Christmas 1960. Eighteen months after Barbie's introduction, Mattel were still struggling to keep up with the demand. A slow start, with disappointing orders from retailers, had not prepared them for the craze Barbie was to become, and shops were selling out of stock faster than they could replace it.
One of the most outrageous ways of dealing with this problem was thought up by Montgomery Wards. Like Sears and JC Penneys, they had featured Barbie in their Christmas catalogue for that year, but they were not expecting the volume of orders they received, as harassed parents rushed to buy the latest craze. The company asked the Ideal Toy Corporation (makers of the Revlon dolls, and soon to release their own teen fashion doll, Tammy) to make a doll of a similar size and appearance to Barbie, which could then be sent out as a substitute to fulfil orders once Barbie was no longer in stock.
The doll Ideal came up with was Mitzi, the "modern teenage doll". Packaged in a hot pink box with black and white graphics (see above), she was very slightly taller than Barbie, and was very similar in appearance, although not identical. Her facial molding was obviously very 'inspired by' Barbie's, and used the same protruding eyelashes, but was softer and rounder. Her body was almost exactly the same as Barbie's, with the exception of some slight differences to her hands.
Because Mitzi was made by an established, well respected toy company, rather than one of the virtually anonymouse Hong Kong based clone manufacturers, she was a beautiful, quality doll. Made from the same sort of plastic as Tammy (with a hard, hollow torso and legs, and soft vinyl head and arms), she was marked: MITZI/c IDEAL TOY CORP./MCMLX across her shoulders, and had lush, thickly rooted hair.
Available as a blonde (platinum or reddish), brunette or auburn haired doll, Mitzi's hair was styled in a ponytail with straight bangs. I have heard of a bubblecut version, but have never seen one. Her face was high colour, and almost seemed to glow. She had small, pouting red lips, which were often painted very unevenly. The first time I saw this, I assumed it was a bad repaint, but I have seen it so often, I now believe this was how they were done at the factory. Most dolls had heavy blush, pale blue side glancing eyes with matching eyeshadow, and raised, round black eyebrows.
Mitzi's original outfit consisted of a two tone purple suedette bikini, with matching purple ribbon belt and hair tie. She wore white 'pearl' earrings and black open toe shoes that are almost indistinguishable from Barbie's, with only their poorer finish and the addition of what looks like a bow to |
