VOGUE Ginny

On this page you will see my collection of Ginny dolls. It goes from the pre-Ginny called "Toddles" up until the Dakin dolls. I still have yet to buy one of the new 90's Ginny dolls.

The Ginny doll by Vogue has a long and distinguished herstory. The doll began back in 1950 being produced by the Medford, Massachusetts company named VOGUE. One of the best recent publications on Vogue and its dolls is COLLECTORS ENCYCLOPEDIA OF VOGUE DOLLS by Judith Izen and Carol Stover. I do not intend to give much history here, instead recommend those interested to read the aforementioned book.

Let me just say that the company (and its rights to produce dolls) was sold several times and one such purchase was by Lesney Products Corporation in 1977. They began to produce the still popular Ginny doll and made a major style change. Ginny went form a chubby toddler to a thin little first-grader. There is much more detail about the change in the style and marketing of the Lesney Ginny doll in the Izen/Stover book, and once again, I recommend it highly.

This new style doll, often derogatorily called, "Skinny Ginny" did not meet with great success with many doll fans -- except me! She is the Ginny I chose to collect and what you will see below are examples of her fashions and accessories. Hope you enjoy her as much as I do.

Thought it would be good to start with a picture of a doll in an original box. The boxes were produced in different colors including: blue, pink, and green.

Here is one of my favorite Lesney Ginny dolls. It is the little black doll. I have removed her from her box for better viewing and to show how the dolls are mounted on the inserts in the box. Sorry this picture is a little dark, when I get a chance I will try again because she is really adorable!

Before viewing my collection of dolls and accessories, I thought I would display an original advertisement from the 70's promoting the new Ginny doll

Here is a large number of the dolls in original outfits. They unfortunately were not given names like the early Ginnys and the ones to follow the Lesney Line.

Of course, Lesney created fashions which they sold separately for their dolls. Below is my collection of MIB Lesney Ginny fashion. I have also shown the back of one of the cards which shows the fashion patterns which were included on all boxes.

Lesney created some great accessories for Ginny. I have most of them except the HORIZONTAL BAR. If you have one that you're willing to part with, please email me!

First is the Ginny Carrying Case made like a little house. It also came in a bluish grey color.

Here's Ginny in her bedroom -- I'll show a close up of each piece of furniture also.

Here's the wardrobe and its original box.

Here's the vanity and its original box. Notice the tiny cosmetic accessories, such as lipstick, powder box, perfume bottle, etc. Also note the comb, brush and mirrow which came with it. Why they made the cushion on the vanity orange instead of pink, I will never understand!

And here's the bed and its original box. I have a vintage Ginny bedspread on this bed. The original came with the flowered bedspread as pictured on the box, and with a vase and flowers. I did not unwrap these accessories from the packaging.

One other great accessory is Ginny's SWEET SHOP. This fold out plastic candy/ice cream shop is great. It has a soda fountain with stools and popcorn machine and cash register on the counter. Also included is a table and two chairs, a pinball machine, and a disco jukebox. It's a real fun little set and I bet little girls really enjoyed playing with it.

Below is Ginny's Desk and its box. The desk comes with a reddish desk chair that goes goes up and down (it must have a sping inside.) The desk has an attached "light" and comes with a pencil sharpener and pencil holder and two tiny pencils. It also has 4 little books which I am not displaying in the book case above the desk. (They are mint and unfolded and I hate to fold them!) It's a cute accessory.

Here's one of the most sought after accessories -- Ginny's Moped. It came with a safety helmet -- quite forward looking for the 70's! It also has decals which can be applied to the moped. Once again I have left them sealed in their envelope.

In 1981 Lesney put out a new doll called the Sasson Ginny. They created a whole marketing plan and of course wardrobe linked with the design house - Sasson. The dolls and outfits were often linked to sports activity. Below is a NRFB Sasson doll - note that the eyes are painted and not sleep eyes.

In 1982 and into the next year, Lesney created a series for Ginny called "International Brides." There were 12 brides in the series. I am not planning to collect this series, however, I do have two of them - the Chinese Bride and the Mexican Bride. This series was the last created by Lesney, and Ginny rights were sold to Meritus in 1983.

Here's the book.

Here is my vintage BKW 1957 Ginny dressed in the original 1st Secret outfit. She is accompanied by her dog, Sparky!

The pictures below are from the book. I have included my doll dressed in the pictured outfit. All these outfits are from 1957. I hope someday to collect them all! If you have any to sell, let me know!

Here's outfit #7125 - dress and 7181 - coat and hat. The coat and hat aren't actually shown in the book, but I thought that I would include it here anyway.

Next is outfit #7126.

And here's my redhead dressed in the same outfit from the book. (Jill has a matching dress.)

Next outfit is #7122

Here's outfit #7180 - missing the pink straw hat. Still searching.

Here's outfit #7221 - I has pom-pom slippers which you can't see.

Here's outfit #7123 - The book shows it in a more red tone, but in actuality it is more orange. It has the matching panties which are not visible in this picture.

Here's outfit #7124. This outfit has matching panties but unfortunately I don't have them. They are in the print of the dress. If anyone has a pair to sell, please let me know.

Here's outfit #7127. This one piece shortset has solid blue shorts with trim that matches the white with blue polka dot top. It comes with a matching scarf - which you can barely see in my picture - someday I'll rescan and try to get a better picture.

Here's Ginny in her cowgirl outfit. I have searched and searched to find the outfit pictured in the book. I am beginning to believe that this particular cowgirl outfit (in these colors) does not exist. There are numerous cowgirl outfits, in a variety of colors, but I have NEVER seen this particular outfit. If someone out there has this outfit, or has actually seen it in the exact colors as in the Ist Secret book, PLEASE let me know and better still, send me a picture, and even better still - sell it to me! I have included one of my favorite cowgirl outfits, the Merry Moppets outfit from, I believe, around 1954. This outfit has purple skirt with attached panties, lime green attached top, a shocking pink vest with gold trim, and gold belt, arm bands, and gun hanging from a loop. Her hat is purple and her boots shocking pink to match the vest. It's a great outfit, and a hard to find one in really good condition. I think the reason it that it has a lot of little pieces and is rather hard to get onto Ginny. I am sure little fingers didn't take the care and effort needed to keep the outfit in one piece and looking good!

The following outfits are not from the book - 1st Secret. They are some vintage outfits that I particularly like for various reasons and thought I might as well display them too.

The 1956 outfit #6032- Brownie Outfit - is is one of my favorities. I guess that is because as a child I was both a brownie and girl scout, and enjoyed both, but especially brownies. This outfit recalls many happy memories. See both Ginny and me below!

The Girl Scout outfit below is untagged. Unfortunately, Vogue did not make a girl scout outfit for Ginny. But other 8" dolls, such as Muffie, Teri Lee, etc., did have outfits. Since I had the brownie outfit, I had to have a girl scout one also. Here we are below!

Here's four other non-book outfits from thd 1950's. First, #6050 Ice Skater. Being an ice-skater, this outfit is special to me. And also, #7030 one of the most famous and sought after Ginny outfits which carries her name all over the shirt. Next, #6023 from the 1956 Kinder Crowd collection. This aqua dress has matching panties, but they are not the bloomer style, they don't have elastic around the legs! Next, from 1954, the Kinder Crowd Series - #21, the "whale dress." Next, two outfits from 1955, 1st #64, "Bridal Trousseau", and #48, "Fun Time".

Since I had a brunette and a redhead BKW Ginny, I just had to buy a blonde Ginny for my collection. This outfit is not tagged, but I have seen it tagged with the "blue script" tag. If you know this outfit, please send me an email and tell me something about it.

I have fun creating outfits for my dolls. Here is a little Easter outfit that I made for Ginny! It, of course, has the matching bloomers. The hat gets a little squished in the scanner!

Here is another outfit I designed. It's a ballerina outfit - but it gets a little squished in the scanner. See me as a little kid in one of my outfits! My Mom made all the outfits for us, and all WITHOUT patterns. And, I was a brat and insisted that she line them all so they wouldn't be scratchy!

Now below is a wonderful find! This doll is a composition Toddles by Vogue. She is the precursor to the Ginny doll. Some people actually consider her a Ginny, but technically she isn't. She's from 1940-1943. You can tell this because her right arm is bent at almost a right angle, and her left is only slightly bent. She has a mohair wig and painted eyes. I believe she is a version of #046.

Meritus Industries bought the rights to the Ginny doll in 1983. The decision was made to abandon the "skinny Ginny" developed by Lesney and return to the original concept. Below is a 1986 Meritus Ginny -Little Shopper- mounted in her original box. Notice that Meritus started giving names to their creations just as the Ginny's in the 50's.

Here's Meritus Ginny -Back to School- which I found loose at a flea market for $1.00! Her arm was separated but it was on the bottom of the box of junk. With a little work, she is a cute doll and a bargain to boot!

In 1986 Dakin Co. bought the rights to Ginny from Meritus. They continued the look and made some improvements. Once again, you can read all the details in the Izen/Stover book.

First you see the DAKIN (1990) remake of "Ginny's First Secret" as it comes mounted in its box.

Here's another DAKIN Ginny that I fell in love with and had to buy. She's called Ladies Day at Ascot #71-3710. It's difficult to see the lovely feather in her hat and a closed parasol behind her right hand.

Here's an interesting Dakin Ginny. It's their black Ginny, part of the dress me series. What makes her interesting is that she is in the old Meritus style box, which is now labeled Dakin on the side!

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