represents the body type. A is a non-jointed cloth body. B is a jointed cloth body. C represents molded, jointed bodies of reinforced gypsum or synthetic molding. D refers to cloth babies, and E to synthetic or gypsum babies. F babies are similar to E, but the legs are straight and are sometimes called toddlers. The face types are harder to describe without pictures. I is a squarish face, and II is a rounder face, III is an oval face and probably one of the most commonly used, where IV is more of heart-shaped face. Most dolls were signed by Sasha on the sole of the foot. The signature would include Sasha's name, a molding code, the sequential number of the doll for a given year, the year (065= 1965), the body and face type and a code for the molding material. Sasha made roughly 150-200 dolls a year for over 30 years. She also instructed doll making workshops for many years, and her assistant, Trudi Loffler, continued teaching workshops until 1993. The dolls made in these workshops are known as course dolls.

If you want to know more, I recommend Sasha Dolls through the Years by Dorisanne Osborn and Sasha Puppen Sasha Dolls Bentali Verlag Bern mentioned in my entry on Sasha resources. That is where I got most of this information, and they both contain a lot more plus you'll get wonderful pictures besides. MamaT says she will probably never own a studio doll, but has thoroughly enjoyed their pictures in books, magazine articles, cards and on internet web sites. She says she is really grateful Sasha Morgenthaler designed these dolls that give so many people enjoyment, and we dolls, well we wouldn't exist otherwise, so we are REALLY grateful too.

Oh yes, and today's link. For a few more studio dolls, see Kelly's site:
http://www.oursashadolls.com/aboutsasha.html
And for a new site I haven't sent you to yet just for fun, see Lorraine's site:
http://www.geocities.com/loras_sashas/index.html
Here's a sampling of few dolls in the Sasha Puppen Sasha Dolls book. I think the girl in the lower right corner was the inspiration for Yamka.

The Eras of Sasha by Tasha

2009-02-14T15:47:00.006-07:00

Well, hello Sasha World! My name is Tasha Rhiannon, and I am an early 80s (1980-1986) Red Pinafore doll, #111. Like Shyvonne, I'm another foster skid here at MamaT's house. My shoes and my blue-checked shirt are missing, but there have been promises at home to search through the doll stuff for them. It took a little longer for MamaT to name me. She thought I'd be getting a different name (not to be divulged now, as it may be used for someone later), but every time she looked at me, she thought “Tasha” instead. Maybe because I have fairer skin (for a Sasha) and dark hair, and I remind her of her sister, Natasha. She tried out a few different middle names too, and finally settled on Rhiannon which has no special significance. It is probably from the Fleetwood Mac song that has a lovely little instrumental piece in it.

Now that my basic introduction is done, I am wondering what I can tell you that hasn't already been told by the others. I wonder if you have been introduced to all the different eras of Sasha dolls there are. First, of course, and most special are the studio dolls made by Sasha Morgenthaler herself with the help of some assistants. Sasha says she is going to write an entry about them some time, so I'm not to go into any more detail for you. Sasha also taught doll-making classes, so there are a number of Sasha “course” dolls out there in the world. Maybe we'll talk more about those in another entry too. The first factory produced dolls were made in Germany by Gotz from 1964-1970. The first time MamaT saw these dolls she didn't like them so well, but over time, they have grown on her a lot. One thing so intriguing about these dolls is that there is such a wide variety of styles. There were several different facial molds and skin tones, hair and eye color and styles. Some interesting variations include the “no-nose” dolls with a flat bridge, and the “yellow-eyed” dolls are unique. Short-haired dolls were often dressed in unisex outfits, so the owner could choose the gender. Later dolls had no navel. Several different artists painted the eyes, and the asymmetry is pronounced, even in the eyebrows. All the Gotz dolls have Sasha Serie in a circle or concentric circles imprinted on the back and neck. Even now, MamaT's least favorite is probably the school boy and girl, and she likes the “Type III” face over the no-nose dolls. We don't have a '60s Gotz doll in the family. We'd have to be prepared to spend at least $500 which would pretty much take care of the Sasha budget for a year. MamaT's first choice would be a redhead, second choice would be brunette, but she'd still be delighted even to get a blonde. She even dreamed she had one once, a very nice dream. These truly are dream dolls.

From 1965-1986 Sasha dolls were manufactured in England by John and Sara Doggart. The company changed names a few times, beginning as Frido Ltd. In 1965, then to Trendon Ltd. In 1970, and finally became Sasha Dolls Ltd. In 1984, but all were made by the same factory, owners, and staff. The earliest dolls through 1967 or 1968 had no philtrum and had more hand painting done on their eyes, which makes them very special. Only one artist at the English factory did the majority of hand-finishing on the eyes for most of the years of production. Some Sasha collectors can tell you the year of production by looking at the face of the doll. Stringing color, clothing style and accessories, and skin tone, which was lighter beginning in 1980, and even height can all give clues to the age of a doll. Rather than give all the details here, if you are really interested in aging your doll, I would recommend Dorisanne Osborn's book, Sasha Dolls Through the Years, as a great resource for any Sasha collector or lover. There were platinum blondes, brunettes, redheads, honey blondes, and black dolls produced. There were boys, girls, and babies, which were subtly anatomically correct until 1978. Besides Cora, there was only one short-haired girl doll produced. From 1981-1986, limited special edition dolls were run, and all the 1986 dolls were limited, because production shut down early in the year. I think those may deserve their own entry later too.

The final era of Sasha doll production was 1995 to 2001 by Gotz again of Germany. Angela Karinne told you about this line of dolls back in her self-introduction. I think many of these points have been touched on before, so I hope my note hasn't been too redundant for you. But that is a little peek at the various lines of production dolls. For some great examples of 1960s Gotz dolls, I am going to refer you to Margaret Williams' page. Click on Gotz Sashas on the left hand side of the page, and then explore all the rest of her links for fun.
http://www.sashadoll-london.co.uk/
--signed Tasha Rhiannon

Sasha's at Play

2009-01-30T11:29:00.009-07:00

Hi, This is a bit of a lazy entry, but I'm cleaning up the side-border and didn't want to lose these pictures, so I'm posting them here, plus a few new ones, in a blog entry instead. Have a great day everyone!

Yikes! I almost forgot to add a link for you. Today's link is Rebecca Pavley's page:

http://home.earthlink.net/~rpavley/index.html

Foster Skids

2009-01-17T09:16:00.011-07:00

Hi Everyone! You've seen me before, but now you get an official introduction. My name is Shyvonne Alette. MamaT thought I needed a good Gaelic name to go with my red hair. Shyvonne is a misspelling of the very beautiful Gaelic name, Siobhan. It is a form of “Joan” and means “God is gracious”. MamaT can never remember how to spell the original, which is pronounced “Shiv-awn”, so she created her own spelling. Alette is for no reason in particular, except she found it in a story one time and liked it. It, like Alethea, means “footloose, verity, truth, small-winged one”. Sounds like an honest fairy princess to me. I am a 1979-1986, Sasha redhair “white dress” #108. MamaT says she has been coveting a doll like me for a very long time, like around 25 years. Angela Karinne is also a redhead white dress, but we're not the same. My eyes are brown for one thing. MamaT would also like a 60's redhead, English and/or German-made, but they are not in her budget now. She says she is partial to redhead Sasha's, even though her first Sasha was a blonde.

Technically, we (meaning me, Tasha, and Sandra) should probably be calling MamaT, AuntieT, because we really belong to her sister. We were purchased in the early 80s and then stored for many years until MamaT's sister gave us to her daughters, so we were played with and loved, but eventually somewhat forgotten, which can happen as young girls grow older. MamaT even forgot about Sasha for a few years. Here is an interesting trivia factoid. MamaT is the youngest of 6 girls (no brothers). Her oldest sister, who we belong to, also had 6 daughters and no sons. How amazing is that?! Anyhow, MamaT has now been given long-term custody of us and has basically adopted us all in, so we call her MamaT like everyone else.

We arrived with a few scuffs and marks from being played with, but we cleaned up easily with no dramatic make-overs or re-stringing required. One thing we did have was the stand-up bangs (fringe) that played with Sasha's tend to get, so when she washed our hair, MamaT tried an experiment. She's heard other Sashaphile's talk about using just-boiled water to remove or set curls in doll hair. In her past attempts to use the sock treatment for stand-up bangs, they look good to start with, but gradually begin to rise again. So this time after washing our hair, she dipped just our bangs in water that had just been brought to a boil, and then taken off the heat. Then we got the sock treatment. She thinks the boiled water may have helped our bangs behave better. Meanwhile we had quite the giggle fit laughing at each other wearing socks and towels. You probably had to be there to appreciate just how funny it was. See photos below. There's also a few photos with me and my cousins and new friends. Don't forget to scroll your mouse over the photos to read the captions or click on them if you want to see any close up. Before I sign off, I will leave you with a very fun Sasha page that was done by Judy Scaletti of Sasha Mart. There are lots of page links and they are worth checking out.
http://kkannon.com/sasha.htm
--signed Shyvonne Alette

She's Nuts!

2008-12-30T11:15:00.009-07:00

Guess what Santa brought MamaT for Christmas! She got a new sewing machine!!! Not being much of a seamstress she has made do with a vintage 1968 Singer sewing machine (straight stich only), which has served well for mending and such and still works great (even though it is even older than I am). But lately she has been wanting to make some curtains and such and thought it time she graduated to something that could handle a larger variety of projects. We “Skids” (that's a term Johnny Raven coined for Sasha Kids) are secretly hoping to be the primary beneficiaries of MamaT's new toy. It bodes well that her very first project in testing out the machine was a Sasha sized gunny sack dress.

Here's the story on the gunny sack dress. MamaT bought her husband a bag of pistachios last fall that came in a nice gunny sack. When it was empty, she didn't know what she would do with it, but threw it in the wash anyhow. It turns out it shrunk substantially, and when she pulled it out of the wash, her first thought was that it was the perfect size for making a Sasha-sized dress. There was just enough material at the top of the bag (barely) to cut for the sleeves. Now MamaT says she is the last person to give out sewing advice, as her skills are minimal, but she is learning. In fact she is happy she only sewed the sleeves backwards twice yesterday. Once half a shoulder seam was facing out and had to be picked out, and once the cuff hem was facing the outside, but it turned out she needed to trim the sleeves shorter anyhow, so she just cut the hem off. That made hemming the cuffs a challenge. But she managed to finish it, and now Tasha (who you will meet later) has adopted it as her nightdress.

While I am posting, I am also including a photo of a very reasonably priced outfit we got not too long ago from seamstress, Diane Scarbrough, the same Diane who recently posted some cute smocked dresses on the SashaL list (and on Ebay as seller dfscarbrough). I don't think she has a website, so I will post a website for another fine seamstress, Sandy Wessel. There are many fine Sasha seamstresses out there, and it will take me awhile to post all their sites.

http://home.mchsi.com/~swessel/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html

Lastly, I'm posting a Winter Wonderland photo inspired by Ted Menten's blog. MamaT used similar methods, so I was really not as cold as I look in the photo. And yes, it's possible to do a better job pasting the images together if you take more time with it.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-24T16:52:00.008-07:00

Cora and the Diversity of Sasha Dolls

2008-12-20T12:51:00.008-07:00

Cora Morgen is my name, and it is about time Sasha granted me a turn on the blog. I have been after her to let me have my turn ever since I arrived in late July. She keeps on insisting we have to go in the order we arrived in MamaT's possession. How silly is that? Now by raise of hands, I want to see how many people out there really care that we get introduced in the order that we arrived here. See there, I don't see a single hand raised, and Sasha, you don't count. I wasn't asking you. I already know your opinion. And so I have had to wait around for Cara and Patrick and Sandy AND Lona all to take their turns first, not to mention several turns for Sasha. I know Lona, for one, would have been happy to let me go first. Then when it finally WAS my turn, MamaT got busy working on some job application and Christmas letters and she has absolutely been HOGGING the computer all the time. I know a lot of folks have been looking for a new entry for a long time, so I think you will say along with me, it's about time I got my turn.

Now you did get a sneak peak at me late last summer when I was priviledged to be the only doll MamaT took on an outing to Glacier National Park, (although Sasha and Angela Karinne used to live in the park when MamaT lived there). That was pretty amazing and so beautiful. I really liked the bighorn sheep we got to watch. I made friends with her granddaughter, Ryin, that day too. MamaT says I was a breath of fresh air after Patrick and Lona, because I was not the fixer-upper sort. I came in perfect condition, missing only my box. And that makes MamaT smile too, cuz she hates having boxes to store. I am a “warm-toned” Cora doll with a flowered dress produced by Trendon between 1980-84. There were 2 styles of flowered dresses. The other had a dark blue background, and both were very pretty, I think. In my former home, I had a brother, Caleb, and I still miss him, though my new family is very cool, even if Sasha can be a bit anal at times. Black dolls were first produced in 1972, as Cora, Caleb, and an unnamed baby girl. The earlier dolls had dark black skin, like native African born blacks. Beginning in 1980, they started producing lighter or warmer-toned black dolls, more like American and probably European blacks. In 1984, the baby girl was named Cara.

Now I want to talk to you about the diversity of MamaT's doll collection. She has a relatively small collection (by Sasha collector standards), but has tried to include as much diversity as her budget allows in our small family. Here is how the family (and our diversity has grown).
--First there was just Sasha, an English Frido produced blonde girl.
--Then Angela Karinne came along, so there was a German Redhead and an English blonde.
--Next is Gregor, so then there was a brunette, English Trendon boy, and 2 girls as above, one by Frido and one by Gotz.
--Next a dark black baby Cara is added, so she had a baby, a boy, and 2 girls, with black, brunette, blonde and red hair.
--Then another redhead boy was added, so there were 2 boys, 2 girls and a baby.
--Next we got a honey blonde baby, so we had every hair color produced in just 2 boys, 2 girls, and 2 babies.
--After that MamaT got a brunette 70's girl for her birthday, so there were blonde, brunette, and redhead girls, along with the 2 boys and 2 babies.
--Then she needed a warm-toned Cora doll and that was me. I am also the only short-haired girl in the family (besides the babies). Only one other short-haired girl was produced by Trendon, the sweater blonde. There were some unisex dolls produced in the 60's by Gotz that could be whatever the owner chose. And when I arrived, she had 4 girls, 2 boys and 2 babies.
--This fall MamaT got custody of her sister's 3 dolls, to be introduced later. Now she is beginning to get some duplication with a twin for Margot, a younger brunette girl, and a redhead trendon girl. But she likes having an English version each of a blonde, brunette and redhead girl.
--So what could be next to further increase our diversity? We still don't have a toddler or a fair skinned Gotz doll. A doll like Iona or Ollie could fill both of those roles. We could add South American Yamka and an Indian Sari doll. Then we still need at least one 60's Gotz doll, and a least one Limited Edition doll, like Kiltie or Velvet. Then one could go on and collect a doll in every outfit ever produced. Then we don't have an example of a course doll either or a custom repainted Sasha. And there is no end to the diversity represented in the studio dolls, but there aren't enough of those for every Sasha collector, so we stick with enjoying photos of those. These are just some fun fantasies, but we do love all the diversity in Sasha dolls.
--signed Cora Morgen
P.S. And speaking of diversity, for today's link, you'll see a number of example of customized repaints on Sasha dolls.
– http://www.dayco.org/pages/PageFiveTest.htm

On Re-stringing Sasha Dolls

2008-11-22T11:49:00.016-07:00

I believe I promised an entry on this topic some time ago, and I keep stalling, because I think it may be complicated to fit the directions in with the pictures. I'm not sure if I can clearly explain this, but I'm determined to try. As Sasha dolls age, eventually the stringing cords that hold us together can wear out. I was well played with by MamaT growing up, and from time to time when I lost my head, MamaT's Mama always knew exactly what to do, and was always able to get me back in shape. MamaT thought Gran-Mama was magic in her abilities to fix me, but she was a nurse by training after all. At some point or another along the way, Gran-Mama replaced my arm stringing and didn't know the importance of keeping original strings with Sasha dolls, so my arm strings were tossed and replaced with regular elastic. Fortunately, I still have my original leg stringing which is white with both green and purple flecks, positive proof of my age.

Up until this past year, my stringing was quite loose for a number of years. I could still stand—as long as I was balanced just so... But you could knock me over with a feather any time. Since my arm stringing was just ordinary sewing elastic, MamaT figured she couldn't do too much damage by attempting to replace my arm stringing herself. Then when Patrick arrived with his stringing all strunk, she immediately replaced his leg to head stringing, and next replaced my leg stringing (leaving the original string tucked inside my body). And when Lona arrived, she also needed to be restrung after her odor problem was resolved. MamaT took photos when she restrung Lona and is gradually getting better results from her work, so now I'll share her restringing methods with you.

Now before I go any further, I will recommend that you first consider sending your doll to a “Sasha Spa”. Prices will vary depending on what attention your doll needs, but after doing this on our own, I will say that $20 for a Sasha restringing is VERY reasonable. Below are links to a few different people I know of that do Sasha doll restringing and other repairs. If you know of others who should be included in this list, please post a comment.

http://home.comcast.net/~johnson-n-johnson/SASHA.html
http://www.oursashadolls.com/order.html
http://www.sashadoll.com/repair/repair.html
http://www.sashahospital.org.uk/

However, for the die-hard do-it-yourselfer, here are a few tips on restringing a Sasha doll. I expect there is more than one way to do this, and I can't gaurantee this is the best way, but it is a way we've found that works for us.

1). The Big Picture. First, you need to understand how a Sasha doll is strung. One loop of string holds the arms together. A second loop is connected to both legs and the head, as crudely shown in the diagram below. This is for an older doll. Post-1975 dolls have a ring/neck assembly, we'll address later. When you do measurements later, you will be figuring the size of loop needed between these hooks when all the limbs/head are in place.

2). Tools. Next you will need tools for the job. These include:

>Round elastic cord, at least 1/8” thick, but 3/16 or 1/4” would be better if you can find it.
>Metal tubing that just fits the width of your elastic (can be found at hobby stores). Kelly of "OurSashaDolls.com" above reminded me to point out to be sure not to use rust-prone metals, like steel. I used brass tubing, but copper tubing would also be okay. These oxidize, but they don't rust, and they only corrode in a very wet environment. My elastic loops look like hair bands, but the metal connectors on hairbands are made from steel and will rust. Kelly says there are hairbands available that do not have metal connectors, but I don't know if they come in the right size for Sasha restringing or not.
>Superglue
>String
>Scissors
>Long hook – Ours was made from 12 gage copper wire
>Needlenose pliers (2 pair if possible)
>If you are working with a ring assembly, you will need a small hook similar to those found on the legs and arms of your doll. Like these hooks, it should have a hook on both ends to hook on both the ring and the elastic string. You might also need cutting pliers or a wire cutter if you are making your own hook out of copper wire like we did. It needs to be very sturdy metal.

3). Measurements. Hold your elastic against a ruler and measure the maximum a given length of it will stretch. Most of the elastic we've seen will double in length, but you should check your specific material. Use a string (non-stretch) and whatever ingenuity you've got to figure out the size of loop you need between the hooks when the doll is all together. This part is tricky and hard to explain. The measurement you are looking for will probably make more sense once you've read through all the instructions, so do that first. Your first measurement is the size you would have if there were no stretch in your elastic. If you have elastic that can double in length at its maximum stretch, the size of loop you really need should be 75% of the loop you measured without any stretch. The elastic should be stretched to about half its capacity when the doll is in normal position. If the string is not stretched enough, your doll will be too loose. If it is stretched too tight, the stringing will wear out too fast, or worse yet, it could damage the shape of your doll. Once you've figured out the size of loop you need, you can cut the elastic to size. The amount of material you use will be surprisingly small. If your elastic is on the thin side, you may want to double the size of your loop and then loop the elastic around your hooks twice for a little extra strength if that makes sense. Just ignore the last sentence if it doesn't make sense.

4). Elastic Loops. When you have the right length of elastic, slip both ends into either side of a short piece of metal tubing that matches the width of your elastic. Put a drop or so of superglue at the mouth of the tube on each end. The glue should wick down the elastic inside the tube aways. While superglue dries quickly, you should let it dry several hours or overnight before stretching your elastic again, so it will be good and set before you put pressure on it. Other methods we tried included tieing the string in a knot. Getting the right size loop was even harder with this method, and the knot always seemed to slip and not stay in the same place, so we gave this method up. We also tried crimping the metal tubing onto the elastic. This worked sometimes, but not all the time, and ends up wasting a lot of tubing with failed attempts. The superglue technique worked consistently for us, so we like that method.

5). Leg to head restringing. If you are replacing both leg and arm stringing, do the legs first as they are more difficult. If your doll has a ring neck assembly, you need to hook a double ended hook on the ring (see photo). Hopefully, you read all instructions before you begin, because I'll remind you here that you need to measure your loop from the end of this hook and not from the ring when you are doing your measurements. In most cases the original stringing will still be on the ring and will just hang loose inside the body when you're done. Since this doll had smoke issues, the stringing is being stored separately from the doll.

Now hook either end of your leg loop on the hooks on your doll's legs (see photo). If your doll is missing a hook, you can buy a similar hook or make one from sturdy wire. If an end of the hook is closed too tightly to get string on or off it, it may take 2 pair of pliers or maybe a vice clamp and some pliers to adjust the hook opening so you can remove the old string and hook on the new. DH's can be helpful here too. Put your long hook down through the neck of the doll and grab the elastic with the hook. Make sure you have both sides of the elastic so you will have a double elastic in your hook as shown in the photo, and not just one side of the elastic.

The next step is a two person job, so find an assistant. One person will need to pull the elastic up to the neck of the doll with the hook. This will be at its maximum stretch. The second person should attach the head hook to the string. When the head is hooked on, you can unhook the long hook and let the head pull into place. Needlenose pliers can come in handy for helping get the elastic on and off the hooks as needed. The legs and head should all be snugly attached now.

6). Arm restringing. If you also need to attach arms, now hook your arm loop to the hook on one arm. Put your long hook through the opposite armhole and grab the other end of your elastic loop. Pull the elastic through and hook the second arm on this end. Unhook your long hook and let the arms pull into place. Now you should have a doll that can stand and hold his/her arms up. Voila! Try setting one foot flat, and the second foot on its toe and balance the doll. Sasha's can do this. Pretty cool, eh?

We've gotten a little better at this with each doll we've restrung. It does take some practice to get just the right tension you want. Most of us restrung dolls are still slightly on the loose side (which is better than being too tightly strung), but we can hold any pose we want now, so we're happy with that. I can even balance on a slanted log now (see Sasha's Summer Adventure entry), which I never could have done a year ago. So I will tell you from a personal experience--A properly strung Sasha is a happy Sasha. Hope you have good luck with yours!

Smokey the Doll

2008-11-02T19:43:00.005-07:00

Hi, Sasha says it is my turn to introduce myself. I told her she could it do it for me, as I feel a little shy about writing about myself to anyone who finds this on the intranet, but Sasha insists I write my own. I am a Sasha Brunette “Pink Dress”, #103, made in 1979-1982 by Trendon in England. Most likely I am a 1979 girl, because the dolls made in the 1980s had much lighter skin. My name is Lona Rachelle, which MamaT says is after a special little girl, although her name was Rachel. Also Lona is the heroine in a fairy tale by Dare Wright about a courageous and kind-hearted princess. In the storybook, Lona was portrayed by a Lenci boudoir doll and by Dare Wright herself (more well-known for her Lonely Doll books).

I was a birthday present for MamaT's last birthday from her husband. I needed restringing, but he had already helped with a couple of restringing projects, so he knew that could be done. I arrived exactly on MamaT's birthday. She was so excited she opened my box right on the front porch. It was a lovely spring day, and she sat down on the porch and gazed at my face in the sunlight and fell head over heels for me instantly. At least that's what she tells me. After a few minutes, she took me inside, and that was when she got a whiff of my hair, which reeked of cigarette smoke. The seller hadn't mentioned this. The seller picked me up at an estate sell, and later said she hadn't detected any odors, although she was a former smoker. I was also sold “As Is—No Returns.” MamaT got a lot of feedback from the SashaL list about this transaction so she learned a lot of lessons. In no particular order, some of these lessons were:
--If odors are not mentioned in the listing, ASK. If the seller says they can't smell, don't bid.
--Even if you didn't ask every possible question, it is still the responsibility of the seller to divulge major defects, and cigarette odor is a major defect. You don't have to take the “as is---no returns” clause entirely at face value.
--Contact the seller before attempting any sort of rehab on the doll. If the seller really wants to be fair, and realizes they made an error in divulging major defects, they should be willing to accept a return or make an adjustment in the sale price.
--Kitty litter, activated charcoal, fresh air and indirect sunlight are all effective at mitigating smoke odors.

Working under the assumption that a return was not an option, and since MamaT had already fallen for me, she didn't seek for a return, and she had no idea you even could ask for a price adjustment. So she set about cleaning me up first thing. Always before cleaning a doll, she reviews the do's and don't's of doll cleaning on Susanna Lewis' site (see self-help Sasha care). She washed my hair, and the first rinse water was disgustingly yellow. However, she was delighted to discover that I have naturally curly hair. She thought she was going to be washing out all of my lovely curls, but it turns out our hair has a memory, and tends to bounce back to its original form, even if our bangs have been retrained to stand straight up. MamaT also cleaned the nicotine residue off my body. With the surface cleaning accomplished, she did a search on the SashaL website for tips on cigarette smoke odor removal, and found several suggestions. She didn't think stuffing the doll with bounce or using Febreeze sounded like really good options, as that would only mask and not eliminate the odor and who wants to spray a chemical on their doll? Another suggestion that did sound good was using a negative ionizer, but those aren't conveniently available everywhere, so she didn't try that.

Here's what we did for my odor problem. MamaT got a plastic bin and covered the bottom with kitty litter and mixed in a jar of activated charcoal. I've heard wood charcoal briquettes for barbecuing could also work. I think near the end she also put a little baking soda in the mixture too. She put in some blocks and set a cooling rack on top of the blocks, and then she placed me and my shoes on top of the rack. I was all in pieces at the time. She then put the lid tightly on the plastic bin, and left me for a week. At the end of the week, she gave me an airing for a day. She put me outside in the fresh air on a sunny day, but not in direct sunlight (we dolls hate direct sunlight). She also turned my various body parts periodically during the day. After that I went back in the bin again. This went on for about a month or so where I'd spend one day a week in the fresh air and the rest of the week in the kitty litter bin.

Finally, MamaT determined that I no longer had such an offensive smell, and the other dolls conceded they would be willing to stand next to me after all. I have been out of the bin for about 4 months now, and MamaT just gave me the sniff test. She says she can't detect any odor in my hair at all, and nothing to notice on the outside of my body. However, if you pull my leg and sniff inside my body, you can still detect some odor, but it's not terribly strong. MamaT has never smoked and can't stand the smell, so I'm happy she thinks I'm tolerable now. She is really happy with the results of the combo kitty litter and airing treatment. I'll post a photo of the bin we used below. I was too embarrassed to pose nude so Sasha painted a swimsuit on me. Isn't that silly?

Lastly, I want to mention that we recently discovered there are two other Sasha blogs out there. How fun! One, Sasha Street, is by Ted Menten, known as Teddy Bear Ted, a long time Sasha doll and teddy bear enthusiast. MamaT has a copy of a very nice article he wrote for Dolls Magazine in 1983. See his post for 10/21/08.
http://sashastreet.blogspot.com/
The other blog is by Franberry, another avid Sasha doll collector. She was the first follower of this blog. Both of these blogs have more frequent updates than we do. Check them out!
http://sasha3times.blogspot.com/

Wishing all of you a great day from Lona Rachelle
P.S. Sasha recently added a hit counter to this page. She already had close to 1,350 hits to this blog and MamaT's blog before she added the counter. She figures easily at least 1,200 or more of the hits were for this page before the counter began.

This Old Skirt

2008-10-19T19:35:00.015-06:00

I have some new exciting news about a very old skirt. MamaT just went to visit her Mama on a vacation. While she was there, she found a stash of random old toys, and in that stash, she happened to spy my original skirt!!!!!!! It is truly amazing it has survived all these years, being separated from me, in with toys that have been available to lots of grandkids to play with. But I think there were no dolls my size in the box, so it must have just been ignored. This being the case, it is amazing no one ever tossed it out. Okay, MamaT's Mama (our Gran-Mama) grew up in the Great Depression and doesn't throw much of anything out, so I suppose that was in our favor. But MamaT and all her sisters do “help” Gran-Mama reduce her clutter from time to time, so things still get thrown out sometimes. But happily, happily, my old skirt has survived all these years. The not so good news is we think it has shrunk a little. Either that or I've put on a few ounces over the years. It does still fit around my waist, but it's pretty snug, and it's much shorter than my replacement skirt. Of course, the skirt was made in 1969, and we did wear our skirts shorter then. You can see my newly recovered old skirt in the photo (click photo to see it close-up). I'm also wearing tights compliments of Susan at Little Princess Frocks. Susan was so kind to send consolation prizes to all the non-winning stay-at-home raffle contestants during the 2008 Sasha Festival weekend. Here is her website:

http://www.littleprincessfrocks.com/lpf/clothes_sasha_subcat.htm

MamaT also returned home from vacation with THREE more Sasha dolls!!! These are her sister's dolls, but she has graciously allowed us long-term custody at our house. MamaT's sister let her daughters play with them, so they still need some clean-up, and her sister promises to look through the doll clothes for missing shoes and articles of clothing. There is a redhead white dress, (which was next on MamaT's wish list), a brunette red pinafore, and Margot's long lost twin, Sandra (or Sandy). Her sister says her daughters were more attached to their American Girl and Magic Attic dolls and never appreciated the Sasha's as much, so she sent them to our home where they will be very well appreciated. MamaT doesn't seem to realize what a workload she is creating for my blog. I just can't seem to get all the dolls introduced as fast as she keeps getting more dolls. She swears she is going to slow down about acquiring more Sasha dolls. Time will tell. The last photo of the purple dress shows another dress MamaT found in the toybox that Gran-Mama made for us dolls many years ago.

Hello Dolly, Margot Monique!

2008-10-03T12:21:00.007-06:00

I want to type my OWN entry. PLEASE, can I try it mySELF! Xcxbnb czxnbmbc, hnc mnnbvx mcnv./
How's that? What does it say? What do you mean it doesn't say anything? It's supposed to say, “Hello Everyone! How are you?” Well, I can't reach those other letters. What's wrong with these letters? Oh, well I guess you can type for me then, but FIRST you have to promise you will only type what I want you to type and not every word I say like you did with Cara. Is that a deal? Well, is it? Well, you better not anyway. Or else I'll be mad at you. Okay, I think I'm ready to start now.

Hello Everyone! How are you? I am fine. My name is Margot Monique. The name on my box was Sandy, but I don't have my box any more. We don't like boxes here. They are no fun anyway. You would think so too if you had ever been tied up in one. I am MamaT's only honey blonde Sasha. Most blonde Sasha's are plattnumb blonde, so it is special to be a honey blonde. Sandy dolls like me were made from 1981 to 1986. There was another honey blonde baby too named Rosie made in 1983 to 1986, so you see I was the original honey blonde baby. Rosie wears a nightgown all the time, but I like playing more than I like napping. Cara is my buddy. I think I am older than her, but she says she is older, because she was manyufrakshured first and has been at MamaT's house longer. There was a honey blonde Sasha introduced the same year as me in 1981. She wears a white silk dress. She was made until 1984. Then in 1985, they introduced a honey blonde party doll. She is all ready for a birthday party. I hope it is my birthday party. I can't wait to grow up. It seems like I've been waiting a loooooong time. I haven't even gotten to be a toddler yet! Then I could reach more letters on the keyboard. There was just one sandy blonde Gregor, called Hiker. He was made in 1986. Since the factory closed in late January that year, less than 400 Hiker Gregor's were made. There was only one redhead baby, and she had blue eyes. Her name is Ginger. I have brown eyes. MamaT says that except for not having my box (which is ok by us), I am absolutely perfect in every way. I have no flaws whatsoever, and she says I'm bootifull too.

Well that's all I can think of to say, but you don't have to type that. How should I end it? Should I just say goodbye everyone? I think I will. Goodbye Everyone and have a really super good day too!--From Margot Monique

P.S. I almost forgot to give you a website. I bet you will like Melody's site. Her name starts with M like mine. Melody paints custom dolls and her doll, Tilily Tangerine, has traveled all over the world! Here's the site:

http://www.melodymock.com/AllegroMelody/index.html

The Advice Columnist is IN: Sasha Doll Values

2008-09-26T11:52:00.003-06:00

I got a very interesting question on my blog. Partly because the answer is so long, and partly because it may have some general interest, I am going to answer it here in a blog entry. The question is about the values of some Sasha dolls. But before I answer I have to start with a disclaimer. No one in our house is an expert in doll values. MamaT has been watching dolls come and go on Ebay for the past couple years. For a little while she watched a wide variety of dolls to see what they sold for, but now she just watches a few of particular interest to her. We don't know how well that reflects their true value, but it is an indication of what people are willing to pay right now, although it can be highly variable depending on who is watching when the auction ends and what else is on sale at the same time. I will give some ranges of what MamaT tells me she's seen dolls go for typically, with the lower end for dolls that have been played with, may have some flaws and may not be wearing original clothing. Since your dolls are in excellent condition (unplayed with, no odors, blemishes, or falling hair, and with wrist tags in tact), you might expect them to more likely fall in the upper half of these ranges. These are in American dollars. I guess pounds would be a little less than half these numbers.

To our friend in Holland: Be sure and look at the comments in Patrick's column again for one more note specific to you. Based on the information you have shared with me, this is what I can tell you about your dolls with MamaT's comments on their probable value:

1. Blonde Baby “Sundress” #502, produced 1979-1986
2. Black Baby “Cara” #519, produced 1984-1986

Baby dolls typically sale for between $50 - $175 or so. I have seen asking prices more than $200, but they frequently don't sale. Not all babies are equally popular, but I think both of yours are popular dolls.

3. Sasha Redhead “White dress” #108, produced 1979-1986

Sasha redhead white dress $200-$400. I watch this doll a lot, and it only rarely sells for less than $200, even when the condition is not great.

4. Gregor Dark “Denim” (assuming he is brunette), # 4-301 or 301, This doll was produced beginning in 1968, but based on stringing color, yours would be between 1975-1986. Older dolls have a darker skin tone. If his tone is about the same as your other dolls, he was probably produced in 1980 or later.

Gregor dark denim, I would say usually sales for $100-$200 for the 80's dolls. Older dolls could go for more.

I am less sure about the value of the following dolls because I have not often followed final sale prices on these dolls.

5. Sasha Blonde (20th Anniversary) No. 1, produced in 1985

Sasha Anniversary, I am going to guess $150-$350. She is a special doll, but not so rare as some of the others.

6. Sasha “Harlequin” #184A, produced in 1986. This was a limited edition of 2500 dolls. Your doll should have the year and her production number on the back of her neck. Harlequin's were the only production dolls with a highlight (white dot) added to the iris in their eye.

For Harlequin my guess is $275-$500.

I will also paste in a few links to some Sasha doll sale pages, so you can see some current asking prices for various Sasha dolls:
http://www.sashadolluk.co.uk/16226.html
http://www.sasha-dolls.com/page17.htm
http://www.oursashadolls.com/kelsnewsalepage.html
http://www.sashadollstyle.co.uk/For_Sale.htm
http://www.sashadolls.com/
http://letsplaydolls.com/sasha_dolls.shtml

We hope that answers our commenter's question. I'm adding a little more information on Sasha doll values in broad cost categories for general interest of my readers. My disclaimer, besides the fact that I have NO expertise in this arena, is that I will make no guarantee on these values for any longer than about 60 seconds after they are posted. They are not valid in all states (or countries), and some restrictions may apply. Those are standard clauses in America. I don't know about Europe.

Several thousands of dollars: The most valuable of all Sasha dolls are the studio dolls made by Sasha Morgenthaler herself.

Several hundreds (e.g. $500+) to few thousands: Course dolls are handmade dolls made in workshops under the direction of Sasha Morgenthaler or her primary assistant, Trudi Löffler. The Götz Sasha dolls produced in the 1960s would be in this category, even in really bad condition they sell well. Some of the early Frido dolls from 1966-67, the no-philtrum dolls, will also sell in this range when in excellent condition. These dolls had a lot of hand-painted detail on the eyes, and are particularly stunning. The redheads are especially popular, as they were less common and gorgeous to boot. I try not to take offense at that. I like red hair myself, but MamaT won't dye mine. The most popular of the Limited Edition (LE) Dolls probably fall in this range, closer to the $500 to $1,000something end. These would be dolls like the Sari doll, Princess Sasha, and Yamka. In a similar range, but less likely to top $1,000 might be 1990's Gotz Limited Edition dolls like Marianne and Ruth and the toddler dolls from the same era.

$300-$500: I think most of the other Trendon Limited Edition dolls would usually fall in this range. All dolls produced in 1986 when the Trendon factory closed were limited to less than 400. Sari and Princess Sasha were already mentioned above, but Sasha Wintersport and Gregor Sandy Hiker might go a little higher than some of the LE's since they are more rare, and he was the only honey or sandy blonde Gregor produced. Other 1990s Gotz dolls also fall here. These sold for around $300 new and seem to be selling for about the same price now.

$100-$1,000: English dolls from the 1960s and 70s vary widely depending on condition. We've seen other Kilt girls like me go for both extremes depending on their condition. I'm afraid collectors would probably put me towards the lower end since I am nowhere near mint, but according to MamaT, I am priceless, so that is not an issue.

$100-$300: Most of the Trendon dolls from the 1980s would usually sell in this range. The redhead girls are less common than blondes and brunettes, so they go on the higher end. Cora and Caleb are both popular too, Cora slightly more so. Gregor's tend to sell for slightly less than similar Sasha's and babies go on the lower end more in the $50-$200 range.

And that's my speal on Sasha doll values in terms of American dollars. Our value in terms of non-monetary benefits to those who love us is an entirely different story.

Patrick's column with tips on vinyl stain removal

2008-09-13T16:40:00.007-06:00

Good Day All! Sasha says it's my turn to have a go at the Blog. I'm not the fastest typist, but with Gregor running the mouse here, we make a pretty good team. My name is Patrick Terrence. I was manufactured in England, but my red hair proves I must have some Irish or Scottish relatives somewhere. I'm known as a “blue cord Gregor,” produced between 1982-1986. I was introduced at the same time as Sasha Sweater, the only short-haired girl produced by Trendon. You'll see in the photo that I'm not wearing my original white shoes, but am sporting a very cool pair of sandals instead. MamaT purchased me from a nice lady on the Sasha-L list. Well that's not very specific. I think all the folks on the Sasha-L list are the nicest of people. It was actually Carolyn Campbell, a very fine knitter of Sasha clothes. I didn't belong to Carolyn, but to another friend of hers. Here is Carolyn's website.

http://www.picturetrail.com/carolynsdollknits

I have white arm stringing and brown leg stringing. MamaT was forewarned I had a few flaws before she purchased me, and I arrived just as I had been described. My arm stringing was perfect, but my leg stringing was strunk. Hmmm. That's probably not a real word. My leg stringing was permanently stretched to its maximum length with no more give left in it whatsoever. I think strunk would be a good word for that. I couldn't keep my head on at all, and the strings extended a few inches past my leg joints. You could say I was one loose goose. So I was in serious need of new stringing before I could be displayed. Sasha will be devoting a whole entry to the process of stringing in the near future, so I am not going to go into that today.

I also arrived with some stains on my clothes and on my feet. An excellent reference for doll care is found at Suzanne Lewis' site (already referred to several times on this blog). There are recommendations both for cleaning clothing and vinyl stain removal, and this is what MamaT followed to clean me up. Here's the link to the cleaning instructions.

http://www.sashadoll.com/repair/help.html

There are a lot of references to products by “Twin Pines of Maine.” They specialize in cleaning products for a collectibles and dolls. Here is a link to their website if you want to order any of their products.

http://www.twinpines.com/

The vinyl stain removal technique was especially impressive. I had purple spots on my feet and lines around my ankles that looked like ink stains. I think I remember having a pair of shoes with dye that bled onto my feet. MamaT wrapped me in a towel and used a generic tube of 10% benzoyl peroxide (BP) cream, applying it with a toothpick to the stains. Heat makes the stain removal process work faster, but you don't want to get our vinyl so warm that it gets soft, so you have to be cautious. MamaT couldn't watch me all the time, so she just put me near a low temperature heat source for a short while (maybe 30 minutes or so) in the morning, again in the late afternoon, and once more just before bedtime. Under a lamp with a warm light bulb would work well. Sunshine would work too when it's available, but you wouldn't want to leave a doll in direct sunlight. That gives us headaches you know. She'd check me frequently while I was near the heat and didn't let me get too close to it. She put fresh BP cream on every 24 hours or so. It can lighten the vinyl slightly, so you don't want to run the treatment too long, and you should wash the vinyl well when you're done, but it is better than having stains. We only wish we had taken before and after pictures, because the treatment worked extremely well. I've heard that this treatment does not work so well on the green stains left by corroded snaps.

So with new stringing, clean clothes, and no more embarrassing stains on my feet, I feel like a new man, or at least a new doll, and I must say I do look good posing with any of the Sasha girls. Once again, I hope you all have a great day! --Patrick Terrence

Cora goes to Glacier National Park

2008-08-31T21:03:00.013-06:00

Lucky Cora got to visit Glacier National Park, Montana on Friday. She says it was a picture perfect day and driving through Glacier feels a lot like driving through a picture postcard. It is so stunning and spectacular, it almost feels like it can't quite be real. Here are a few photos, but she says everyone was too busy gawking at the views to get photos of everything they saw. Scroll over photos for captions.

A Note from Cara Linnea (as dictated to Sasha)

2008-08-09T12:26:00.009-06:00

Hi Peoples! My name is Cara Linnea. I am a black baby girl, most definitely a girl. All black babies from 1972 to 1978 were girls. Umm, what do you think I should say next? No, don't type that. I was asking you that, Sasha. Let's start over. Hi, Umm. My name is Cara. My strings are a rusty orange color. That means I was made in about 1972 to 1974. Hey Sasha, that's not nice to say, it's about time I grew up and learned how to type myself. Don't type that either. I was talking to you again. I am too little to type—you know that. Now delete that, okay. I have the dark black skin that Cora, Caleb, and black baby girls had until 1979. A warmer toned baby was made in 1980 to 1983 named Little Flower, and another in 1984 to 1986 named Cara, so I got her name. I came to MamaT wearing a white nightdress, but my original outfit was probably a white suit with a red, patterned trim. I can't remember it though. MamaT sewed me a new blue dress. She didn't have a pattern for baby clothes, so she made the pattern herself. She doesn't sew much, so it is not perfect, but it's not too bad either. I think blue is a better color for me than white. I like to go barefooted best.

I love flowers. Carl Linnaeus was a doctor and a botanist—that's someone who studies plants. He first started using two Latin names for each plant, the first name to show what group of plants it is related to and the second to name the individual plant. He changed his name to Carolus Linnaeus to match the Latin style of naming plants and animals, but maybe it should have been Linnaeus Carolus to really match. His favorite flower was Linnaea borealis or twinflower. Each plant has a pair of tiny bell-shaped flowers—it's very cute. One of my favorite flowers is harebell or Campanula rotundifolia. See no matter what language you speak, anyone in the world will know what you are talking about if you use Latin names. I like all the flowers, except some of the weeds. Knapweed and ox-eye daisy can be pretty, but they crowd out nicer plants, so I don't like them so well.

Umm, I can't think what to say next. No, I told you that's not part of my note. I will tell MamaT if you don't stop typing things I don't want you to. Umm. My best buddy is Margot. I was glad when she came to our family. I am glad we have Cora in our family now too. I like all the dolls in our family, except I don't like when Sasha types the things I don't want to say in my note. So don't do that anymore. Umm, that's all I can think of today. That will be a good place to end. Tell everyone Bye for me. I hope they all have a good day.
--from Cara Linnea

P.S. I have a website to share too. Marie has a very nice site. I think you will all like it.

http://www.sasha-dolls.com/index.htm

Sasha's Summer Adventure

2008-07-26T17:27:00.022-06:00

Sorry, it's been so long since I've posted, but you know when the weather is nice in Montana, you've got to get out and enjoy it. There will be plenty of time to sit at the computer some other day. Gregor "borrowed" the camera and took pictures while we explored MamaT's yard today. I think this will explain why I'm not blogging so much these days. But I do promise to get back to it. Scroll your mouse over the photos to read the captions. It's harder than I thought to add lots of photos in one blog. And don't forget you can click on the photos to see them close up.

Cara thought these were "naughty" onions. =)

Have a great summer everyone!

Baby White Bird

2008-07-05T11:20:00.004-06:00

Good morning! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July or Canada Day if that's where you live, or just a good early summer weekend if you don't live in North America. Where we live, there are lots of Canadians who own summer property on nearby lakes, so on the first weekend in July, MamaT's congregation always sings both the Star Spangled Banner and Oh Canada at church. It sounds pretty good with over 700 people there. For our special treat, we got a new display shelf MamaT's husband made for her birthday, which has now been clear-coated and got attached to the wall yesterday. Gregor's already tried his headstand out on it. Today, the 5th of July, is known as the Fibalibaluly! in MamaT's family. It's her mother's little brother's birthday, and that's what he called it when he was small.

Today, I'll tell you about a “foster baby” we had here for a few months last year. She was a baby White Bird. Dolls like her were produced from 1975-1986. MamaT called her Morgen, and I think you can guess why. If it was up to me, I would call her Ave Alba which means “white bird”. She was absolutely perfect. In fact her only flaw was that she came with her box. As soon as she arrived, MamaT realized that not only would she have to take care of the baby doll, she would have to store the box carefully somewhere so it would not get damaged, because it was a part of the value of the doll. Well, what with so much of her stuff already still in boxes, she didn't want to deal with storing yet another thing. So after a few months of enjoying her, we found another home for her. She sold for a little less than what we purchased her for, but getting to enjoy her as part of our family for a little while was worth the difference. We still miss her a little. Her face looked almost just like Gregor's. Don't forget you can click on her photo to see how pretty her face really is.

The featured site I'm choosing for you today is Nikki's site (even if it is based in Ireland instead of N.A.). MamaT and her husband both have Irish roots, so they have a soft spot for Ireland. It is called Sasha doll style and has lots of wonderful handknitted clothes available. There are lots of great photos. Check out the Sasha at home page which features photo series of Sasha's at every day play. There is even a blog on the site too.

http://www.sashadollstyle.co.uk/

Gregor here

2008-06-20T21:20:00.009-06:00

Hello Everbuddy—it's Gregor here! If you want to know the truth, unlike Sasha, blogging is not anything that ever crossed my mind. But since I have the chance, I may as well give it a whirl. You never know, it may be my only hope for 30 seconds of fame. So I get to tell you MY story. I was MamaT's first Ebay Sasha. Now Sasha is hovering over my shoulder and telling me I have to back up a bit, to where ol' Karinne left off. Well, I wasn't even here then, so I don't know why that's my job, but I'll tell you what I've heard anyhow, and no doubt, Sasha will let me know if I get any of this wrong.

I think MamaT got Karinne in 1999. MamaT got married in 2002 and started on this house building project, which they still haven't finished. Don't ask me why it's taking so long. You might find that on MamaT's blog. Anyhow, in 2003, they moved onto the property, and most everything had to go into storage including Sasha and Karinne. MamaT says it really bothered her to think of her dolls packed away in a dark box in a cold storage unit, what with them being real and all, but it couldn't be helped. And I don't know what the technical term is, it's not hibernation or aestivation, but we dolls go into some sort of suspended animation while we're in storage, so it's not quite so bad as you think. Still we do prefer to be out in the open.

Fast forward to 2007 when at long last the storage unit was emptied, and MamaT was delighted to be reunited with her dolls again. She also pulled out her Sasha books, although most of her other books are still boxed up. MamaT says she searched for Sasha's on Ebay a number of years ago, and found some, but there were only a few. With her dolls back on her mind, she did a search in 2007 and was amazed to find dozens of dolls available at any given time. She googled Sasha too and found all kinds of wonderful websites about Sasha dolls and saved most of them on her Favorites. It wasn't long before she became addicted to looking at the Sasha doll listings almost every day, just to enjoy looking at them you know. The most common search term she uses goes like this:

sasha -bratz -euro -eurogirl -american -osmond -attic

This narrows the number of non-Sasha hits down a bit. There are other terms she could take out too, but there is a character limit on the search term. She has this search saved as a favorite. Now if you are looking for clothes and accessories, you could probably leave Eurogirl, Magic Attic, and American girl (for accessories not clothes) in, but MamaT mainly just wanted to look at Sasha's which she says she never tires of.

Now I said earlier that I was MamaT's first Ebay Sasha, but that was not the search she used to find me. Just for an experiment, she tried searching on “Gregor” and I was listed without Sasha in the title. She thought maybe there would be a little less competition for me, since most people just search for Sasha. So she tried bidding on me. It was a very close auction. She won me by only 2 cents. She felt a little guilty the next bidder lost by such a narrow margin, but later that same bidder outbid MamaT more than once, and she saw her pick up lots of other things. So she quit feeling guilty after that. Back when Ebay didn't keep the bidder names hidden, she would see the same Sasha bidders a lot, some often enough to make a guess at their personality. But she says it's been more fun communicating with them more personally on the Sasha-L list.

My original owner was a young girl who had an English Grandma who got me and a blue gingham Sasha for her granddaughter. The mother who sold me couldn't remember what my original outfit was, but the highest probability is that I wore the denim jeans and navy sweater. Her best guess is that I was purchased in about 1985, and I have all the characteristics of an 1980's doll (dark brown and white stringing, minimal hand detail on my eyes and paler skin). I've been told that I resemble Hugh Grant for what that's worth. Sasha says I should take that as a compliment. I came wearing the pyjamas outfit with the red robe usually found on blonde Gregor's, but also shown on a brunette in the postcard set. I also was wearing the ribbed briefs typical of dolls of 1980 and older, so it seems my underwear is older than I am. I have to tell you one great advantage of being a doll is that you can wear the same pair of underwear for 20 years and no one cares. In fact, the longer you have worn the same underwear and same clothes, the more valuable you are. Is that cool or what? But since I have pyjama bottoms, I really didn't need the briefs all that badly, so I loaned mine to Sasha who wears a skirt and needs them more than I do. Again, this is all totally kosher when you're a doll.

One of my best talents and favorite tricks is standing on my head. I am also a pretty good dancer. Now Sasha is whispering that I have to share my favorite website with you. Well having some English family roots (besides being manufactured there), I'll have to say Shelly's site, Sasha Doll UK is the one I'd like to share with you. It has all kinds of great Sasha doll photos and some fantastic dolls for sale that would make any Sasha collector salivate. Good day to you all! --Gregor Vaughn

http://www.sashadolluk.co.uk/

Sasha Resources

2008-06-06T12:25:00.006-06:00

Hi, It's me, Sasha, again. I just discovered something really cool. If you click on the pictures in the blog notes, they pop up full screen, so for example, if you click on Angela K's photo in her entry below, you can really see how pretty she is and how pretty her dress is. I've always been a little envious of her dress. Except when it comes to play time, mine is a lot more practical.

I also notice A. Karinne made several references to the Sasha-Puppen book (sample page shown in photo above) without explaining what it was so now I think I need to do an entry about the Sasha books and other Sasha resources out there. So first about the books, currently there are 3 available.

1) Sasha Dolls by Michael O'Brien, 1998. It is a small paperback 6x8” and about 40 pages long. 1,000 books were printed, and each has a number stamped in it. MamaT's is #031. It features photos and information about the Sasha dolls produced in the 1960's, including both the German and English dolls. Dorisanne referred to it as the “Dream Book”, I think because it has so many nice photos of dolls we'd all love to have. The thing about Sasha dolls is that the older the dolls are, the more hand painting was done to finish their eyes, so the older they are, the more unique and extraordinary the eyes are. In particular, the early German or Gotz dolls (which stopped production in 1970) have a wide variety of eye styles and face styles too. MamaT didn't like them as well as the English dolls when she very first saw them, but has since become entranced with them. A 60s Gotz doll is in our fantasy wish list.

2) Sasha-Puppen, Sasha Dolls by Benteli, Verlag Bern, 1999. This is the book Angela Karinne kept referring to. It is a large 11x11.5”, 120 page, coffee table book, written in both English and German (as is O'Brien's book). The book tells the story of Sasha Morgenthaler's life with samples of her early artwork, including stuffed animals she made for her children when they were young. A section of the book was written by Sasha's daughter, Barbara Cameron Morgenthaler. The book also features numerous large format, stunning photos of Sasha Morgenthaler's studio dolls. This book was MamaT's first introduction to the studio dolls, and she was instantly captivated by them. A studio doll is on the extreme end of our fantasy wish list.

3) Sasha Dolls Through the Years by Dorisanne Osborn, 1999. This book is the current encyclopedia of Sasha dolls. There is information on the studio dolls, course dolls made under Sasha's or her assistant, Trudi Loffler's, instruction, and all the lines of production dolls. There is information on the different face and body types, so you will know what it means when a studio doll is described as CIII, for example. There is a lot of information to assist a collector in aging their doll, including stringing color, skin tone, eye painting style, boxes, tags, clothing, even underwear and snaps or closures. It is really a must-have for the Sasha collector.

There is information on ordering these books on Susanna's site.
--http://www.sashadoll.com/books.html

You can also order Dorisanne's book directly from the author (and even request a signed copy). See this link for information on what Dorisanne has to offer. You can also ask her about magazines with Sasha articles she may have.
--http://www.mysashas.com/friends_of_sasha.htm

The books also show up on Ebay regularly for a wide variety of prices. Since we have them, we haven't searched out other sources.

Finally, we are eagerly anticipating the publication of a 4th book, which will be titled The Magic of Sasha, by Anne Votaw, Ann Chandler, and Susanna Lewis, expected summer 2009. Besides the history and identification of Sasha dolls, the book will also feature examples of the creativity that Sasha has inspired.

There is also a magazine called “Sasha World” currently printed in the UK. For info, see:
--http://www.mysashas.com/sasha_world_magazine.htm

In fact this is a good website to feature today. The home page is: --http://www.mysashas.com/
Click the “Doll Information” tab for more good info about Sasha's.

And there is a current newsletter called Sasha Friends. See this link for information on how to subsribe to the newsletter and information on subscribing to one or more Sasha on-line email groups. --http://www.sashadoll.com/#board

There have also been many magazine articles about Sasha dolls published. There is a good bibliography on Susanna's page, good through 1999.
--http://www.sashadoll.com/bibli.html

Post-1999 Sasha articles we've found include the following. You can find these sometimes if you google or search for the magazine issue on Ebay.
--Osborn, Dorisanne. Best of the West, Sasha travels Arizona's highways. Dolls, Oct 1999, p14-15.
--Osborn, Dorisanne. Sasha Dolls, a Favorite of All Ages. Doll Castle News, Nov./Dec. 2003, cover, p. 4-5.
--Knüsli, Laura. A Swiss Vignette: Zürich's Toy Museum exhibits Designer Toys "made in Switzerland" from Sasha Morgenthaler, Kurt Naef, and Antonio Vitali. Doll Castle News, Nov./Dec. 2003, p. 10-11.
--Heyerdahl, Virginia Ann. The Sasha Morgenthaler Doll Museum at the Museum Bärangasse. Doll Castle News, Nov./Dec. 2003, p. 12-13.
--Warnaka, Karen. Apron with Knitted Bib for Sasha Dolls. Doll Castle News, Nov./Dec. 2003, p. 14.
--Stiles, Evalyn. Velvet and Taffeta Holiday Dress for Sasha. Doll Castle News, Nov./Dec. 2003, p. 20.
--Nelson, Martha. Sasha How to... Holiday Box with Cookies. Doll Castle News, Nov./Dec. 2003 p. 23.
--Truffaut, Laura. Needlework Corner: A Snowflake Turtleneck for Sasha. Doll Castle News, Nov./Dec. 2003, p. 24.
--Osborn, Dorisanne. Sasha Morgenthaler, Swiss Doll Artist. Doll Castle News, Nov./Dec. 2003, p. 25, with paper dolls of Sasha Morgenthaler, age 7, featured on p. 26-27.
--Osborn, Dorisanne. The 2003 Sash Festival. Doll Castle News, Nov./Dec. 2003, p. 28-29.
--Newman, Penny. Sasha Dolls, a Story of Harmony, Simplicity and Love of Humanity. Contemporary Doll Collector April/May 2004, p. 30-35.
-- Sasha Babies at the Beach. (paperdolls). Doll Castle News May/June 2004, p. 26-27.
--Osborn, Dorisanne. Sasha Morgenthaler's Boys and Girls. Doll Reader, Feb. 2005, p. 24-29.
--Ndouop-Klajian, Ruth. Playing with Asymmetry. Doll Reader, December/January 2008, p. 62-64.

There are oodles more websites, but I am only going to feed them to you a few at a time, so you can spend some time to enjoy each one, without being overwhelmed at all of them, although you can find more on some of the links I've already listed.

Wow, I didn't realize there were so many Sasha resources when I started this note, and I'm sure there is more I've missed. Phew!

Enter Sasha Doll, #2

2008-05-31T14:26:00.009-06:00

Well Hello to you all! My name is Angela Karinne, and Sasha has given me a turn at the computer to tell my own story, but first I should tell you how MamaT came to discover me. She'd probably hate to admit it, but I think she pretty much forgot all about Sasha's for a few years there. But in 1999 after she'd be working at her career for several years, it dawned on her one day that she could finally afford a companion doll for Sasha. She was disappointed to learn that the Trendon dolls had gone out of production way back in 1986. She searched on-line and found very little information on Sasha's, but came across a contact for Gotz and ordered a catalog. She then called a couple numbers in the back of the catalog and got referred to Dorisanne Osborn's Crow's Nest store, which is where I was living at the time. MamaT was delighted to find such a knowledgable Sasha lover out there in the world. She told Dorisanne that she had most hoped to find the redhead white dress doll from the 1980's, so Dorisanne recommended me. Of course, Sasha dolls were no longer selling in the $50-$100 range that they had sold for in the 80s. Retail costs were closer to $300 for non-limited edition dolls, and I cost $270 which was a good deal. So MamaT splurged a little and bought me as a birthday present to herself for her 34th birthday. She also bought a replacement "Kilt" outfit for Sasha who had still been dressed in her purple wrap-around sleeveless dress until then.

But we're not discussing Sasha here. I'm introducing myself. I am known as a modern Gotz Sasha doll. I was one of the first dolls produced when the Gotz company began producing Sasha dolls in 1995, the first since Trendon stopped production in 1986. I have red hair, gray-blue eyes, and a lovely white dress, a little like the doll on page 46 in the book on Sasha studio dolls. Sasha Morgenthaler dressed many of her dolls in lacy white dresses. MamaT pulled a little of the hair away from my face into a ponytail in back when I was first arrived, and we both think it looks much better that way. More recently, she trimmed my bangs just the tiniest smidge because they always cast a shadow over my eyes. I was named Angela at the factory, and Karinne by MamaT. I answer to both names, since I am called one just about as often as the other.

All of my stringing is white, although that's not really an issue with modern dolls. Stringing color is used to help date the older dolls. However, I am strung a bit tight (physically—I hope that's not my personality), and I've got some slight caving of my chest just around the neckline. This is said to be common among Angela dolls. I don't know if it happens with many of the other modern dolls. I've heard that if the caving gets severe, the sides could eventually split, which sounds a little scary if you ask me. But mine is just slight, so we are just watching it for now. Apparently, modern dolls are more complicated to restring than the older dolls, so MamaT doesn't dare mess with my stringing herself. Kelly Wenarsky can restring modern dolls, and maybe she'll send me there if my caving gets worse. I will post a link to her site. It is a great site with lots of great photos of Sasha dolls from all eras, including studio dolls and Kelly's custom repaints. If anyone else out there knows how to restring modern Gotz dolls, feel free to post a comment on this note.

I was produced in 1995, but dolls like me were produced in both 1995 and 1996. A limited edition line of Angela dolls was also produced, which as far as I know only seem to differ in that limited edition dolls are numbered. It's the only case I've seen where a limited edition doll looks almost identical to a non-limited edition. Modern Gotz Sasha dolls were produced between 1995-2001. A wide variety of different dolls were produced, including babies, and the only toddler dolls that were factory produced. Both pale and dark skin tones were produced, and different nationalities and socio-economic classes were represented. Many of the dolls are similar to one or more of Sasha M's studio dolls. In 2001, the Morgenthaler family pulled the manufacturing license from Gotz, and Sasha dolls have not been produced since. I don't know the details of why they pulled the license, but there was something in the quality they disapproved of. MamaT's favorite modern doll (besides me!) is Yamka, an American Indian doll, patterned after the studio doll on page 100 of the Sasha-Puppen book on studio dolls. She was a limited edition from 2001 and not in our household budget. It would also be kind of cool to have a toddler in the family.

Goodness, I've sure rattled on here, but you never know when Sasha will let me have another turn on the computer. So I wanted to tell you all about the modern Gotz Sasha's while I had the chance. I'll post another link to Susanna Lewis' page that shows photos of the modern Gotz dolls. Dorisanne Osborn also still has catalog sets for sale. MamaT just got a set from her. Seems like there was one other thing I wanted to share, but it's slipped my mind, so I will stop here and post the link's to Kelly's and Susanna's pages.
--Angela Karinne

Growing up with Sasha

2008-05-25T15:26:00.005-06:00

Hello, MamaT here, as Sasha appears to have dubbed me. Sasha has graciously allowed me to insert an entry into her blog. I wanted to add in just a few comments about what it was like to grow up with Sasha from my own perspective. In any childhood picture where I am holding a doll it is always Sasha. I owned other dolls such as Velvet (as in Chrissy and Velvet with the retractable ponytail) and Gabbigale (for a short time—until her voice box failed), and we played with our Dawn dolls a lot, but it was Sasha that held a special place in my heart above all the others. I remember once showing her off to a friend from school and was shocked that my friend thought it was strange that she had blonde hair and brown skin. I thought it was one of the things that made her so unique and wished I could have a blonde, tan-skinned baby of my own one day. (At that time I had never seen a Sasha with any other hair color.) I even confess to once having a crush on a boy based primarily on the fact that he was blonde and olive-skinned. Later, at least 3 of my sisters bought their own Sasha dolls as adults in the 1980s. I was still in high school/early college in those years and could only drool over the catalogs wishing for a redhead in a white dress or a brunette in a dancing blue dress. I admit I neglected Sasha in my teen years and have to credit my oldest sister with rescuing her from the toy box. Unfortunately, her original clothes were all long gone by then, but she was stored in a cedar chest until shortly after I finished college when I was ready to reclaim her. Being no seamstress, I cut 3 holes in a piece of a fabric for arm holes and made a wrap around dress for her, with a matching belt and hair ribbon. I also worked to retame her bangs that wanted to stand straight up, and I curled her hair with rag strips. I hope she feels better taken care of now then in those days.
--MamaT

What's in a Name?

2008-05-24T15:13:00.002-06:00

Today, I'll give you a quick introduction to the rest of my Sasha family, and later I'll let them introduce themselves in more detail. The first sister I acquired is a 1995 Gotz Sasha doll named Angela by the factory. MamaT named her Karinne, partly after one of her best friends in college, named Karen, and partly because it just sounded like a good name for a Sasha doll. However, the Angela name stuck with her until MamaT finally realized she needed both names, and her name became Angela Karinne.

Next to join our family is 1980-1986, Trendon boy, named Gregor Vaughn. Being the first Gregor in the family, he had to be a Gregor. Vaughn is because MamaT's husband is a 4th generation of names beginning with V: Victor, Valentine, Valentine Jr., Vance. It is also for MamaT's middle name, which is Yvonne. She also has a little Welsh ancestory, so that fits too.

After Gregor, we got a 1972-1974 Trendon baby black girl, named Cara Linnea. A later version of the baby black girl was named Cara, so we used that name for her. Her name is partly after Carl Linne, the father of taxonomy, who later changed his name to Carolus Linnaeus. You have to understand MamaT is a botanist, so she likes Latin names. The twinflower, Linnaea borealis, was named for him and is one of the cutest flowers ever. The name is also a play on her own last name, Carolin.

We got 2 more additions to the family just this year. First was a red-headed 1982-1986 Trendon Gregor, named Patrick Terrence. We can't have 2 Gregors in the family, and we have a lot of Irish in our family, so a redheaded boy needed a good Irish name. Patrick is after a great-great grandfather, Patrick Carolin, (Victor's father) who was the first in his line to immigrate to the States from Ireland. Terrence is yet another play on names, partly after MamaT's name, Tara, and her husband's middle name, Terry.

The most recent addition to the family is a 1981-1986 Trendon honey blonde baby named Sandy at the factory. She is now named Margot Monique. MamaT and her sister, Natasha (which is a great name too, I think. It's Russian for Christmas child which Natasha was.), used pen names for writing letters at one time. MamaT's pen name was Margot, and Natasha's pen name was Monique. So that's where the Sandy baby got her name.

Since everyone else had 2 names, MamaT thought maybe I should be given a second name too after all these years. She thought of several ideas, but nothing seemed to be quite right. She thought of her favorite cat she had growing up which she loved just about as much as me. The cat was named, Kaylee, but that wasn't quite right either. Then she thought by switching a few letters, I could have a name partly after Kaylee, but partly all my own that contained all the letters in my box name, Kilt. And so I became Sasha Kaelita, which works. But in truth, I will always mainly be just Sasha.

The Multi-lingual Girl

2008-05-18T16:42:00.004-06:00

Idday ouyay owknay atthay Iay ancay peaksay ivefay ifferenday anguageslay? Robablypay, veryoneay niay ethay orldway owsknay Igpay Atinlay. Atthay asway ethe irstfay econdsay anguagelay Iay earnedlay.

Dobues abunyobune rebumebumbebur thebu tbuvbu shobuw Zobuom whebure webu lebuarnebud RububibuDububibu labunguabuage? MabumabuTbu's fabuvoribute Zobuom chaburabuctebur wabus Maburabu, bubut mbuy fabuvoribute chaburabuctebur wabus Beburnabudebutte, whobu coubuld twiburl hebur arbums.

Lopatoperop, wope learopnoped tophope lopanopuagopue ofop Opop wophoperope yopou inopsoperoptop anop opop afoptoperop evoperopyop coponopsoptopanopanoptop anopdop sopayop evoperopyop vopowopelop. Itop wopasop a soplowop wopayop topo wopropitope nopotopesop bopacopkop anopdop foporoptophop inop topyopinopgop coplopasopsop.

Tonghonge Asonianong vongerongsongionong ofong Opong isong Ononggong. Tonghonge rongulongesong aronge alonglong tonghonge songamonge, exongcongepongtong youngou songubongsongtongitongutonge ononggong fongorong opong.

Oops! MamaT just caught me on the computer typing this. I couldn't finish that last sentence fast enough before she walked in the room. But I'm happy to say I didn't get in trouble after all. She thinks it's “cute.” She says she's going to tell all her Sasha-loving friends about my blog. I hope that doesn't leave me tongue-tied. She also says I have to let the other dolls have a turn now and then too. I WAS planning to introduce them—eventually. She took a picture of me at the keyboard.... By the way, my 5th language is English, of course.

My Story

2008-05-17T10:23:00.008-06:00

In the fall of 1969 MamaT's parents were out doing their Christmas shopping. I actually don't know where they found me, but I have always imagined it was at the Teddy Bear Toy Shop at the Sherwood Gardens shopping center in Salinas, California. The center had a rustic wood porch and inside the front door of the shop was a larger than life (at least 5' tall) teddy bear. MamaT thought the place was almost magical, even better than visiting “The Sugar Plum Farm” near Gilroy. And how could a place with a name like that NOT be exciting when you're 5? Anyhow, MamaT's daddy caught sight of a Sasha doll like me in the store window display. Although I was a bit on the expensive side for a play doll at the time ($17), her Mama agreed, and they picked me out and took me home to put under the tree on Christmas Eve. I wore a plaid skirt and white sweater and am known to Sasha collectors, as a "kilt" doll (not a very romantic name, I know). I was manufactured in England by the Frido doll company and was packaged in a "crayola tube" shown in the video below. That was back in the days of the 8mm silent home movies, and MamaT has a video clip of the moment she first opened my crayola tube and pulled me out. I love seeing the smile that flashes across her face when she first sees me. MamaT's daddy labeled the film box. "Christmas 1969--the year that Sasha came". It was like I was an additional member of the family. MamaT is the youngest of 6 girls in the family, and somehow she was the only one privileged to receive a Sasha doll. That didn't prevent the whole family from falling in love with me. In some ways, I was like MamaT's little sister and the real baby of the family.

I've posted the video-clip below, but before you get your expectations up, I'll start with an apology. The film was taken as a Super-8 home movie, and it was always a family favorite for repeat viewing. A decade or so ago, MamaT's sister, AuntieN, transferred many of the old home movies to VHS video format by projecting them on a wall and videotaping the projection. From this version, MamaT used a digital camera to capture this clip by filming the television screen. Through all of this the quality of the film has gotten quite poor and dark, so we apologize for that. And possibly the quality was never that great to begin with. We also had the VHS version professionally transferred to a DVD, and I think the digital camera version is no worse than that. In the film, you can see AuntieN (who was 8 at the time) is as excited about me as MamaT and very eager to "help" her with me. The video includes a clip of another baby doll that MamaT got that year just because it's a cute scene, but the baby doll is long gone and never got to become real, while MamaT swears she would never part with me at any price.

The Sasha link I'd like to share with you today is Cecelia's page. It features a couple of kilt dolls just like me, and even shows an original sales receipt. Now you can see what my original outfit looked like. My own was long lost over the years, and I am wearing a replacement outfit which was produced in the 70s and not quite exactly like my original skirt. Here's the link:

http://www.dcai.com/sasha/

And now for the video clip, click the box below...(if nothing happens with the first click, click again.)

So just what IS a Sasha doll anyway?

2008-05-16T21:51:00.002-06:00

I suppose the first thing I need to explain to you is just what it means to be a Sasha doll before I go much farther. Sasha dolls are those designed by the Swiss artist, Sasha Morgenthaler. She made and sold dolls beginning in the 1940s until she passed away in 1975. We Sasha dolls are exceptional in being proportioned like a real child right down to the facial and body asymmetry found in real people. Because of this, we can portray a wide variety of moods with slight adjustments to the tilt of our head. We intentionally have a nuetral expression so we can be sympathetic to all moods of the beholder. The studio made dolls are exceptionally beautiful and are made in the likeness of children from around the world. In the 1960s, Sasha Morgenthaler's dream of having her dolls mass produced, so we could be available and affordable for common children was realized. First the Gotz doll company in Germany and then the Frido (later Trendon) company in England began production. Trendon continued producing the dolls through 1986, and Gotz manufactured them as collector dolls from 1995-2001. We factory dolls have a dark skin tone that was intended to be a blend of colors of all the children in the world. And if I don't say so myself, we dolls are incredibly well proportioned and balanced, so that not only can we stand easily by ourselves, we can even stand on our head or on one foot and one toe. I have to admit my brother, Gregor, is better at this than I am as his stringing is in better shape. There are a number of web sites that already have good Sasha doll information, so I won't go into more detail here. The first Sasha doll site I am going to recommend to you is by Susanna Lewis. It has the most comprehensive Sasha information of any site I've seen. I will probably point out different parts of it that MamaT refers to a lot in future blogs. The site can be found at:

http://www.sashadoll.com/

My name is Sasha

2008-05-15T20:14:00.000-06:00

Hello World! My name is Sasha. I am a real doll. Do you remember the story about the Velveteen Rabbit and how it was loved so much that it became real? Well, I was loved so big that I became real too. I arrived in my family on Christmas Day in 1969. My Mama's name is Tara, but we Sasha dolls call her MamaT (T for Tara, you know). She was only 4 ½ years old at the time. She's a little older than that now, (I won't tell you how much), but you can probably do the math. She still loves me though, and that keeps me real.

I have been thinking about blogging for sometime now. People have a hard time guessing what we're thinking, but we dolls, since we don't sleep much, we have a lot of time to think. Unless we're put in storage and then we go into something akin to hibernation. Anyhow, I got left here by the computer, and while no one else is around, I thought I'd try out this blogging thing that everyone is talking about these days. I hesitated about this, because I come from a relatively small Sasha family as far as Sasha families go (there's only 6 of us right now), so we don't have lots of pictures of all the different kinds of Sasha's there are, but there are a lot of lovely Sasha Mama's out there, and some have really cool web sites, so I can insert links, so you can see more pictures and learn more about Sasha's than I can tell you.

So my plan here is to share various tidbits of information about Sasha dolls in general, a little about my own life story and that of my family which I'll introduce later, some nostalgia about growing up in the '60s and '70s, and maybe some occasional contemporary comments. I'm sure this will evolve as we go along, but I've got several thoughts to write about already brewing in my head. You know, if you ever met me, you would think I was the quiet type, and I am, especially around people I don't know well, but I like to write, so if you put a pen or a keyboard under my hand, you'll have a hard time shutting me up. Thus the danger of leaving me alone next to the computer. HaHa! UhOh, I think I hear MamaT coming in the door upstairs, so I gotta wrap this up. Do feel free to comment on any of my blog entries if you feel like it. Who knows where this blog journey might lead us?