Feeling Happy Right Now.

[Lisa O`Brien]

Why? Well let me explain. When I was at Primary School ,one year at the Summer Fair was a raffle,and first prize was a Topsy Turvy Cinderella Doll.This would have been 1975 or 76. It was THE most beautiful doll any of us had ever seen and almost without exception,every single girl in the school wanted it. It was on display for weeks, and we all kept buying more and more raffle tickets in the hope that we would win it.Of course, I didn`t. Don`t know who did,but about 2 years later, it came into the hands of a girl on our street,who had swapped lots of things to acquire it. I begged Jane,my neighbour and friend to agree to swap the doll for absolutely whatever she wanted in my current possession. It was literally that beautiful. After months of me increasing the amount of things I would swap with her for the doll, including what must have been my entire toy box contents and birthday money totalling ten pounds [a lot of money for a kid in 1976 !], Jane relented,and the doll was mine. I remember at the time thinking, well I will never, ever swap this doll .Not for anything,and I am going to keep it for the rest of my life. And so I planned to do. This beautiful Cinderella doll, with the "ballgown" Cinderella wearing a stunning bottle green satin dress, with an over layer of black lace,so you could see the two colours together. Sigh. My mum,in her infinite wisdom,when moving to a small flat in Stockport in 1986, just after I went to Paris, threw it out ,together with all my other childhood things. When I found out and asked her why she threw it out with the weekly bin collection, she said she thought I wouldn`t want it any more,and didn`t think I would mind. I was devastated. Now, I`m not obsessed with the memory of the doll or anything, but for the last few years I have found myself looking on the internet ,trying to find the same doll again,but to no avail. I even joined a sewing forum [i couldn`t sew if my life depended on it!] specifically to ask people on there if they had ever come across this doll before. Someone suggested I look at sewing patterns online. No luck either. Then a woman online yesterday who sells lots of patterns ,on her Ebay page said,"If there is anything you want to ask,but don`t see here,go ahead and ask ". So I did. I explained what I have just said here,and how I would give anything to have my Cinderella doll once more. Obviously I said,my original doll is gone forever. But if it could be replicated,from my memory of it,I would pay whoever quite handsomely for it. She told me she no longer sews, but she has a friend who does,and she is going to ask her if she would undertake my commissioned piece. I know it seems like a mad extravagance in these frugal times, but the thought of once more ,having my beloved Topsy Turvy Doll,even though it will be a newer,remodelled edition,has made me very,very happy indeed, and I just wanted to share it with you all. Lisa.

[Fiz]

Lisa, my love, I know just how you must have felt. I lost my school reports, books, ornaments and other personal items after I went to university. My mother simply threw them away.

[Lisa O`Brien]

I can empathise. Sean,my 17 year old son, has 2 enormous toy boxes. In them are Teletubbies stuffed "dolls",Thomas The Tank Engine figures, hundreds of Pokemon  and Yu -Gi-Oh things [especially the cards]. The list goes on.Not to mention every book he has ever had. I WILL NOT throw any of it out. When I depart this world [hopefully not for another 40 odd years.!!] he can do what he wants with "his" things. At the moment as a 17 year old,he has no appreciation of any of them. He will,one day.

[Jacqueline]

That Jane sounds a canny little piece of work with the doll swap!

My mother kept everything including all my schoolwork, every crappy picture and project. Not, I think, out of any sentimental feeling. Just because she won't throw anything away. She has loads of stuff in storage since she moved to a smaller property and as of next year, she is going to have to start paying for that storage herself, so I am hoping it might encourage her to have a clear out.

I, on the other hand, am quite unsentimental and don't really keep anything for long. But I agree, it is not for somebody else to make the decision for you, whether to keep or not what belongs to you. I would be quite happy for her to chuck out my old stuff, but I would expect her to ask me first. I would be outraged if she just went ahead. Much as she would, if I did it to her. 

I have owned and chucked so much stuff over the years, I wonder sometimes if it would be fun to have a conveyor belt like on the Generation Game, and see all my stuff go by. I wonder what I would remember and wish I had kept. I am sure I once owned a topsy turvy doll!

[Lottie]

I too can empathise with you, 'thequays', as shortly after I left home at 18 to do a 2 yr course on the other side of the country, my stepmother threw out all my school things.

 

Didn't even leave me the tie or scarf to keep as a momento.

[hfbrew]

My sons first teddy met an unfortunate end at the hands of someone who should have known better.

It was of great sentimental value as it was knitted by special needs pupils when I was pregnant. And it went to White Lodge.

So when I found a lady who could knit anything I was overjoyed as she was able to produce an excellent replica from photos.

So I share your joy thequays!

[Anjuli_Bai]

My adored doll was a Kewpie.  It was torn apart by a bully - a boy 2 yrs older than i, who had tormented me for about 3 yrs starting when I was 6 yrs. old.  Everyone else had an older sibling to protect them - I did not.

 

Then one miraculous day - as he was getting into his usual frenzy - another boy - a true Knight of Ivanhoe - came running to my rescue and thoroughly convinced the bully that his behavior would no longer be tolerated.  

 

But, it was too late for the Kewpie - a crack in her wooden head ran down through her sweet smile.

 

I did, however, get the opportunity ten years later to avenge us both.   At a dinner dance, he did not at all recognize the young woman I had become and asked me to dance.  I couldn't resist - enjoying the admiration in his eyes and the total lack of recognition.  But when after the dance, he asked me for another dance and an evening out - the answer was an emphatic "NO!"

 

I'm sure the Kewpie - long gone - was pleased.

[alison]

I had a couple of Armand Marseille china dolls - lifesize babies with china heads and either fabric or plaster bodies, depending on which one it was.  One of them was sitting on the lounge floor one day watching TV - as you do - when my rather older sister came in and caught it with her foot.  It fell over and cracked its head on the edge of the fireplace   And of course it would have to be the far more collectable and expensive one of the two, wouldn't it.

[Lisa O`Brien]

Bit of an update. The lady who kindly offered to put me in touch with someone she knew via Ebay, who might be able to help me out gave me the contact details of this other woman ,who I then contacted. She seems a  lovely lady by the sound of her emails. Said she wasn`t in any way a professional , but she has been sewing since she was a little girl [she`s now in her `30`s],she has made lots of things and recently made a [not a Topsy Turvy] doll for her daughter. I told her I would pay her generously for her time, effort and the materials she would use, plus extra for herself, as it would be pointless her doing it if she wasn`t going to make a nice profit out of it. I explained a bit about what I was looking for and we  exchanged emails for a few days and it was going well. But before deciding whether to go ahead and "commission" this woman to make me a doll [makes me sound loaded. LOL] she wanted to send me via email, photos of some of the work she has done in the past. Well let`s just say i`m glad she did. Oh dear. To not put too fine a point on it,her sewing was,how can I say? Not much better than mine would have been !! Then I had a dilemna. How do I let this woman down gently without offending her and without telling her I thought the work in the photos she sent me was just simply awful? The doll she had made for her daughter ; i`m sorry,but it was one of the most hideous things i`d ever seen.! If I was going to pay someone to go to the effort of making me a doll I would at least want it to remotely resemble something ,not only like "my" doll, but also something that was reasonably attractive to look at.! So I thought, "How can I get out of this NOW, before it goes any further,but without upsetting or offending her?" Then I had a brainwave. It was this woman who had herself said she was not a professional seamstress [well she got that bit right,anyhow !!] . So I Googled Professional Seamstresses in Northern Ireland,and,thank goodness,there are a number of them. Of the ones that have websites, the standard of their work is just fantastic, and relatively cheap,too. So, the following day I contacted the woman in England and explained I had decided to go with a local seamstress company who lived near me. I explained it would be far more practical to use somebody nearby ,but I thanked her so much for her enthusiasm,willingness to help me,etc. This lovely lady completely understood,and would like me to send her photos of the finished product,as she would love to see it, bless her heart. Maybe you all think I sound like a proper spoiled ,ungrateful brat,but honestly,I simply could not have had this woman spend hours and hours of her spare time making me a doll [which I would then have paid for] for it to be desperately disappointing and not at all what I wanted. Anyway,I have contacted someone who is only a 15 minute train journey away in Portadown and am waiting for them getting back to me. It`s 2 Polish women who run it,and ,judging by their photos on their website,the work they do is just beautiful. Cheap too. So i`m really hoping they get back to me next week and agree to help me.

[Fiz]

It sounds like you had a narrow escape, Lisa!

[Lisa O`Brien]

It was a tricky one,that`s for sure. I really needed my diplomacy hat on too.!