The Greening of Tutti (and Friends)

In 1966, Barbie doll got yet another sibling... or siblings!  Tutti doll and her twin brother Todd appeared on the scene.  Along with other similarly-sized dolls, like Tutti's friend Chris, these are some of the cutest collectibles in the vintage Barbie world.

Tutti and her friends were sized about 6.25" tall, with soft vinyl over a wire armature.  This clever design meant you could pose them in all kinds of ways, plus they were small enough to carry in a pocket or purse.

But, if you collect vintage Barbie & family dolls for any length of time at all, you're bound to see it... a lovely Tutti doll.. turning all green!

This is caused by Tutti's interior skeleton, made of a copper-coated wire that reacts with the soft vinyl, causing the dreaded green disease. However, not all Tutti dolls get this problem.  Is it storage conditions?   Wire breakage?  Something else?

Sometimes, even never removed from box Tutti dolls suffer from this defect, and even minty examples can be green as asparagus.

While cleaning up some junky Tutti dolls a few days ago, I made a discovery about Tutti.  Something that I certainly had never noticed before.  I don't think I've ever seen anybody mention this or write about it, so I'm going to do a little write-up here.

Here are some very green Tutti bodies.  They are in very good condition, but as you can see, terribly green.  The Tutti on the left was a standard blonde Tutti, while the Tutti on the left, was "Melody in Pink."

Here's another Tutti doll.  Though she's in rough shape, she's not green at all.  So, what's the difference?  I made a discovery when I took this Tutti's head off to wash her hair.

Her head was full of wire.. a LOT of wire.  I pulled on it.  I kept pulling.  It kept coming.  It soon became clear that ALL of the wire that went in Tutti's body was now shoved up into her head.  I was flummoxed.

All of this wire was shoved up into Tutti's head!  When it came out, the wire came free and the last end of it, which was still in her body, pulled out too.  Tutti had been "de-boned," that is... her skeleton came out!  Her arms and legs are floppy and don't have any wire left.  But do you notice anything weird about the wire?

I can only assume that this wire was once more body-shaped and either some kid pulled it out and shoved it into Tutti's head, or it just worked its way up there through normal playtime.  Anyway, look at this wire!  It's not very thick, it's definitely not copper, and it seems it would easily break if it was bent too many times.  Let's compare it to the green Tuttis' bodies...

Look at how much thicker the wire in this Tutti doll's body is!  It's copper looking, and it's very thick and somewhat difficult to bend.  It certainly wouldn't be pulling out of her body like the lighter wire did.  It's really strongly attached inside the body, whereas the lighter wire was kind of floating around in a hollow vinyl body.

The green-body Tutti dolls still hold a pose really well.  Their wires are still strong and solid.

None of their joints are broken, all of their limbs still pose.  They even bend at the hip and can sit down nicely, something that Tutti can't always do.

So what's the reason for this change between one doll and another?  I don't have any proof or documentation for any of this, but I do have some theories:

-  I believe the heavy wire dolls are likely from earlier in the run than later dolls.  Tutti was sold in the USA from 1966 to around 1971, but she continued being sold in Europe until around 1980.

-  I assume the heavy-wire dolls date from 1966 - 1968 or so, with perhaps the lighter wire dolls coming later...?

I have read before that Tutti was discontinued in the USA due to product safety concerns, meaning a child could chew on or cut Tutti, and maybe hurt themselves on the interior wire skeleton.

So perhaps Mattel changed the wire inside to make it less dangerous for children, less easy to break, and less "pokey" if it did break.

The heavy wire could definitely poke a wound into your skin if Tutti was broken or chewed, but I doubt that light wire could cut you (though I'd be more concerned about it breaking and becoming a choking hazard.)

I suppose it's also possible Mattel knew about the wire turning the vinyl green problem, though it doesn't often appear until years or decades later.

The dolls made in the 70s for the European market had a thicker type of vinyl.  It was less prone to breaking/chewing/tearing than the earlier dolls, and they did not hold a pose as nicely, and were not as "bendy."

ANYWAY.

What can be done about the green problem?  Sadly, not much. 

-  If you have a doll that is greening on the body around the neck, I recommend you remove the head.  The greening can (and will) spread to her head, and even her hair!  It will ruin a mint doll's face, you do not want that green touching anything if you can help it.

-  The greening can also cause a bleaching effect to the head.  The pink skin can turn white or yellowish.

-  I don't think I would open a NRFB doll to take it apart... but it probably will eventually be ruined.  So probably if the doll is so green her head is being damaged, the head should be removed to at least keep it mint.

-  Sometimes you see a Tutti with just a tiny spot of green somewhere on their body.  I can't say why some dolls turn totally green, and why some seem to only have a spot or two.  I can't say if ALL Tutti dolls with thick interior wires will eventually turn green. 

-  Perhaps it's possible a broken wire makes greening more likely, but the green dolls above definitely have solid wires that are not broken.

-  I DO recommend storing your dolls in a temperature and humidity controlled environment, to help prevent further damage, though I cannot promise any of this would help stop the greening.  It may help to keep them from humidity.

-  You should not store your green doll bodies near other dolls.  The green can migrate from one doll to another, or cause bleaching to a nearby doll.  A small spot of green you probably don't need to worry about, but if they are very green like the dolls above, don't just throw them in a box or a drawer with your other dolls.

-  The green CAN be treated with a product such as Remove-Zit, but as long as the wire skeleton remains inside, it will continue to turn green.  There's no way that I can tell to remove the thick-wire skeleton, short of surgery with an X-acto knife and totally ruining the doll. 

-  Restoration and preservation options may need to be considered as time goes by and more dolls turn green. 

-  I assume that dolls that have "floppy" limbs that no longer hold a pose have the lighter wire inside that has broken into pieces... or the wire has completely fallen out like my doll above.

Tutti is one of my favorite Barbie family dolls to collect.  They are so cute and you can have a lot of them in a small amount of space.  Their cheerful expressions always make me happy.

I found my first Tutti doll for 25 cents at a yard sale when I was a teenager, and I have been hooked ever since!

I hope to write more about Tutti in the future.  If you have any comments or information about Tutti turning green, let me know!

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Note:  Similar greening can be seen from earrings being left in Barbie's ears.. or the nearly-unavoidable greening of Dawn Doll's knees.. but that's another blog entry.