Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CURLERS, SUSIE STEPPS

Date Range From

1954

Date Range To

1957

Materials

CARDBOARD, PLASTIC, COTTON

No. Pieces

3

Height

9.6

Length

7.5

Width

1.3

Description

CARDBOARD TAG WITH FOUR PINK PLASTIC CURLERS. TEXT ON FRONT OF TAG READS, “SUSIE STEPPS, ALL PLASTIC WALKING DOLL, SARAN HAIR CAN BE COMBED, BRUSHED, CURLED, WAVED, VINYLITE CURLERS, RELIABLE TOY CO. LIMITED, TORONTO CANADA.” REVERSE OF TAG SAYS, “SUSIE STEPPS, ALL PLASTIC WALKING DOLL, IT’S EASY TO MAKE SUSIE STEPPS WALK. JUST HOLD HER BY THE HAND AND – STARTING HER OFF WITH BOTH FEET TOGETHER- LEAD HER ALONG. HER HEAD TURNS GAILY FROM SIDE TO SIDE AS SHE WALKS. IF YOU FIND HER LEGS ARE STIFF AT FIRST, HOLD THEM FIRMLY TOGETHER AND WORK THEM BACK AND FORTH CAREFULLY. SUSIE IS NON-MECHANICAL. TO USE CURLERS, LIGHTLY MOISTEN THE HAIR WITH WATER. SET HAIR INTO CURLERS, WHEN THOROUGHLY DRY – REMOVE CURLERS. COMB AND BRUSH HAIR INTO FAVOURITE STYLING. RELIABLE TOY CO. LIMITED TORONTO CANADA.” HANDWRITTEN IN GRAPHITE AT BOTTOM READS, “$11.95.” SMALLER CARDBOARD TAG IS RIPPED IN TWO PIECES. TOP OF TAG HAS WRITTEN ON FRONT, “PULLAN ROOTED HAIR VINYL HEAD DOLL, BY A SPECIAL PROCESS STRANDS OF WASHABLE SARAN HAIR ARE EMBEDDED INTO THE SCALP AND LOCKED TO AVOID PULLING OUT WHEN COMBED, BRUSHED OR CURLED.” REVERSE OF TOP FRAGMENT HAS WRITTEN IN INK, “AK2124, 11.95.” BOTTOM PORTION HAS FOUR PLASTIC CURLERS AROUND CARDBOARD. WRITTEN ON FRONT BOTTOM, “MADE IN CANADA.”

Subjects

TOY

Historical Association

LEISURE

History

AT THE TIME OF DONATION, GALT STAFF CONDUCTED AN INTERVIEW WITH DONOR LINDA LIPTAK AT WHICH TIME SHE REFLECTED ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING HOW THE DOLL CAME INTO HER POSSESSION. SHE SAID, “I GOT IT FOR CHRISTMAS ONE YEAR; I WAS IN THE AREA OF 12 YEARS OLD BECAUSE SOME OF MY FRIENDS THOUGHT I WAS OLD TO GET A DOLL. BUT IT WAS A WALKING DOLL. I DON’T REMEMBER EVER PLAYING WITH IT, BUT IT IS SPECIAL TO ME BECAUSE IT WALKS. I COULD WALK ALONG AND HOLD ITS HAND AND IT WOULD WALK. AND SO I PLAYED WITH IT A LITTLE BIT, I DIDN’T EVER PLAY WITH IT TO LIKE FIX ITS HAIR. MY MOTHER USED TO MAKE DOLL CLOTHES, I HAD DOLLS WITH A LOT OF CLOTHES BECAUSE SHE SEWED A LOT, AND SHE WOULD MAKE CLOTHES FOR HER. THESE ARE THE CLOTHES THAT IT CAME INTO, OR CAME WITH AND I DON’T EVER REMEMBER CHANGING ITS CLOTHES. SO IT WAS KIND OF A, SO THIS WOULD BE, IF I WAS 12, THIS WOULD BE 56 YEARS AGO THAT I GOT THIS. IT WAS SPECIAL TO ME BECAUSE IT WAS MY LAST DOLL. YOU ASKED ME IF I HAD A NAME AND I PROBABLY CALLED IT SUZY BECAUSE IT WAS A SUZY STEPS DOLL. BUT I DIDN’T PLAY WITH IT AS SUCH TO REALLY GIVE IT A PERSONALIZED NAME. MY MOTHER WAS IN HER OWN HOME, AND AFTER I LEFT SHE KEPT IT. AND THEN, WHEN SHE HAD A STROKE [IN 2000], AND WHEN WE HAD TO PULL IT I BROUGHT IT AND I THOUGHT, ‘I REMEMBER THAT DOLL! I’M NOT GOING TO THROW THAT DOLL AWAY!’” WHEN ASKED WHERE THE DOLL MIGHT HAVE COME FROM, LIPTAK RESPONDED BY SAYING, “I WOULD GUESS EATON’S, MOTHER BOUGHT, OR SEARS. I WOULD GUESS IT WAS CATALOGUE BOUGHT. BECAUSE THAT’S BASICALLY WHAT WE , HOW WE SHOPPED , WE DIDN’T COME INTO LETHBRIDGE A WHOLE LOT, WE DID A LITTLE BIT AS I GOT OLDER AND WAS TAKING PIANO LESSONS, SO WE WOULD COME IN, BUT AT 12 I DON’T REMEMBER COMING INTO LETHBRIDGE.’… THIS ONE AND BARBARA ANNE SCOTT DOLL WERE THE ONLY ONES [DOLLS] I REALLY REMEMBER. I REMEMBER HAVING A SMALL DOLL THAT I GOT WHEN I WAS ABOUT 3 OR 4 YEARS OLD, MY SISTER WHO WAS 10 YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME AND HAD BARBIE DOLLS, AND I REMEMBER PLAYING SOMETIMES WITH HER A LITTLE BIT. SHE PLAYED WITH BARBIE DOLLS AND I DON’T EVER REMEMBER PULLING MY DOLLS OUT AND PLAYING WITH THEM FOR HOURS LIKE SHE DID. I REMEMBER HAVING A DOLL THAT YOU COULD FEED AND IT WET. SO YOU KNOW I HAD THAT ONE, BUT I DON’T REMEMBER HAVING A LOT OF DOLLS. AND MAYBE THAT’S WHY THIS ONE WAS SPECIAL BECAUSE I DIDN’T HAVE A LOT OF THEM. I HAD ENOUGH TO PLAY WITH, BUT DIDN’T HAVE A WHOLE BUNCH AT HOME. MY PARENTS DIDN’T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY. AND AGAIN MAYBE THAT IS WHY THIS ONE IS SO SPECIAL BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH IT SAYS $11.95 ON HERE THAT WAS A LOT OF MONEY THEN. AND SO IT WAS REALLY SPECIAL FOR ME TO HAVE A DOLL LIKE THIS. RESPONDING TO A QUESTION REGARDING THE MEMORIES WHICH THIS DOLL BRINGS BACK FROM HER CHILDHOOD, LIPTAK SAID, “I THINK OF CHRISTMAS BECAUSE THAT IS WHEN I GOT IT. AND CHRISTMAS, MY PARENTS DIDN’T HAVE A LOT OF MONEY. CHRISTMAS WAS ALWAYS SPECIAL AND I WAS THE ONLY CHILD FOR 10 YEARS AND WE ALWAYS HAD ENOUGH. I REMEMBER GETTING CLOTHES FOR CHRISTMAS. AS MY BOYS GREW UP THEY NEVER GOT CLOTHES FOR CHRISTMAS BECAUSE IN SEPTEMBER WHEN THEY NEEDED CLOTHES FOR SCHOOL THEY GOT THEM. WHEN I GREW UP, WE DIDN’T HAVE MONEY TO GET CLOTHES IN SEPTEMBER, AND THAT’S WHAT CHRISTMAS WAS. I REMEMBER GETTING, I GOT A BLOUSE ONCE AND A SKIRT, AND YOU KNOW, SO YEAH IT BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF THINGS LIKE THAT.” VARIATIONS OF SUSIE STEPPS DOLLS WERE PRODUCED BY RELIABLE TOY COMPANY LIMITED IN TORONTO FROM 1950-57, BUT THIS SPECIFIC MODEL APPEARS ON PAGE 15 OF THE SALE CATALOGUE FOR 1954. FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEW WITH LINDA LIPTAK, PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20120028002

Acquisition Date

2012-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail