Is That Tammy, or Lorna, or Judy, or Shelley, or...

Ideal's Tammy & AE's Lorna

It took me a long time to warm to Tammy, even clone crazy as I am. Tammy was billed as "The doll you love to dress," and I hated her clothes. Tammy's figure reminded me of a 12 year old, but the high color hinted that she could be as old as 15. Even kids who played with her when she came out in 1963 thought she was 12. Gradually my dislike of the doll lessened. In the 80's a John Axe book on Tammy introduced me to some interesting clones. At the local library, I found the Nesta Hollis book, Top Outfits for Teenage Dolls. Sindy, the UK version of Tammy, was the model throughout Hollis' book, and the clothing was mod and fun-looking. Tammy's first issued clothing was in restrained good taste and terrifically boring.

There are oodles of versions of Tammy. Some could fool you, and some took the idea in new directions. A visit to Dorothy Guider's information website http://fashionclonedolls.weebly.com/  showed me pictures of Tammy clones among the Barbie clones. A good many Tammy clones have only a roundish face and the distinctive mouth shape in common with Tammy. All have a preteen body with small high breasts.

Tammy clones come in two sorts: good vinyl with good hair, and cheap vinyl with coarse hair. Even the best lookalikes don't share the luminous quality Ideal gave Tammy. Good clones include Pedigree's Sindy, Unique's Calico Lassie, AE's Lorna, Ross' Tina Cassini. Horsman used a Tammy shape and face for Patty Duke, Mary Poppins, Cinderella, Celeste and Elizabeth Taylor. Even some of the good ones lack markings of any sort. Some are total mysteries. Another mystery is an AA doll dressed as an American Indian.

There's a pale clone with molded hair peeking through her rooted hair.This black Tammy type has starfish hands and preteen body, but a more closed mouth. Her head is markedly more orange than her body. She is taller than Tammy, at 13 inches, closer to Eegee's Shelley.

Cheap squishy Tammy copies abound. Some are marked Hong Kong, some have no markings, some have bumpy feet to hold on shoes, some have hair that fell out in storage; some were sold to the craft market and have almost colorless vinyl. They are frequently made from vinyl that is a smidge too red. Couple this with orange-yellow skimpy short hair, and you have a doll with as much in common with Bozo the clown as with Tammy. Below, the brunette has Hong Kong and two raised dots on her back. The platinum blond is a reroot with a possibly Chinese character in a circle on her head.The red head with faded lips has Hong Kong on the back of her head and Made in Hong Kong on her shoulder blades.

Calico Lassie with original hair and Calico Lassie wigged. 

Darice Tammy type craft doll

Horsman Mary Poppins came with red or pink lips.

I think my biggest gripe about Tammy is that horrible blue and white romper. That playsuit, so reminiscent of  high school gym clothes, repels me. It has no subtlety. It is pretty much a pancake  outfit. Someone drew a shape around the doll, added almost enough seam allowance,  and used the same pattern for front and back. There isn't enough ease for the doll to raise her arms easily, and the placement of the white accents would make romping in the romper uncomfortable for a human. Many of the cheap clones came in knockoffs of Tammy's blue and white romper, but different colors made it less offensive.

Tammy was produced by Ideal from 1962-66. Horsman apparently loved the mold and used it for dolls from 1965-67. Pedigree did well with the Tammy-esque Sindy for years and years, until Hasbro bought the doll and tried to rurn it into an ersatz Barbie. In the 80's, Darice Crafts produced a pale imitation sold at doll parts suppliers and craft stores. By the time Darice got into it, most other Tammy types had vanished. And along about then, my dislike of Tammy vanished into admiration for all the Tammy lookalikes. When I stopped looking at Tammy as a Not-Barbie and looked at her as a preteen doll, I was able to appreciate Ideal's quality vinyl and excellent face painting.


Sites to look at: 
 http://planetofthedolls.blogspot.com/2017/06/doll-day-2017-169shelley-by-eegee.html
http://houseofretro.com/index.php/2014/03/17/tina-cassini-1960s-fashion-doll/
http://dollvogue.com/wp/?p=471      Patty Duke Doll
http://www.fleurdolls.com/index.html          Sindy style dolls from the Netherlands