Travel With Dolls

Am I the only person out there who likes to take a few dolls along when she goes on a trip?  I simply can't leave everyone at home..

From my earliest days of having a Dawn doll in my pocket in the car, to now... I gotta have a doll along for the ride!

I like to use this little travel case made by Ponytail, which yes, did manufacture early Barbie cases and vinyl items... but also manufactured their own line of products, including cute kid-sized luggage like this "hatbox" design.  It's just the right size to hold a few dolls and their things, and the graphic is oh-so-cuuuute.

Of course, I'm not sure how well it would work on a plane, but since I'm strictly a road-tripper, it's a perfect little box to take some dollies with me.

Here's the lovely doll that usually comes with me... a pretty Skipper I snagged for $10 at a yard sale years ago, wearing the rare dress from the Perfectly Pretty gift set.. I imagine she is the doll from the gift set as well.  (Oh, if only they had the rest of the outfit!)

She's with a 1980s Barbie teddy bear, and vintage non-Mattel luggage.

A note about the luggage, it's part of a 4-piece set.  It included 3-sizes of suitcase in the Samsonite style, and a train case with a removable tray, which Skipper is sitting on.  It came in a multitude of colors, the most common being this teal color, and an off-white kind of ecru color.

I believe it also came in a bright lime green color, a navy blue (?), bright yellow, a peachy tan, a brighter white, and red. Possibly more colors.

If you come across the set in any color other than teal or ecru, it is definitely rare.  If you find it in red, it is VERY sought after by collectors!  (My mom has the human-sized in Samsonite red!)

Red is scarce, and definitely the most prized.

The luggage was made by Payton Products of Brooklyn, NY.  Apparently they were founded around 1951, and defunct by 1980.  They also manufactured other dime-store type toys and games, toy cars, army men, farm animals, and the like.   I don't where this cute luggage set was sold.  But it turns up often enough that it must have been widely available.  Probably in dime and toy stores everywhere.

(Image above from This Ebay Auction, please check it out if you are interested, via This Ebay Seller)

Here it is new in package!  Note that it uses the actual trademarked Samsonite name.  I wonder if you could buy it at the airport gift shop?

Note the three suitcases have faux "wheels" on the bottom, while the train case has little nubby feet.  All of them are hinged and have faux closures at the top, looks just like real Samsonite!

Beyond being adorable, you can really use this luggage!

It can easily hold a few dresses for Skipper (and this isn't even the largest size.)

Here's the inside of the train case.

Here it is with the tray removed.

All of these cute little extras were able to fit in the train case... I seem to be missing a purple shoe..

Here's Skipper with her sleeping bag and footie PJs from 1974-1975, Get Ups N' Go #7713 - Sleep Set, which also came with a cute green sleep cap, which I've misplaced somewhere.

Getting ready for bed with Chris doll, who is wearing #3616 - Pinky PJs from 1968 - 1969.

Mattel of course, was never blind to the fact that kids want to travel with their dolls.  Oodles of doll cases were available over the years, perhaps the easiest vintage Barbie item to find in the history of ever, though of course some are rare or very rare.  

Barbie, Midge, Ken, Skipper, Francie, Tutti... they all had their own special doll cases.  Some cases have even been made specifically for collectors to keep their dolls safe and sound on the road.

I'll write more about traveling with your dolls at some other time, I just thought I'd give you this little glimpse of a collector on the go!

Occasionally, I've traveled with even more doll friends, haha!  (Picture from 2009)