A Trio of Kologne Kiddles - Never Opened

Years ago, my sister posted a picture of all nine Kologne Kiddles that someone was selling on eBay for $1,200.

Of course, neither one could afford to buy them, not even halvsies. Nor would we justify that amount when we were in the thick of raising children.

But she and I loved Kiddles when we werwe growing up. We were heartbroken when her Apple Blosson disappeared and, even as kids, we did the whole, "she's got to be here somewhere" routine from time to time and spent entire afternoons rummaging through our possessions looking for the missing doll.

The Kiddles never left the house. So it made no sense that Apple Blossom was gone.

My sister also had Sweet Pea, which I now have, too, thanks to Rebekah gifting one to me. I had Lily of the Valley and Violet. We both had Honeysuckle, the first Kolgone Kiddle for both of us in our Christmas stockings more than fifty years ago.

Now I always wanted Rosebud. Our friend had Rosebud. But I never did. And right before the pandemic, Rebekah suprised me with Rosebud, the first Kiddle she bought for me.

Then ffor my sixtieth birthday, Timothy, Rebekah, and Daniel surprised me with an unopened box of THREE Kiddles: Honeysuckle, Rosebud, and the missing Apple Blossom.

And I apologize for the photo being so poor. I snapped it right after I opened the gift. But we are moving in a few days, so the dolls are already packed, and I can't take another.

Now here's my dilemna.

The fun of Kiddles is holding them, smelling them (I can still remember their scents), and PLAYING with them.

Of course, I have no idea what Kologne Kiddles that are nearly sixty years old smells like, if anything.

However, the momentary value of these little dolls will rapidly decline the second I open that box.

And since three of my kids pooled their money for this gift, this box of Kiddles wasn't cheap.

I'll probably leave them in the box.

And see if the kids will buy me some that are out of the box already.

What do you think?

The Kiddle "Kollection" is Gradually Growing

My sister and I loved playing with dolls when we were kids. I especially loved Kiddles, but I don't have any of them anymore - and wish I still did.

And, of course, I never had the entire collection, which was pretty vast. I even remember the first Kiddles my sister and I received: Honeysuckle, both of them Kologne Kiddles. 

I'd also owned Violet and Lilly of the Valley. My sister had Sweet Pea and Apple Blossom. This last sadly disappeared. Every now and then, we'd get it in our heads to tear apart things and look for her. But we never found her.

I'd received Lemons Stiddle from the main collection for my eighth birthday. And the following year, I received the King and Queen of Hearts from the storybook Kiddles collection.

From the Sweet Treats collection, I'd owned Frosty Mint and Grape.

But as of Old Calendar Christmas and the internet, which makes buying vintage dolls so much easier, I now have two of the Kologne Kiddles. Both were presents from Rebekah.

The newest one is Sweet Pea, which, ironically, was a nickname Rebekah had acquired when she was a little girl.

Rebekah surprised me with Rosebud about a year ago. I had never owned Rosebud but always wanted her.

Not to sound greedy, but I'd still love to own a Crissy doll and a Velvet doll.

Also Rock Flowers.

And Dawn dolls.

And some of the other dolls I had when growing up.

That's not even getting into the paper dolls...

The Fifty-Year Wait Has Ended

As a child, I loved dolls, and I had a lot of dolls.

I probably had more dolls than any other kind of toy, and I liked playing with dolls more than any other activity.

My sister and I had dolls of all shapes and sizes, including paper dolls: with tabs, magnets, and even dolls we cut from catalogs.

Some of our favorite dolls were Liddle Kiddles. I even had Liddle Kiddles coloring book.

I also had a list of dolls I never owned but yearned to own. That includes most Kiddles (the line had so many, it was nearly impossible to own them all), Crissy and Velvet dolls, Rosemary from the Rock Flowers, and most of the Dawn and Barbie dolls.

My favorite Liddle Kiddles were the Kiddle Kologne dolls. And the one I most longed to own was Rosebud.

And she recently arrived in the mail for me.

You see, one day I was showing Rebekah some of the vintage dolls I once longed to own, including Rosebud. So without telling me, Rebekah found one on Etsy and ordered it for me.

It was a lovely, sweet surprise.

Rosebud even still has a faint rose scent clinging to her.

My two granddaughters fell in love with her and wanted to play with her. If I had more (including the colonial dollhouse I once has a child, along with some period furniture), that would have been a grat option.

And thanks to the internet, not out of the realm of possibility.

Rosebud is currently sitting beneath a small Christmas tree Joshua and Timothy bought me, which Timothy set up on one of my dressers (one that used to belong to Ron's mother) late at night on the Feast of St. Nicholas.