| Oh Chatty Cathy, Oh Chatty Cathy Are Mattel's Famous Talking Dolls We Pull, Her Ring and You Say Eleven Different Things Lets Play House, Please Change My Dress We Can Change Her Dresses, Now Goodness Knows Now We Got A Wardrobe Full Of Pretty Clothes For Nursery School, You're Crisp and Cool For Summer There's A Play Time Set In Winter Burr, You're Collar Fur In The Coldest Season She Can Get I Love You, You Love Your Mama And They Love Your Sleepy Time Pajamas Tell Me A Story The Only Story I Live To Tell Is The Chatty Cathy Play Time.... Mattel |
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These are just a few Chatty Cathy stories that people have sent me. It seems like everyone has a story about the doll to tell. I just started collecting the stories about 2 years ago so I am still adding to these as more are sent to me. If you have a Chatty Cathy story you would like to tell PLEASE send it to me. I will change nothing in the story other than names and spell check. Also if you see your story below and do not want it on this page please tell me and I will remove it . Thanks everyone for sending me such wonderful Chatty Cathy stories.
PS:.. The stories are not in any kind of order Click Here To Email Me Your Story
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It was Christmas at my house today! My beautiful Chatty Cathy arrived this afternoon in perfect condition. I ripped open the box like I was a child again and carefully retrieved my prize. She is wonderful!! I could hardly wait for her to come to room temperature to pull her ring and hear her voice...but I did. She talks wonderful for a mute-Ha! I carried her around my house for an hour trying to find the perfect place of honor for her and childishly not wanting to release her from my loving grip.
Saying thanks does not seem to be enough for bringing Chatty Cathy back to me but....Thank you for making a childhood dream and wish come true.
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My original Chatty Cathy (a #3) was sent back to Mattel for repair since her string broke so I know for a fact that Mattel did repair them. I remember because I got her for Christmas when I was 7 and had major surgery in February. Her string broke when I was in the hospital from my pulling it over and over again and my mother packed her up and sent her back for repair before I was discharged and sent home. I got a Raggedy Ann and Andy to play with and keep me company until she came back but my beloved Chatty was gone and I cried and cried about it. Was a story my mother and I would talk about every time she would come to visit and see my Chattys I now have.
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Christmas time in Washington, Court House--Ohio 1959 and a little 5 year old girl has her heart set on a Chatty Cathy doll. That is the one and only thing that she has asked her parents for. The price for the doll was around $14.95, a lot of money in those days and you could sure buy a lot more presents with that, than just one doll. Christmas came and went and no Chatty Cathy was to be found under the tree. It sure didn't help that her friend got one! Fast forward 50 years later and that same little girl (all grown up of course) still is holding a place in her heart for her beloved Chatty Cathy. Will her heart be filled with the joy of Christmas that only children seem to share? To be continued...
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I was the youngest of seven kids. We didn't have a lot of money sometimes, well, most of the time not any money (lol) not even food to eat... Was a bad place for any child to be. My Dad worked hard to put clothes on all of us and food on the table. He also worked hard on drinking. (lol) Today I understand. One Christmas a nice family brought us gifts... In that box was an old clearly used Chatty Cathy Doll... I just loved that doll baby. I was about 7 years old. One afternoon my cousin Tina came over to play with me. She always got everything she wanted and yet she wanted my doll. My mother made me let her take her home because I was taught to share everything. Weeks went by and Tina never gave me my doll back in fact my aunt bought me a doll to replace her... Well, I never wanted a brand new doll I wanted my doll back. Months passed and clearly I knew she was gone...
About 3 years back, Tina and I were talking about all the crazy stuff we went threw as a kid... Laughing back and forth... I said "Tina do you remember the doll you took from me and never gave back"? She laughed and said "You mean~ MY DOLL? I still have it, she's at Granny old house". Today, My Aunt lives there. I called Aunt Della and asked her if I can have my doll back, at 35 years old. She told me no that the doll was Tina's doll. Oh, I just laughed about it. Last year, I was very close to buying a doll from your site. I still long for my doll after 30 years. Who does that? lol Me! I told my boys the story about the doll and they made so much fun of me :) "get over it Mom" Your not getting your doll back". They were not being mean but making fun of Mom. Soooo, I thought about it and said your right boys, Mom's being silly.
A few months ago I was talking to Tina again and my doll thing came up. ...She said "Dawn, It's not your doll, it's mine"! O~Hell~No... I will get another doll Tina. "No way, they don't sale them duhhh."... I told her to watch and see! Everything has a price. (lol) Soon, I will have my doll shipped to me from your web site. How about that Tina? Keep your doll that you took from your poor little cousin. I love Tina with all my heart and would not trade her for the world. She's not a bad person, just likes to start trouble and steal dolls from me and claim them as her own, in a loving way :)
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I will never forget Christmas of 1963. I was seven years old and it was the best Christmas ever! For several months I had gotten up on Saturday mornings and turned on my favorite cartoon shows. Well of coarse the commercials were all mostly dolls and toys at that time of day on a Saturday. I remember the first time I saw the Chatty Cathy commercial, I was so excited. Imagine a doll with my name (mine is Kathryn) spelled a little different but I went by "Kathy" or "Katie" and best of all she could talk! I ran into my parent's bedroom who were still sleeping at 7:30 am and screamed, "I must have her!" Scared my mom to death she thought I was injured somehow. Once I calmed down she said, "Okay, make sure you write to Santa and tell him that is what you want for Christmas this year. I always got only one "nice" item each year and then a few small things to go with my "big" present. I remember mom saying that Santa would have to pay about $14.95 for chatty and that was a lot of money back then.
It seemed like forever before December came. One day I was playing with my ball and jacks in my parents bedroom and the ball rolled under my moms big dresser. When I looked behind it I could not believe my eyes, there was a chatty cathy doll box! I figured that Santa had left her there early and would come Christmas eve and put her under the tree.
I did not say anything to my mom, as I was afraid that it would anger Santa if I knew the hiding place of my present.
Christmas day came and there she was under the tree, my beautiful blonde pigtail chatty. I still have her to this day. She is a soft face piggie. I took her everywhere she never left my side. I loved dolls well into my teens and was often teased by my older brother for "still playing with dolls" He still teases me to this day, I am 53 years old, and he thinks I am a bit nuts for playing with my dolls. As I tell him they keep me young at heart and I plan to have them even if I live to be 100!!!
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My Chatty story not only comes from my heart but also from the hearts of each and every little Chatty Cathy. At one time in the distant past a little girl and her chatty doll became one as they shared stories of there days together. There is a child's heart behind every Chatty Cathy doll. When I was a young girl my cousin had the cute blond prototype Chatty Cathy. My cousin, even though I love her, was very greedy and would not allow me to play with her Chatty Cathy. There was a Chatty made for a Susie, a Debby and maybe a Bobbie too! but none for me. I never became one of the fortunate little girls to put my arms around a beautiful Chatty Cathy and feel that circular ring around my chubby little finger on the back of her neck. I would have been so excited to just have one pull at her string to hear her say, I LOVE YOU. Well, cousin! I have my own Chatty's now and a stork named Dolly will be flying in another one soon!! Dolly, Thanks for all you do for the Chatty Cathy's who deserve a second chance and for us who are going through our second childhood. xoxoxoxoxoxo
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My little sister was the one in our family that received a Chatty Cathy for Christmas one year. She took her everywhere with her till her string broke. She was devastated! Our dad said that he would try to find a doll doctor to fix her up but was unable to find one. Over the years my sis lost track of where she had gone. Years pass, as they always do, and I was surfing eBay one day and came upon Chatty Cathy again. My sister popped into my mind instantly. She had been going through some tough times with her youngest girl who is extremely sick. I thought maybe this would cheer her up some. I gave her back her Chatty that next Christmas, and she was moved to tears. Now she and her little girl have fun dressing her in her different outfits that I make for her. I too became hooked on Chatties from this experience and now have a large collection myself. Sewing for and restoring these dolls has turned into a full fledged hobby, one that I truly love doing!
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When I was 10 my mother decided I was too old for dolls. Money was also tight. The $12.00 price seems still low today. But anyway, Elaine lived up the street and she got a Chatty Cathy for Christmas. I remember how much I loved that doll and how much I wanted one for my own. But as I got even older I was shamed into not liking dolls. At the age of 45 as soon as I figured out EBay in 1998 I bought my first Chatty Cathy. Now I have 10 and expecting another this week. I never got over wanting that doll. I have clothes made especially for them, have made furniture for them, and display them in my room. My husband just goes with the flow. Says it is no sillier than his obsession with golf. I am amazed how different each one looks. Most are beautiful, but some are quite ugly. How could using the same mold create such different looks? I even have a pocket Chatty Cathy; the 1998 Christmas ornament that I carry in my purse. I pull her string when I need an answer to a question. Sort of like the magic 8 ball. It was so nice to read that I am not the only adult that never got rid of that little girl who wanted only a doll. Thank you for posting these stories.
Dana, (who lived down the street from Elaine.)
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When I was a child I wanted one so much and my mom never would get me one because she heard the strings broke and they would stop talking etc. She will not be played with...my daughter is 19 so I am safe... Wink, Grin ... I will cherish her.
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This is going to seem very strange. I was watching a movie with my mom this evening and she was telling me how she has been waiting 40 years for her Chatty Cathy doll and asked me what was one thing I wanted as a child that Santa didn't bring me. Well I let this go to my thoughts and wanted to make a dream come true for my mom. My mom grew up without a mother, and had a father that was gone a lot so a Christmas wish that was never made possible is something that I would want for the mom that always made sure we had what we needed. My husband is military so I am home for Christmas as he serves in Iraq for the 3rd time. I really want this to become possible for my mom.
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I LOVE MY CHATTY'S TOO MUCH TO SELL THEM, THEY ARE ALL LINED UP ON MY BEDROOM SOFA AND YOU ARE SO RIGHT, NO CHATTY LOOKS THE SAME, I WILL KEEP ON SAYING IT, MY FAVORITE IS THE BLACK CHATTY SHE IS ADORABLE AND I WILL ALWAYS BE THANKFUL TO YOU FOR HER, MY SENTIMENTS ARE THAT I IMAGINE THE JOY THAT AN ANTIQUE OR VINTAGE DOLL ORIGINALLY BROUGHT TO THE GIRL WHO OWNED HER AND THE STORY THAT DOLL COULD TELL, IMAGINE ALL THE DREAMS AND WISHES THAT WERE SHARED WITH THAT DOLL...
I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS SMALL, I HAD A HUGE TALKING GOLLIWOG TOY THAT I TOOK EVERYWHERE WITH ME AND WHEN I WAS UPSET, POORLY OR WAS IN TROUBLE, I WOULD TELL IT EVERYTHING, I WISH I STILL HAD IT- MY MOTHER GAVE IT AWAY AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANOTHER ONE LIKE IT SINCE...
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My sister received one of these dolls for Christmas when she was 5, (1962) I was the baby and only a few months old, I received only a rattle. She felt so bad that Santa hadn't brought me a doll too that she gave me her doll. That sister is now battling for her life with breast cancer and at every turn she is losing. The doll being one of the favorite stories we share I would love to give her that doll back after all these years.
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I started looking for a Chatty Cathy with brown hair to give to my sister in law for her 50th birthday. I say brown hair because that's all my husband could remember about it. You see, when his sister got Chatty for Christmas my husband was so fascinated with it he just had to see what made it talk. He took off the head to find out. Of course he ruined the doll. It has been at least 40 years and my sister in law has not forgotten!
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This morning, I received my very own Chatty Cathy doll from my wonderful husband, Mike for my 55th birthday present. He recently purchased my little girl with blond pig-tailed hair and pink striped pinafore outfit. I can't stop smiling!!! All of my childhood memories are floating back to me. As a little girl, I prayed and prayed for a Chatty Cathy doll. My prayers came true and Santa gave me a little blond haired, blue-eyed doll, and I believe she had the same pink striped dress that my new doll is wearing!!! I just can't believe it! I just wanted to let you know that she is in good hands....and I will cherish her forever!!!!
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My name is Debby, I am 52 and crazy about my Chatty Cathy dolls!! When I was young I had so many Barbies (Barbies, Midge, Francie, Skipper, Tutti, Chris, etc.) I had collected around 18! I even gutted out an old phonograph case (remember those old portable phonographs?) I always wanted a Chatty Cathy but never got one and didn't say too much, as I had so many Barbies and my mom and dad were having troubles, soon to divorce. I remember my brother Danny used to play with his G.I. Joes stuff when I was playing with my Barbies. Well, recently, I recollected all the Barbies I had and I wondered,'Gee, Ebay has everything!! I just wonder if I could find a Chatty Cathy. WOW!! Was I surprised!! I never knew there were so many different ones; each a little different!! Now, 26 Chatty Cathys later, I am just loving my collection of all my cute little babies!! My hubby has built me some shelves for them and I am now finally slowing down. I actually thought I was done until I happened to find Dejavu Dolls. WoW!! Imagine that!! A couple of soft face Piggys just like my favorite one here at home; Gee, I wonder.............. ....2 more Chattys on Lay-A-Way and one is soon to come home!!!!
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Wow, you really know your dolls! I am just learning. I think I told you that I have just started collecting Chatty Cathy. I had never had a doll in my life!!!!! ... if you can believe it .... and in January of this year I was looking at eBay with a friend who wanted to see if she could find her childhood doll. I noticed all these beautiful dolls, and to cut a long story short, landed up buying a HUGE doll collection WITHOUT SEEING IT!!! I was lucky because there have been a lot of wonderful dolls in it ... but it has been a long learning curve for me. It has taken me 8 months now to decide that when I turn over all the stock I have (which was about 1,000+ dolls), Chatty Cathy is who I will collect.
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Dad was in the Air Force and we moved around a lot. I married and we moved around for his work so my Chatty Cathy has been on the move with me. My children were only allowed to see the doll once in awhile and not to touch it so she is in pretty good shape considering her age. I got my doll for Christmas and being way out on an Air Force Base I must have seen her in the Simpson's or Eaton's ChristmasChristmas Wish Books. I have seen that there were ads for the doll on TV but I don't think that is where I saw her. I can remember having Chatty in the car on one of our trips in to visit friends just outside of Halifax which was about 35 miles away from Beaverbank Nova Scotia where Dad was posted. It was a long trip so I must have pulled Chatty's string once too often so the doll was riding up front with mom for the rest of the trip.
I had an older brother and a twin brother so Chatty Cathy was only played with by me. She came in the blue dress with a white pinafore, and she had socks and shoes, but I do not have the socks anymore. The other outfit I have for her is the PJ's with the separate feet. She has her string still but sadly she doesn't talk anymore. I had a friend on the Air Force base that got the Chatty Baby doll for Christmas the year I got my doll. Over the years I have yet to find anybody that had a Chatty Cathy doll. Only recently did I know that there was a difference in the Chatty Cathy dolls from Canada.
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My name is Debbie and I'm 52 years young. I still have my beautiful Tiny Chatty Baby from 1962. She is still beautiful and treasured. We only had one doll my sisters and I and a few outfits, but Dolly did we appreciate them.
I have been fighting a rare form of cancer for the last 10 years. So many adjustments in life , but so many blessings!. I also lost my Mom. I guess holding my doll reminded me of all the wonderful things she and my dad did for us. I could go on and on but I think you get the point.
I started on my journey to get the outfits for my doll that I didn't have. I accomplished that, and with this new way of looking at "things" . If found Tiny Chatty Brother. Dolly I never knew they made him when we were little. but then again we didn't have malls, like today. I then found a dark haired Tiny Chatty Baby that talked so I could remember the phrases mine said. although every one in my family remembers what she said..
I found so much happiness in my dolls and peace that I started looking into the Chattys. I was thoroughly confused, but for me it was what caught my eye first. and of course being Italian, with dark hair, I loved the piggy with the dark hair.
Then I must tell you I love a good story, a reason why people are selling. and the love they have. for their dolls, I'm a sucker for that. So on E-bay I found a girl whose mom passed away and was selling her dolls. God bless her, she seems to be only around 19, but she is just trying to sell them and be fair. well I bought this hard face blonde prototype. She just needed some tlc. The bracelet and the necklace the mom made for the doll I kept on her and that's where they will stay. I sent the girl, Kathryn, a picture of her new ANGEL. She was thrilled!!!. I know her mom is smiling down.
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I remember that when she came out it was the ONLY thing I wanted that Christmas and they were hard to come by. My mother actually “tipped” a clerk at a local store to put one back for her when they came in! (Kind of like when I stood in line in sub-zero weather to get my daughter a Cabbage Patch doll in the 80’s.) Needless to say, I was an extremely popular girl when I went back to school (I think I was in 1st grade) with a Chatty Cathy for show and tell. Now I’m on a mission to find that exact same doll. I have almost all of my dolls I had from when I was a little girl. I don’t know what happened to her.
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My mom had this favorite doll when she was growing up. Of course, it was a Chatty Cathy doll. This doll was with my mom since the early 60's when she was 7 or so, until she got married in 1973. At that point her mother felt she no longer needed the doll and tossed her away with the trash. Needless to say my mother was devastated! Chatty Cathy was her favorite childhood memory. She only started to bring this up again recently when the new Chatty Cathy's were released in late 1998 and early 2000. I began looking for a nice original Chatty for her, but I turned up a bunch of used and clearly not very well taken care of Chatty Dolls. And people were paying astronomical prices for these dolls, or what was left of them! My search continued, as I was determined to right this wrong for my Mother. I know I could never replace her first Chatty, but I knew my Mom would love another one just the same. And then one night, my search led me to Dejavu-Dolls, and it was then, that I found the perfect, original, well loved Chatty Cathy that I had longed to find my Mother for so long. I searched this site until I found the perfect one. It was supposed to be a gift for her Birthday or Mother's day (all which fall around the same time) but she was home when it was delivered. But that's ok! I have never seen her so happy to receive a gift before. It was taken out of the package and placed in her curio cabinet oh so gently, with the rest of her collections. But of course, Chatty Cathy is front row centre to the rest. I can't thank you enough for your time and effort that you put into these one of a kind dolls. You have another very satisfied customer!
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Thank you for your help with the doll. The doll will be a gift for my wife on our 33rd wedding anniversary February 14th. The reason for the doll is that she grew up very poor with both parents being blind. As a school girl she had class mates that this type of doll and her family could not afford one for her. Over the years she has told many times she could never have a Chatty Cathy. Now many years later she will have her Chatty Cathy.
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My mother's Chatty story is that she received the doll for Christmas of 1965 (she was seven) and was thrilled because the doll looked just like her... dark hair and eyes with freckles. My mom loved her doll and played with her all the time. Her torso cracked once and my mom even sent her away to a doll hospital to get fixed. Well, the story goes that one day my grandpa decided to clean out all of the kids (my mom is the oldest of five) toys that they no longer played with much and Chatty was thrown away with many other loved dolls, GI Joe's, etc... my mom was horrified that her Chatty was tossed out and never let my grandpa forget it. My mom will be turning 50 on the 28th of this month and for her gift my grandma wanted to replace her beloved Chatty. It was my job to find one and let me tell yah, I think you're the only person in the whole United States that had one! That is the reason this doll is so special to our family... my mother will finally be getting her long lost friend returned.
Hi Dolly, It went fabulous! My mom took one look at the doll and burst into tears... it was indeed the doll she had as a child. She ADORES it and couldn't be happier!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
btw, I did tell her that you would happily buy her back and my mom said 'no way, I'm going to be buried with her'!! lol...
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I received my first prototype Chatty Cathy when I was a little girl and I just loved her to pieces! Mine was a Brunette with brown eyes and she looked just like me! She talked and talked and I took her everywhere with me. At some point, her voice failed and she was reduced to what I referred to as "coughing." I was crazy about dolls - I loved 'em all - my Tiny Tears, my Chatty Cathy, my Kissy doll, my Barbies and the like. My Mom had great taste in dolls and even though we could not afford them at the time, I always got the most popular dolls for Christmas. My Mom used their Christmas Savings Club money for these 'have to have' purchases and she would save all year!
There was talk from my Mom and Grandma, about me not playing with dolls anymore when I was about 9. My Grandma took them one day, to 'make them clothes' and I never, ever saw any of them again. I guess the general feeling was that I would forget I had these dolls. But, I never did. My Mom says she regret this decision; looking back she doesn't know why it was so important to her that I 'grow up' so fast.
Well, that is not exactly true - when I was in my early 40's, I was helping my then 90 year old Grandma clean her bedroom. I was under her bed when I found my Chatty Cathy - she was all mangled, with writing on her torso and in general, just a big mess. She didn't talk anymore, the cloth cover was pulled off, her magic ring was missing and she had a cracked chest. I was so sadden by her condition; I felt I couldn't even take her home. I just pushed her back under Grandma's bed. When Grandma died a few years later, she, and all her 'sisters' disappeared and I am sure they were all thrown away.
Today, I am buying back my Childhood - and I currently own 5 prototypes Chatty Cathys; three blondes (Light blonde and two strawberry blondes) and two Brunettes, one with blue eyes, the other with brown eyes, just like my original. I also have one 15" Tiny Tears....
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When I was about 4 or 5 years old I asked Santa for a Chatty Cathy doll. We only got one "big" item from Santa. I could hardly wait. I played with her all the time. One day, my babysitter and I got a ride into town with a family that lived next door to me. I forgot and left my Chatty Cathy in the car when we got out to do our errands. The couple we were with had a daughter just 3 months younger than me. She liked Chatty Cathy too.....she played with my doll and broke her string! You can imagine my disappointment when I returned to the car and found out my doll was broken and could no longer talk to me. I still loved her and played with her. I don't know what happened to her. Over the years I have told this story many times. At Thanksgiving this year, I was showing my Mom and all my family the Hallmark Chatty Cathy ornament...and of course, telling my story...my sweet husband was listening and surprised me with a vintage Chatty Cathy doll for Christmas! It was one of the biggest surprises he has even pulled on me. I love her and am afraid I am now addicted and want another doll and some clothes.....well, maybe I will have a granddaughter some day.....LOL
P.S. The girl that broke my doll became my best friend....we have been close all our lives....my Mother told me to call and tell her about my "new" doll and that she can't touch her...lol
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I got a Chatty Cathy for Christmas as a child. I had wanted one real bad, I can remember that, and getting her. I visited my dad the other day, we have recently reconnected on a whole new level, (we didn't get along for awhile) anyway he told me the whole story of how I came to get my Chatty Cathy, which really touched my heart and now I want another more than ever so that I will always think of my dad when I look at her. He said I wanted one so bad and they didn't have the money. She was 12.00 then and that was alot in those days. He went to his father and told him but my grandfather was hesitant at first because of the cost and he didn't think I would take that good care of it. My dad assured him that I would, so he paid for it. I still remember opening her, I was so excited. I played with her so much the string broke. My grandfather was so impressed at how well I took care of her that he paid for her to be repaired. I never knew my dad was the reason I ever received my cherished doll and now that I do it is a memory I will forever cherish. I have always wanted one to replace mine but now that I know this story, I want it even more. I hope one day I can find her again.
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When I was 17 yrs old (I am 67 yrs. now), my mother remarried and my step father had two young daughters, one eighteen months and the other three yrs. when he married Mom. Their mother had been killed by a drunken driver. My mother raised these little girls and I was delighted. By the time she married John, I was starting college and I loved the idea of having little sisters at home. I had been an only (and lonely) child. Anyway, when I was six yrs. old my parents bought me a Lional Train set and every year we would set it up around the Christmas tree. I loved that train but one Christmas when I came home from school I found that my step father had given away my train and my mother didn't know to whom. At that same time he also gave away my new little sister's Chatty Cathy Doll. Even though I was a young adult, she was still a little girl of about seven or eight years old. She loved her doll too and to this day she speaks of the doll. She is now in her fifties. This year I bought my self a new Lional Train ( the Polar Express). It looks a lot like my old train and today I finished decorating my Christmas tree and happily set up my train around it. Tonight I thought how truly great it would be if I could surprise my sister with a Chatty Cathy doll when we gather to open presents. Thank you for a very informative and beautiful web site.
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I'm 49 and my most prized possession of my childhood was my Charmin' Chatty. I wore glasses every since I was in 2nd grade and cried about it all the time. Grandmom and Grandpop bought me Charmin' I'm sure to remind me that wearing glasses wasn't a bad thing : )
I paraded by Chatty Charmin' all around town and loved her sailor suit, socks, shoes, light blond brown hair and her glasses. I love to put her different records in her and pull the string.
One day, my mom told us we were taking a vacation. I was so elated! Only to find out we were permanently moving in with my grandparents and without my father. Being daddy's girl was hard, and being without him was more difficult. I didn't understand at 8 years old. It killed me inside.
Today my father will be 80 this year. My mom is happily remarried and 72 but my father never remarried. He lives alone, is ill, and my younger siblings and I go to see him often, clean for him, cook, shop and make sure his meds are all up to snuff.
When my mom left him, she packed all my toys, including Chatty up and sent them to her friend's house, in the same town that my dad still lives in. I recently wrote her a heartfelt letter, tear stained too, telling her who I was, asking her if she remembered me and my brother and sister, sending her photos of us then, and now along with my children as well. I besieged her to look in her attic for those treasures I loved, my toys and my Charmin' Chatty. I mailed it overnight fedex and her husband signed for the letter. They've never replied even though they live only a block from my dad. I often wonder if she merely threw them out or sold them. I told my father about it and he feels she must have gotten rid of them. Along with Charmin' were the original barbie, skipper, midge, casey and all accompanying clothes, dream house, etc.
In my infinite wisdom now, I simply don't know why my mother would have gotten rid of the only happiness I had as a child. I simply can't ask either. I don't now why.
I am hoping, to adopt, purchase a minty mint Charmin' Chatty so that I can hold her and cry the buckets of tears I've held back for 40 years. I have two daughter of my own now, 22 and 20 and an 18 year old son. My children are loving and wonderful and accomplished. I have stored all their toys, and barbies lovingly away for them to remember and share with their children one day.
I pray one day, I will get a phone call or a letter saying that my dear toys are still in that attic. I pray that wherever she is, she found a good home, and likewise, I hope to give one a home too. I have a lot of unfinished love to give.....
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I am 51, and I don't remember what year I got my original Cathy doll, but I do remember my older brother hitting me with it and she broke. The poor guy I never let him forget it. I always would introduce him as Jerry my older brother, when I was young he broke my Chatty Cathy doll when he hit me with it.
Well about 8 years ago he surprised me at Christmas with a remake of a Chatty Cathy doll, it was the best present I ever received to be 43 years old and get a Chatty Cathy doll, there was not a dry eye in the house, as we all talked about how it happened. I will never for get that Christmas,
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I got my Chatty Cathy in 1966 for Christmas right after my second birthday. My parents bought her for me when I was born but I didn't get her until I was two. I don't remember playing with her until I was about six because my parents periodically packed her away. I know this might sound odd, but as the only girl in two generations...I had more dolls than I could ever play with. By the time I was 9 or 10 I had over 100. I think my Mom used to rotate them to save on floor space. As a result of this, all of my dolls stayed in pretty good condition.
For some reason, I never lost my interest in and attraction to Chatty Cathy...because I love her and still play with her to this day.
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When I was a little girl, I wanted a Chatty Cathy but my mother thought she was too expensive and no amount of crying, brooding, etc would change her mind. My big sister did buy me a Tiny Chatty Baby for Christmas when I was 8 or 9 and while I loved that doll (I still have her), it just wasn't the same. About a year ago I was thinking of selling her and started looking at the dolls on ebay. Well, before I knew it, not only was I not selling TCB but I was buying! My first ebay "junk" Chatty Cathy looked like a bag lady complete with sticky, dirty face, a body loaded with old and smelly gray tape to hold her together and a depressing red corduroy coat and very ugly homemade shoes. Hours after she arrived I got all the tape off of her #5 body and discovered that a beautifiul doll lived beneath all the dirt and sad clothes. My heartbreaking moment was when I realized that had someone not cut her hair, and badly I might add, that I would have had an auburn piggy. Today she is waiting for me to repair her voice (one day, Cathy I promise!) dressed in a cute pink dress and Pink Panther pinafore. She wears an auburn curly piggy wig to replace the awful hair she came to me with. She is stunning! And she started something...she shares a shelf with 3 blonde piggies, an auburn piggy (they all talk, thanks to Dolly) a gorgeous soft-faced #3 who also had horrible hair and now wears a curly blonde wig, a blonde 1998 remake and several prototypes. I guess I'm hooked!
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It was the Christmas of 1963...my twin sister and I had circled dozens of items in the Sears "Wish Book". I was more of a tom-boy than she was and I never really cared for dolls that much, but my sister wanted a Chatty Cathy soooo bad! Well, when we opened our gifts, there was the Chatty Cathy for her, and a Charmin' Chatty for me. Mine had removable records and she wore glasses (Just like ME! ) Her hair was long and blonde and she had a sporty outfit with tennis shoes. She spoke FRENCH if you put that record in, and said so many more phrases than my sister's CHATTY CATHY. Plus, she had a full head of hair...not like my sister's Chatty Cathy who didn't have any hair under her pigtails.
I knew my sister was jealous of my doll and I rubbed it in (a little) that mine talked more, had better hair, and she wore glasses.
As I mentioned, I was never that interested in dolls so within a month or so, I was bored with the usual "Mommy" way of playing with her, so...I gave her a haircut! Big Mistake! I couldn't let my Mom see what I'd done so I hid her away in the closet and didn't play with her anymore.
My twin sister played with her CHATTY CATHY all the time, loved her and even got used to the bald spots when her hair was out of the pigtails. But in the end...she threw her doll away and I still (44 years later) have my Charmin Chatty...short (what I like to call PUNK ) hairdo and all.
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I don’t remember what year it was when my sister and I both got a Chatty Cathy. All I do remember was that my Chatty Cathy was a brunette and my sister’s was a blonde. I remember that because my sister, who is 3 1\2 years older than I, always seemed to get the blonde hair dolls and I, the brunettes. Anyway, I played with her even when she stopped talking and I got to “big” for dolls. I had her and most of my childhood toys until we moved.
During the moving, I remember going through my toys and deciding what to keep and what not to keep. Along with a Miss Barbie, the one with the sleep eyes, my Chatty Cathy was put in the trash pile. Reason for that – she no longer worked and therefore was broken. (My Miss Barbie bending mechanism in one leg had broken – so therefore she was also broken).
I never really thought about them until years later when 1998/1999, one of the doll collector magazines did an article on the remake of Chatty Cathy. With that story – the memories came back to the point I started looking for a store that sold one of the remakes. I found one locally and put her on lay a way.
Once I had her, I then thought about getting a vintage brunette Chatty Cathy. I looked on eBay on and off for about two years - looking at every brunette bob Chatty Cathy until I found one that spoke to me.
Since then I have acquired a few other Chatty Cathies – vintage and the Mattel remakes – blondes, brunettes, auburn, bobs, pigtail, etc. All the vintage have been restored to talk and every once in a while will pull their string to hear them talk.
I have even ventured into partially restoring one of my Chatty Cathies by doing a re-root on her since someone had cut her hair really bad and then doing a full restore (re-root and repair the talking mechanism) on another Chatty Cathy that had her hair cut also
I enjoy all of them but I have to admit that I am particularly fond of the brunettes.
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I wanted a chatty cathy doll for Christmas when I was a little girl, but I never got one. I guess they were to expensive. I wrote Santa a letter and said I wanted a talking doll for Christmas. I remember I was listening to the radio and Santa was on there and he read my letter and he said that he would bring me that doll, but I never did get that doll. I have got other dolls, but not my chatty cathy doll. But now I have several of them....lol. I love my Canadian dolls. I have mostly Canadian ones. I have Americans, Canadian ones and I do have a no bang one too. I'm still waiting for Santa to bring my chatty doll I ask him many years ago!
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My sister's had a Chatty Cathy when we were children and my other sister and myself thought we were helping and gave Chatty Cathy a bath in a mud puddle. Needless to say she was never the same again. So, since my sister is turning 50 this year and her husband and children are throwing her a big party I thought it was time to replace Chatty.
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I am 60 year old and have been collecting dolls for years. I have many Chatty Cathy dolls but non of them talk. I was going to get them repaired to talk again but I found it is cheaper to just buy talkers and am so happy I found your site. I love all my dolls and now I will have Talking Chatty Cathy dolls to add to my collection.
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I am deaf but had a cochlear implant and can now hear to a decent degree and I would like to hear Chatty talk. I had a Chatty Cathy as a child but never got to hear her – I could only “feel” her voice I never understood what she was saying.
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I too am still looking for my 2nd issue blonde. She was a complete surprise on my 9th Christmas and five days later on my birthday Tiny Thumbelina showed up. Well, I just loved and took the best care of my Cathy, kept her on a feeding schedule, bedtime, took her everywhere and kept her hair perfect. Poor Tiny Thumbelina went under the bed for years.
In the blink of an eye I was 22 living in student housing at Stanford U. with my hubby and 1 year old daughter. One day the water heater burst and flooded the storage unit and my poor Chatty along with many other toys went to the Salvation Army.
I still have Tiny Thumbelina and wish a magic wand could turn her into my Chatty Cathy. What kind of Mom gives up her kid? I long to hear her exclaim "I hurt myself" always followed by "Carry me". Arggh! -
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My brother and his friends took apart my Chatty Cathy doll. He said he was trying to fix her because she didn't talk anymore. I found your site and showed him to remind him what he did to my doll. LOL He told me to pick out any Chatty Cathy doll I wanted to replace the one he destroyed if I promise to shut up about my Chatty Cathy doll LOL.
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I am thinking that my brunette bob may need a sister...just thinking about it. I had a sister with auburn pig-tails that died when she was 10 years old and the auburn piggy reminds me of her!
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I had a Chatty Cathy when I was a child given to me for Christmas, two weeks later another child in the family destroyed her ( drowned her in the bath tub and then smashed to bits and I've grieved ever since. Silly as it sounds I just want her back.
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My name is Cathy spelling just like chatty cathy. I am trying to get all the different Chatty Cathy dolls and want a prototype that talks. I have been looking for an original blonde bob with all original clothes. I have fallen in love with the doll. I am a young collector I didn't grow up with the doll so can you help me find her.
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Let me tell you my story about my Chatty Cathy anyway, I am the youngest of 10 children, 6 girls, 4 boys. I was born late in my parents life, my Mother was 45, my Father was 54, they already had grandchildren when I came along. We lived on a farm in the country, we worked very hard, loved with all our hearts, went to church and never had any extra money. I was in 3rd grade before I had my first ice cream cone!!!!!! The year was 1963, I was 7 years old, in the 2nd grade( I remember this so well because that was the year JFK was killed) Christmas was coming and I prayed to God for a Chatty doll like I had seen on TV, I knew Santa would bring her if my parents told him it was okay. I was so good that year, I would have bargained with the devil to get that doll, I thought my life would be over if I didn't get her. Xmas morning came……………..and THANK GOD my Chatty was indeed under the tree.
I had never and have never since that day known such joy as that doll gave me. After the holidays, I went back to school and along with me came my new Chatty, I took her for Show and Tell. It was the worst day in my 7 years of life, a girl name Jane pulled on her string and…………..broke her string. My Chatty never spoke again but I still loved her and played with her every day, several years later we had a house fire and I lost her in the fire. So, I have been waiting 40 years to hear a Chatty speak and to smell her wonderful plastic smell!! This is sort of funny but I wanted to cry, when I discovered that you could still get these dolls, I was taken back in time to my 7th year of life.
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You have a doll on your site that looks just like the one I had when I was a kid. I don't remember much about my other dolls but I will always remember my Chatty Cathy doll.
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I was 10 I think when my sister got her first Chatty I loved to play with dolls but since I was a boy my dad didn't like that! I did play with her every chance I got.
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My sister is disabled do to an accident and now cannot communicate with our family anymore. I was showing her a doll magazine I had and her eyes lit up when she seen a 1998 remake Chatty Cathy doll. I remembered she had one when she was small.
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I got my first Chatty Cathy doll for Christmas in 1960. I was so happy. The first time I pulled her string it broke. I never did get to hear her talk I don't know why my mother never took her back? I didn't care I loved her so much.
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My sisters and I all had Chatty Cathy dolls when we were small. We would pull thier strings all at the same time trying to get them all to say the same thing at once. Until mine broke! They were all different I had a Blonde pig-tail doll one of my sisters had a brunette pig-tail doll and my other sister had a blonde with short hair. All those dolls looked like us!
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I am soooooooooooooo happpppppyyyyyyyyy I found your site. I now can live my childhood all over again!
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I don't know what happened to my Chatty Cathy doll???????.... We moved around so much that I think she got lost in the shuffle. I miss her so much and I am 50 years old! She gave me many happy days when I was small. I cherished her and now she is gone. I took such good care of her and she still talked. She still had all her original clothes too. "Oh where oh where has my little doll gone"
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I have to have this doll! She looks like me! Just like when I was a kid.
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Blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes? I can't remember the color of her eyes but I can remember they were different than my friends Chatty Cathy's
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I was 9 or 10 when I got my first Chatty Cathy doll. My family didn't have any money but my mom always made sure we had a real nice Christmas. My sister and I wanted talking dolls for Christmas. We just knew my mom wouldn't be able to buy them. My sister and I sat for hours just looking at the doll in the catalog. There were a lot of dolls in that catalog but the page with the Chatty Cathy doll was all we wanted to look at. We wrote "please" all over the page and pointed to the doll.
I can't remember if I ever believed in Santa clause or not but it almost seems like I did because I can remember going out late at night (it was winter so it was dark early) and looking up in the sky wondering if I would be able to see Santa Clause and just hoping he would bring me a Chatty Cathy doll. I can remember seeing Santa Clause in a store that year and my mother telling me to go up and talk to him. I never did and thought it was because I refused to talk to Santa that I didn't have a hope of ever getting my doll. I kept saying he isn't real oh but what if he is and I didn't talk to him. Then came Christmas morning I couldn't wait, I was so excited I had decided that it would be okay if I didn't get the doll and I just knew she wasn't under that tree. OH MY GOD I was so happy I jumped up and down and screamed I got her, I got her, I was so happy I feel like crying now and I am 54 years old. Crying over a doll, how silly. I will never forget that Christmas!
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I am soooo excited to get her, She is my 50th B-day present to myself. Cathy was my favorite doll. My sister cut her hair, broke her string and drew all over her with a ball point pen. I remember playing school with Cathy, and she was always the smartest in the class. Thanks so much for helping me bring back a special part of my childhood.
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My Chatty Cathy Story.. My first chatty I got for Christmas in 1963 she was a red-head with green glassine or pinwheel eyes I can't remember which. But I can remember her like it was yesterday and the reason for that is because I wanted a talking doll with long hair that I could play with and fix her hair the way I wanted it. Up until then there wasn't any dolls that had long hair. I opened her and was so happy until the next day when I went to take her hair out of pig-tails and seen these 2 big bald spots on the back of her head! God I was soooooo MAD!! I could not believe my mother would buy me a doll that was bald! Of course she didn't know and to top it all off my twin sister got Chatty Charmin that had all those records that she bragged about and how her doll said all kinds of stuff. I played with my red-head green eyed chatty with the bald head that only said 18 phrases while I watched my twin learn French with her doll. I few years later I put all my dolls away and started on boys. But we, my twin and I, told my mom to keep our dolls and to never throw our Chatties away and she did. When I was 22 and married I asked my mother for my Chatty Cathy doll and when she brought her out she was now missing an arm and didn't talk anymore..... again I was soooooooo MAD! My mom had let others play with her and when she broke my dad had tried to fix her and lost her arm! LOL I can remember my mom saying she didn't know the kids had it (a lie) and my dad saying oh the arms around here some place (a lie). LOL I took my broken down bald chatty home with me only to have my husband after looking at this one armed bald doll up in the closet taking up space ask me why in the world I would want to keep that piece of junk doll? So I Throw her out! Yup in the trash she went and to this day I have always regretted that. I spent many years looking for another red-head chatty with green eyes and bald spots and I am still looking for her.
I know now she is what they call a Canadian Chatty but I still wonder about that because we lived in the southern part of Minnesota and I know my mother would not have made a trip to Canada to buy a doll but she did order from catalogs so maybe some how it came down from Canada. But I still have my doubts and think that some of those Canadian dolls (what they call them now) were made right here in America (maybe)? I do know that the reason the dolls have the bald spots was because it was a cheaper way to build the doll and was a cheaper doll to buy. I some how knew that back in 1963 as I still believe that now.
I now collect and fix Chatty Cathies and love doing it, I continue to look for my bald redhead chatty everyday on ebay, I check junk and antique stores, go to auctions just looking for her over and over again so it is a bit strange that I should repair all these dolls and have never been able to get my hands on my bald redhead. I think the day I find her, I will then be able to give this obsession up. (maybe)
PS:.. My twin still has her Chatty Charmin and "By Accident" one day I threw out my husbands baseball card collection.
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