Just to answer a few questions from yesterday… Joy asked about how to find the serial numbers for the Singer sewing machines. I’m not sure if other companies number their machines but Singer did for their vintage machines.
Here is the chart I used to find the year of the one sewing machine we saw Sunday… The serial number is generally below the badge on the front right panel of the machine… The badge is usually gold but can be edged in blue, which makes it a Centennial machine, which this one was. The badge says 1851 – 1951. The Singer Sewing Machine company started in 1851, in Boston, MA. The serial number on the one machine was JC213229, which means it was manufactured sometime between 1948 and 1954. (Sometimes there were ranges for the machines dates.) If you just Google Dating my Vintage Singer machine, lots of charts will pop up. It all happens with the serial number.
Dating your Singer with the serial number
The other machine we saw, had the serial number AJ261434, which means it was manufactured in 1948, in St. Johns Bay, Quebec, Canada.
And Dorothy L, I’m hoping that big chandelier is gracing someone’s dining room with lots of Christmas cookies, cakes and other treats below!
Okay, now to the dolly section of today’s post. This isn’t what I was telling you about a day or so ago, about “something” Rebecca and Karn got me… I’ll show that later. Rebecca knows about my passion for dolls and she didn’t disappoint this visit. She brought me a doll I had never seen “in person” before. She’s an 18″ Gƶtz doll. Gƶtz is a German based doll company and the first designer and manufacturer of the initial release of the American Girl Historical dolls, Samantha , Kirsten and Molly. They were also the designers of the limb molds and Classic Mold (from their “Romina” face mold), which Pleasant Company purchased from Gotz. This is Lily, one of the Little Sisters dolls.
She has pretty blue eyes, but she’s a wreck… her face is filthy. Rebecca left the cleaning up to me…
Here you can see her hands and feet are just like American Girl dolls.
Her hair is a tangled mess, but I think I can get it straightened out.
Lily will probably go up for sale too… maybe with some outfits!
I did a little of easy brushing and it was looking better already!
Then Rebecca found a blonde, gray/blue? eyed Bitty Baby doll in pretty nice condition. I have quite a few clothes for her, so I’m going to bundle her with them and sell her.
AND… today at the Goodwill, look what I found!
She was rolled out on one of those carts they have all the “new” items for everyone to see. I was walking to the cart before it ever stopped, and saw her dress… I reached under some lady who was looking for something on top and grabbed her legs and pulled her off. She’s VERY floppy but she is in pretty nice condition. I didn’t see any marks or rubs at first glance… she has no smell or odors, but she’s got a VERY dirty face too. Her dress is in nice condition and her wool socks are nice. The soles of the boots are missing, but I “know a cobbler” who can probably fix them. Her hair was slightly messy, but I carefully brushed it with a doll wig brush and it was beautiful… better than MY dolls hair.
This was her hair after I brushed it… very silky and nice!
Bitty Baby and Felicity said they were too tired and were going to bed.
I’m going to join them… Tomorrow Rebecca wants to hit some more Thrift shops…
I gave her a hair cut today…and cut off 6 inches! But it’s still long. She was sitting on it! :o)
Well, I better go… We are having fun and still have lots to do.
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
What fabulous finds, Jeanne!! That Lily doll is just beautiful–her hair is so long and pretty!! Good eye, Rebecca!
Someone is going to be happy to have that beautiful Bitty Baby, I’m sure! Especially if you sell her with some clothes!!
And Felicity!! Wow! What a find!! She’s gorgeous!! Maybe you need to go buy a lottery ticket now!! šš¤£š
Barbara, I answered your reply (about the Viking bobbin winder) in yesterday’s blog, if you want to take a look.
Very glad your machine could be fixed. I totally understand your sadness and frustration and joy over its return to use. So the bobbin set-up is kind of a Viking thing. My friend has/had (not sure any longer because she’s move) a Viking machine and bought it after doing much research but I never really looked at it. When we were first married David bought me a Pfaff. I loved that machine but as seems to be the case when things started breaking it became irreparable. One of them was the thread spool attachment broke off (not the best design in the first place) and couldn’t be replaced. Easy fix, stand-alone thread holder. But when the bobbin winder broke and couldn’t be fixed and I had to go to one of those bobbin winder machines after a few doings I said enough. That was a pain. Time for a new machine. David was devastated and acted like I was rejecting him. It took a lot of convincing to prove the machine couldn’t be made whole for me or anyone else. It’s still a good machine and usable if you don’t mind dealing with what I mentioned.
Boy do you and Rebecca have a knack for finding dolls! The ones today are amazingly good. I remember being at a Goodwill when they rolled out some new carts full and spotting a Bitty Baby that I had to reach over a fellow to grab. He didnāt mind..he was looking for tools.š«£ Iāve been looking for a Gotz Hannah. There have been a couple I really liked but they vary in looks. I didnāt know the Gotz connection until you explained it today. Interesting. I also like the doll called āEuro Girlā that was popular a few years ago I think she was supposed to be a look combining many European nationalities. Just love her sweet face and smile.
My comment from yesterday didnāt post for some reasonā¦something I did no doubt. I was busy wrapping and mailing packagesā¦.boy has that gotten pricey! Iām going to rethink gift cards.. not very personal but when the postage is almost as much as the gift it makes you wonder!
Have more fun with your familyš¤
Wellā¦it did it again! Sorry Charlotteš¤Ŗ
Are you getting over the bug?
Hi Kathie,
I agree about the postage just costing slightly less than the gift and that’s not even going priority. I was really shocked by the increase in just a short time period.
Jeanne, I’m here! I did read the blog, and saw all those tempting pictures of the things you saw at the thrift shops, and thought I would get back to them and check them out, but I never did, due to the fact I am pretty busy here decorating our trees, and had to run out to the PO to mail packages! I just never got there to write! Last year, I believe, you featured some of our Christmas decorations in the blog, that you could also do this year. That was fun!
Today, oh my goodness, what a great collection of dolls to see! I am familiar with the Gotz Lily doll, since they are featured in American Girl Playthings every once in awhile, and that Bitty Baby looks like it was never played with! I bought two for my granddaughters, and can tell you their heads get scratched up pretty much when they are loved and played with, but this one looks perfect!
I believe the Felicity that you received is a Mattel Felicity, just like mine! She has a sweet face, and those piercing green eyes, with the beautiful auburn hair. If I didn’t know better, I would think you were holding MY Felicity, although mine does still have her pin curls!! Earlier Felicity’s have rounder faces, and a more chubby appearance. Now, those shoes are nothing Felicity would have in her wardrobe, but they look like Addy’s boots to me. Looks like they lost their soles.
While my Singer is not quite as old as those you have shown today, mine is from 1965, still and all, that’s quite a time back, I will say! But the bobbin is easy peasy to rewind. You don’t take anything out, or rethread anything, you just wrap the thread around a thingy (ha,ha) above the bobbin without taking it out, push your foot on the foot piece, and it automatically winds up. As you can see I have no idea what the proper names are of the machine, just that I know how to do it!! My machine is very basic, although it was state of the art when I bought it, brand new, and the front of it is pink! I can do about 5 different stitches, but have only used that feature a handful of times. I have no need for fancy stitching! My sewing days are pretty much over anyway, but that machine did it all, from my own clothes to my children’s, curtains, slipcovers, and more. I’m just all sewed out!
Have a good time with Rebecca and Karn, and keep the Christmas celebration going another day!
My Pfaff was top of the line when David bought it. But compared to what I have now is seems as basic as my Singer treadle machine. But it did have the “walking foot” and at that time Pfaff had a patent on it but now it seems that concept is everywhere. One of the things I loved was the three speeds which none of my other machines had. When I was teaching my daughter and stepdaughters how to sew this was definitely a plus. It had a stretch stitch, a zig zag stitch and a few decorative stitches. All my daughters beautiful Christmas and Easter dresses were made on that machine. It was a fine machine and I’d still be using it along with my newer machine if only the broken parts were replaceable.
Congratulations on your new dolls!! I bet it was very exciting finding Felicity and at such a great price, too!!
Thanks for the Singer info. I have a really old Singer and finding out how old it is will be interesting.
Wow, Jeanne’s doll renovation store is back in business. I’m sure the dolls will sell quickly with her touch. š
I remember seeing Linda’s lovely wreath that she made a while back. I’d love to see it again. I’ve been collecting items to make one of my own, but can’t seem to locate that photo. š
Barbara, looks like my Effner group, Jovi, is mailing this week hopefully. Have no idea when exactly she’ll arrive in the Xmas rush, but looking forward to whenever it may be. š
Nice to not wake up to frost and cold this morning. Must wrap presents. š
Thanks for the info on Jovi. I’m really looking forward to seeing her in person. She has such an angelic face and I love her outfit. Magalie is the best and I wish she’d do more for the two new L’il Dreamers. The outfits she did for the first three were amazing.
Her name will be Jovana Priscilla (Jovi) for short of course. I saw where Jovan was a boys name so Jovana would be the feminine. I liked it.
I would love to have a couple of the Magalie outfits. But, she will have to be satisfied with the white jeans and shirt I bought for her. š
Joy, I see you want a picture of my wreath I made awhile ago. So Jeanne doesnāt have to look for it, I will send a picture of it to her today. I still use it and it is hanging in front on the porch now.
Thanks so much, Linda. I can only remember vaguely what all it had on it, so seeing the pic would be perfect. Hope Jeanne is able to post it. And how fun to have it on the porch. š
Definitely familiar with the Gotz dolls being a German brand and the Romina (Classic) mold. Looks like you have a PC version of Bitty because I see the soft eyelashes. Felicity is a transitional one probably from 1995-1997 because she still has the fairly coppery hair and soft eyelashes, but the lazer green eyes unlike my 1991 West German girl with the muted peridot green. In 1998 the eyelashes changed to stiff and black and why there is only one year of a PC Josefina. Yep, those are Addy’s boots, the Mattel version as the PC version have cap toes.
A Gotz doll…drool… I love the Gotz dolls but when I find one they are always so pricey. But then they are bigger than what I usually collect – still. Bitty Baby appears to be in excellent condition. I’ve just never been into baby dolls. Felicity’s hair is really beautiful.
This place is finally beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Finally! I was beginning to wonder if the outside lights would ever go up. One year they didn’t get done because no one could find the time and it’s a big job for me alone. David, Sean and Jason are the ones who usually put them up. My tree is up and decorated but that took a few days. Thankfully it is a pre-lit tree so once it was up in the corner windows of the dining room from outside no one could tell it wasn’t decorated. My village is nearly done but that is taking longer every year too and Christmas seems to be coming faster each year. Presents are here but wrapping needs doing. That’s for next week.
WOW!!!! $2.83 for an AG doll?!?!?!!! Unbelievable!! The Goodwill stores in my neck of the woods would never have sucha price, not to mention even EVER having an AG doll period!!!! And MOST things aren’t in very good shape/condition to begin with. I think it might have something to do with people selling stuff on Craig’s List and/or Facebook Market place these days. Sigh.
I hope you keep the “Little Sister” doll. She can model AS clothes as well as her own. I’ve always liked their faces,
I have been thinking I have too many dolls, but the “How many AGs do you have?” poll on AGPT makes me feel quite moderate. Now if they had said, “How many outfits do you have?” I’d be in trouble.
I think your new Felicity has all her tendrils — you just have to find them and separate them out. She has lovely hair. You two had some remarkable luck.