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.

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)