I resisted collecting Remco's Littlechap dolls, in spite of their beautifully made clothing, so perfectly
representative of upper middle class
America in 1963. No other doll maker produced such a handsome male doll as Dr. Littlechap. Many mothers
longed for Lisa Littlechap's wardrobe. Young teens looked at Judy Littlechap's
clothes and thought her mother had picked them out for her, that she really
needed an all-black skinny pants and turtleneck set, like Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina. As for the mischievous Libby Littlechap? We
knew she really spent most of her time in jeans.
Remco's Littlechap family is startlingly good quality, which put them out of reach of many would-be buyers. The dolls cannot swap clothing with Barbie or GI Joe, another limitation. The bizarrely wide stance still irks me. Dr. John's legs don't have as wide a spread, but the ladies all stand with legs wide, as if braced for battle. Remco also sold an office for Dr. John and a girly bedroom, both from sturdy cardboard, both available on the secondary market in good condition.
Libby broke my resolve. A neighbor clearing out her parents' attic
discovered the doll she had played with, or almost all of the doll. One leg had
been broken off at the hip. The other part never surfaced, so I added papier
mache' to what was left, sanded it, painted it with gesso, and put the doll in
a bin in the basement. Along came a flood, and while the papier mache' leg
survived, it was twisted and warped at
the foot. When I attacked the problem again, I failed to notice that the knee
was considerably lower on the added leg.
She is gesso'ed, painted, and destined
to wear jeans to hide the problem. And the fact that I have no patience in
color matching.
Libby opened the door, and I avidly looked at all the Littlechaps on eBay. When the entire rest of the family came up, I bought them. Lisa wore her red negligee. A pajama top to Judy had found its way into my stash. And the hunky Dr. was completely nude. Lisa and Judy could wear shoes from Esteem's Happy To Be Me dolls. Dr. Littlechap could wear shoes from Mattel's vintage Ken.
Dressing the Littlechap family is easier when you have decades of patterns for doll clothing, even though the very wide stance means longer than normal back openings. Johanna Gast Anderton's Clothing for Twentieth Century Dolls provided patterns from original outfits. Lisa got a Chanel style knitwear suit. Dr. John's suit is from the same dark green knit.
I find the suit jacket for Dr. John a bit short bodied, but I will accept that it was drawn from the original. Should I ever make him another jacket, it will be longer. He is angling for an LL Bean barn coat. He also wants a better photographer.
Lisa is content with mock Chanel, but would not say no to a hand embroidered sweater with a matching corduroy gathered skirt -- the costume of the 80s woman.
The 10 inch Libby is a head taller than skinny Skipper, and broader besides, but can wear pajamas and some dresses from Little Miss Revlon. Anyway, she is sick of red velveteen and having to keep the dress nice. She is not picky about her clothes, she just wants to go out and play. Currently she is wearing a dress made from a little Miss Revlon pattern, and yes, it IS meant to be low-waisted. Libby's feet look the same size as original Skipper, but she seems a more rough and tumble child. I wanted something that looked sturdier, and found it in the loafers made for Teen Skipper. Libby promptly lost one.
