Throwback Thursday review: Hedda Get Bedda

Whimsies (not to be confused with Whimzee) were dolls from the one and only American Character.  They were fairly large dolls that were geared towards older kids and teenagers, and they had goofy names like Trixie the Pixie, Fanny the Fallen Angel, Zero the Hero, and Samson the Strongman.  Samson even had (ewww) chest hair, and he appears to be one of the rarer ones.  My favorites are Annie the Astronaut with her blue hands and feet, and Betty the Beauty, who was a presumed spoof of Bettie Page and had a sash reading "Miss Take."  LOL, despite humor like that the dolls as a whole were not a success, though they did have their fans and still do.  My Whimsy is one of the more notable ones, Hedda Get Bedda.

Mama HATES Hedda, by the way.  She razzed me nonstop the night that I got her, and in turn I laughed until my sides ached.  I think Hedda may have been the only one with three faces, but don't quote me on that, and it didn't matter to Mama how many faces Hedda had.  "Ewww, they're ALL ugly!!!" were her exact words.  Anyway, like many dolls of the past and the present, Hedda was a sickie and it was up to her owner to help her get well (bedda).  Her gimmick was very kid-friendly, meaning that poor Hedda could get bedda time and time again.  My father and his sister joked that when Hedda finally DIDN'T get bedda she became Hedda Hearse.  LOL, every family has someone like Tam's Unsentimental Niece, and in Daddy's family BOTH the younger kids were the culprits!

Now that we've established how homely my new pet is, let's dive in.  Hedda is a good-sized doll at nineteen inches.  Here's how she compares to Rita Cheryl and to my tallest second-tallest Furga doll, Columba.  Hedda can't stand up, but y'all get the drift.

Just for the heckuvit, here's how Hedda compares to three of my smaller dolls (Mar, Imani, and So Surprised Suzie).

As is often the case with dolls I own, Hedda's size caught me off guard.  I was expecting her head to be about the size of an apple, but it's more the size of a grapefruit.  Or the size of the hailstones that fell at Lubbock, Texas before part of the town blew away.  Your pick.

By the way, the apple and the grapefruit are Yours Truly's breakfast or snack now (one will be one and the other will be the other).  My joints hurt so terribly that I'm gonna be wheelchair-bound before I'm forty if I don't lose weight NOW.  So no more cheesy puffs, no more pretzel bits, no more binging on Oreos while watching YouTube.  Good thing I learned to like grapefruit; I used to hate the crap.

Okay, where was I?  Oh yean...right off the bat it should be obvious that Hedda has no hair.  She's not alone in this department, as Zero the Hero, Simon the Degree, and Wheeler the Dealer were also bald (Wheeler is a gambler, by the way; I think that's hilarious).  Freddie the Friar was semi-bald, having a ring of hair around his head like stereotypical friars will, and Samson the Strongman and Zack the Sack were also partly bald.  Unlike those guys Hedda has permanently attached headgear, in the form of a sleeping cap with a pom-pom on the top.  The cap is plastic and has a waffle-knit pattern all over, with some ribbing around the face and protuberances on the sides for her nonexistent ears.  These pictures of a hairless Freddie the Friar reveal that the other Whimsies had large ears, kinda like Dopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The cap is a neutral color so that it can match anything that Hedda is wearing.  It "buttons" under her chin.

The pom-pom is used as a knob for turning Hedda's head, and likely it has seen a lot of use over the years, as some of the paint has rubbed off.

I'm used to my dolls being marked on their necks, backs, or butts, but Hedda's mark is on her pom-pom.  It reads AMER DOLL & TOY 1961.

The bonnet serves a purpose, as it covers two of Hedda's faces while the third one is facing the front.  Hedda has to get bedda, right?  Well, in order to get bedda she has to get sick!  Poor girl, she's very good at looking sick.

She reminds me a little of the "sick" moodle on Project Zomboid.  Online consensus is that Hedda has measles, which was still relatively common in 1960.  But I s'pose chicken pox isn't out of the question either, nor is some sort of allergic reaction that gives you hives.  Eee-yucko, my mom had measles when she was a little kid, and she said it was BAD!!!  That was when she learned not to like lime sherbet; Grandma was trying to feed Mama a bowl of it at some point during her illness, and Mama proceeded to throw it back up.  She can eat lime sherbet now without gagging, but she's admitted to me that it'll never be her favorite flavor of sherbet.  Mama also noted that her head and joints hurt terribly, and that her eyes were extremely sensitive to the light.  Overall measles sounds like a 1 out of 10 experience, and indeed poor ol' Hedda definitely looks like she could yack something up herself.  As for the third face, Hedda is sleeping it off.  Note that her spots have already faded.

Forty winks sure do feel good when you feel bad!  I remember that from when I had coronavirus or God-knows-what-that-illness-was.  In the post I linked I reported a low fever, a slight cough, and general malaise, but lemme tell y'all, it got worse, and all I wanted to do for the first two days was sleep.  NOW...all that said, I'm not used to reviewing dolls with multiple faces!  Indeed, I think I've done it exactly once, many years ago with a doll named Kururi-chan.  But...I managed.  So let's start with Hedda's happy face.  This mold is pretty standard for Whimsies, with big eyes and a watermelon-slice smile.  Since Hedda has been around for awhile she has a few dings and scuffs on her cheeks, but nothing serious.

Most of the Whimsies I've seen have brown eyes, with the only exceptions I can name being Annie the Astronaut (one of my favorites) and Fanny the Flapper.  Yep, two of the Whimsies were named "Fanny"; the fallen angel was the other!  Both Fanny and Annie had green eyes, but the rest of the Whimsies appear to be brown-eyed.  Over her brown eyes Hedda's got cheerful little eyebrows and thick, molded eyelashes, plus...oh Lordy, sea urchin pupils.

The last time I saw this was on the Li'l Lollypops.  Some Sasha dolls also had starry pupils like this.  On a larger scale sea urchin pupils don't look so bad, but...well, I had to make some sort of snarky comment!  For the record, all the Whimsies I've seen have sea urchin pupils, so Hedda is not alone in that department either.  The paint is straight, which is more than I can say for some other dolls in this world.  I also want to get a closer look at the eyelashes, as they have some texture molded in.  Hedda may not be a looker, but right away it's obvious that American Character was trying to make a mice product.

Hedda's mouth is also painted straight, though the paint is not as vivid as it was on other characters.  I'm not sure if this is because Hedda has faded or if she just didn't have bright paint to begin with.

Talk about dolls with comical expressions!  These mouths are part of the reason why I like these dolls, by the way; the Whimsies can't be called pretty, but they have tons of character, and I always like that.  Anyway, the lip paint is the only other paint that this particular face has.  She's got apple cheeks and a rounded little nose, but no other paint.  It's probably just as well that blushing and freckles were left off, as they might've interfered with the overall sick/healthy gimmick.  Freckles, as we'll soon see, might've looked like the measles spots, and blushing would've made healthy Hedda look feverish.

I like the curve of Hedda's nose, so here's how this pet looks in profile.  Her profile isn't easy to photograph because her cap covers just about everything.

All that said, let's look at the sick face again.  Hedda retains the brown eyes and the rosy lips, but everything else has changed.  Her eyes are hooded in the classic "I feel cruddy" look, and it's possible to see some of her spots.  They're pale pink, again making me believe that my doll has faded somewhat (other dolls I've seen have brighter spots).

The lashes on these eyes are even better molded.  See the lines (and the lack of sea urchin pupils)?

Hedda's mouth is open and her (flesh-colored???) tongue is hanging out a bit, so I'd best keep the lime sherbet away from her.  Notice that there's a tiny hole in the right upper quadrant of her mouth.  That hole accommodated a thermometer, an accessory that's sadly HTF.  When I was little I used toothpicks to take my dolls' temperature, so it's all good.  Once again, the paint is on straight.

Here's the sick face in profile; this was how I learned that her tongue is sticking out a little.

I'm tempted to bust out the paint and rosy up that tongue a little.  We all know that peoples' tongues aren't skin-colored.  See?

I was wearing this hair bow when I took that picture.  Fun fact about me:  when I get super-sleepy my tongue lolls out like that.  That's usually when I know it's time to close the tablet, plug in the cell phone, settle in whichever doll I've got with me, and get my happy butt to bed.  During one recent night owl session I noticed that Hedda's sick face can have some eerie shadows around her eyes if the lighting is just so.  She genuinely DOES look sick in this dim light

I'd better get that light out of Hedda's face; Mama said that her parents had to keep her curtains closed, and indeed measles monkeys with its victims' eyes.  All the more reason for Hedda to sleep; when my eyes hurt that's what I do.  

The only other Whimsies I can name with closed eyes are Suzie the Snoozie, Fanny the Fallen Angel, and one version of Bessie the Bashful Bride, and their mold is different from this one.  Anyway, in this guise Hedda's eyes are closed.  Once again her long eyelashes are well-molded and well-painted, though in this case there's a bit of asymmetry (the right eye doesn't have as much paint).

The mouth and nose are what set Hedda's sleeping head apart from Fanny and Susie and Bessie.  Her mouth is lopsided, and as a result her nose is too.  Just a tiny bit, but enuff.

I'm not sure whether that mark on Hedda's left cheek is paint or some other kind of gom, but I haven't tried to remove it yet.  Otherwise the paint is the same, pale like the other faces, but without spots.

I gotta admit that Mama has a point; all three of these faces, particularly the sick face, are faces only a mother could love.  But then again beauty isn't really the point of these dolls, even with Betty the Beauty.  They're all quirky and goofy, and in the case of the sick face Hedda genuinely looks sick.  So she gets her point across with a simple gimmick.  That said, I think my Hedda may have faded with the passage of time, as this example looks pretty rosy.  Oh well, that's to be expected when dolls age.

Regarding this body, I was in for quite a surprise.  I knew that Whimsies had vinyl arms and legs, but I had no idea that their bodies were all one piece.  Surprise!  They are!

I have three other dolls like this, and NONE of them handle the way Hedda does.  Softina is flexible enuff to sit but is still pretty stiff, while my Circle P doll Belle is too stiff to pose at all.  The third one, Psycho Cindy, is a nasty intermediate; she's not stiff enuff to stand like Belle, but she's not soft enuff to sit like Softina.  Hedda is pretty different from all of the above; she's pleasant to the touch like Psycho Cindy and Softina, but she cannot stand at all.  Trying to prop her up in a standing position led to some serious face plants, so Hedda will be sitting or lying down for this part of the review.  I was expecting her torso to be like Newborn Miss Peep's:  smooth all over and kinda shaped like a loaf of bread.  But unlike Peep Hedda has a (shallow) bellybutton...

...and a funny-looking butt crack.  Her rear also has a big scratch on it; I don't think I want to know why.

Her upper back is also marked; interestingly it's marked 1960, unlike the knob on Hedda's cap.  The mark makes Hedda's holding company loud and clear, and it also makes it clear that she's a...oh, she's a "Whimsie," not a "Whimsy."  

Hedda's only honest-to-God joint is her neck; in addition to spinning her head Exorcist-style inside that bonnet she can turn the whole head, bonnet and all.  The seam is sewn closed around her neck.

Of course since this doll is now pushing fifty years old, what did I find but a broken thread along her neck seam?  Hedda's neck and head show no signs of coming apart, but I'll use a gentle hand just the same.

Hedda's shoulders are not jointed at all (this will be of note later), and her noodly arms have goofy-looking hands.  Oh sure, they look okay here; they've even got nails and dimples and creases at the wrist.

The palm is pretty plain, and again pretty innocuous.  

Now...view these hands from the side and that's where they get pretty goofy!

Lordy, they look like toes or claws, and they're not supposed to be either one!

Now...remember how I said that Hedda's shoulders had no joints at all?  Her hips have double-rows of stitching to make them floppy.  This is a potential weak point on the body, so I'm careful not to lift Hedda by her feet.

Oh yes, feet.  Whimsies have the funniest feet on the planet.  "Even her feet are ugly!!!" is how Mama put it when she saw Hedda for the first time.  Hey, it's not like feet are the prettiest part of one's body anyway, LOL!  Anyway, I think Hedda's feet are hilarious.  She's got ten individual little toes with a nail on each, and her big toes are separated to...I presume to accommodate the sandals that these other dolls wore.  For some reason most Whimsies didn't get proper shoes.

The soles are mostly smooth, though the left one has the number 3 molded in.  Overly goofy feet, just right for an overly goofy body.

Since she's soft-bodied Hedda can't stand on these feet, and as a result the soles don't have to be flat.  As I've said before, rocker-bottom feet are a bad sign in human babies, but on a doll it's merely...<grins awkwardly> an inconvenience.  So while Hedda certainly has an odd body to match her odd faces, she's awfully nice to cuddle.  I don't know if these dolls were meant for cuddling, but it can be done.

Since she's a sickie Hedda comes clad in pajamas.  

American Character put her in three different colors of pajamas, white with blue flowers, white with pink flowers, and white with red flowers.  The flower pattern could vary as well.  My doll has the blue variant, and the flowers are pretty simple, with petals or leaves scattered about in between.

The first thing I noticed is that this collar is in pretty rough shape.  I don't know if it just frayed with time or if some little brat tore it up.  Maybe it's a bit of both, since this fabric is a little fragile.

Another interesting thing about the pajama top is the buttonhole.  Usually a buttonhole means that a button is present...

...but not this time!  Hedda's pajama top is held closed in front with ONE square of Velcro.  One.  But surprisingly that one square is very effective.

The shirttail has a very nice hem at the bottom.  Plain, but it won't be falling out anytime soon.

Likewise, the arm seams are sturdy.  I'd heard horror stories of American Character's declining quality in the sixties and that may be so, but in 1961 things appear to have been holding steady.  I don't see any loose ends anywhere on this top.

And what do I find on the bottoms???  A few loose ends!  Pajama bottoms take a beating anyway, so I guess I can forgive this, but it doesn't look great.

Otherwise the seams and hems on bottoms are fine too.  

I have no idea what kinds of clothes these dolls can wear.  They could wear each other's garb, but I have a hard time picturing Hedda in Betty the Beauty's swimsuit.  That said, I do have this cute set lying idle.

I had planned that for Kavi Sharma, but I'm now doubting that I'll buy her.  I want my next American Girl to be super-duper unique.  Anyway, let's try this on Hedda.  I doubt that hat will fit over Hedda's bonnet.

Well...it looks cute, but Hedda has what my grandmother would've called "a big ol' butt."  The leggings are extremely tight around the waist, and the jacket is tight around Hedda's waist and rear too.  Her arms and legs are too long for the sleeves and pants legs, and as predicted the hat doesn't fit over Hedda's bonnet.  A loosely cut American Girl dress might fit Hedda better, but overall I'm ruling out AG clothes for Whimsies.

I do b'lieve that's enuff to think about!

BAD
*Hedda is not the prettiest thing.  No Whimsie is.

*Her body is an unusual shape and has no shoulder joints.  Redressing these dolls is tricky.

*My doll's clothes are showing some minor wear, mostly at the collar.

*NOT!!!!  for kids, based on the suggestive nature of some of these dolls.

*Some characters are rare.

GOOD
*While not attractive, Hedda and her friends can be riotously funny.  I think Betty the Beauty is hilarious, for example. 

*No hair to tangle!

*Face is faded a little, but is well-painted. 

*I like cuddling with Hedda.  Her body holds my body warmth and she's soft.

*Unlike the other Whimsies, Hedda is relatively tame for kids.  Her gimmick is easy to use.

*The clothes are worn but are structurally sound.

American Character had a good-sized selection of dolls during their day, but so far the only ones I've reviewed have been Tressy and Mary Makeup, Sandy McCall, and Hedda (I also have two Sweet Sue dolls, but I haven't reviewed them).  All of them couldn't be more different; Tressy and Mary are fashion dolls, Sandy is one of those behemoth companion types, and Hedda is...well, Hedda!  Hedda is 100% worth the money I spent on her, not in the least for the laughter I got from Mama's reaction.  Now I need to make a black cloak, so that Hedda CAN be Hedda Hearse if I so wish. 

Overall the Whimsies are definitely for older children, or even adults as evidenced by Wheeler the Dealer (a gambler) and Bessie the Bashful Bride (who wore nightclothes under a see-through robe).  LOL, I can hear how Daddy would've roared at Wheeler the Dealer; when we were in goofy moods we'd come up with off-color Barbie parodies, so a gambler would've been right up Daddy's alley.  That said...I can see why these weren't big sellers, as they're kinda marketed to a niche.  Somebody who was off-beat like my daddy or me, or someone who ran the blackjack table at a casino, or the owner of a bar, SOMEONE who wanted something goofy to decorate their workspace.  Nowadays it's semi-common to decorate one's station at work with dolls or teddy bears or Christmas ornaments or what-have-you, but I doubt that was a thing back in 1961.  Correct me if I'm wrong, all you baby boomers!  I personally have no regrets about purchasing Hedda, but if you do decide you want a Whimsie for yourself you may be in for quite a search, depending on which character you want.  Hedda was actually the easiest one to find, and Zack the Sack is also fairly easy to find.  My two favorites, Annie the Astronaut and Trixie the Pixie, are proving more elusive (and expensive).  As for some of the boys, particularly like Samson the Strongman, all I can say is good luck!  And if you HATE these dolls, no worries!  But for me they're goofy enuff to look for at least one more, if for no other reason than to make Mama have another tizzy.  Daddy often called her "Annie," so when she learns about Annie the Astronaut she'll go into orbit herself.

Wait a minute!  Annie's tag says she's Annie the AstroNUT!!!  Yes, I'm seriously only now seeing that.  Now I've gotta find her!

Happy Winter Solstice (blah, I hate winter),
RagingMoon1987