| History Of The Classy Chatty Cathy Doll American & Canadian |
| . |
| Complete Time Line Can also be read on the Chatty Cathy Body Page (Click Here) |
| The Chatty Cathy Doll |
| Chatty Cathy was born in 1959 by Mattel INC. But did not go out for sale until about June of 1960. See sales ads at the bottom of this page. Elliot and Ruth Handler along with their friend Harold Matson formed Mattel INC in 1945. The company sold doll furniture and musical toys in the beginning. Later on many different dolls and toys. "You Can Tell It's Mattel It's swell" is Mattel's motto. Jack Ryan with the help of his brother Jim created Chatty Cathy's pull string voice box in 1959 and applied for a patent on the doll in Feb of 1960. Also in 1959 the sculpture and design of the Chatty Cathy head was done by Tony Hower?? (I don't have his last name). He designed the doll head to look like his little girl. June Foray did the voice for Chatty Cathy in 1960. In the mid 1960's Ruth Handler president of Mattel INC expanded the business to have plants in Asia, Europe, Canada and Mexico and I have read by 1964 Germany, South Africa and Italy. They also had a sales office in Switzerland as headquarters for the company’s worldwide marketing. The Chatty Cathy doll although an American doll was also made to speak other languages. Such as French and Spanish, plus the British (English) Rosebud Doll is also a Mattel talking doll. She doesn't look like Chatty Cathy but she is Mattel made. There also could be more foreign speaking Chatty Cathy dolls. I am still researching. In 1960 Mattel licensed Dee & Cee "Diamond and Cone" last names of a husband and wife team to make the Chatty Cathy in Toronto Canada. The Chatty Cathy doll was such a hit that Mattel bought out Dee & Cee in 1962. Also from reading about Dee & Cee, D&C or Dee an Cee, three different ways the company advertised their name and most of the time dee & cee not using caps. Their motto was "Quality Above All". Morris Cone believed in buying a better quality of material not only for the dolls but also in the type of clothes the doll was dressed in. He would use a better cloth, cotton and satins, lace and ribbon. Their dolls were always dressed just a little bit better than the rest. There are many American Chatty Cathy doll still floating around out there and Canadian Chatty Cathy doll too. But the Canadian doll is getting hard to find. I do not know what the ratio is but I bet it is 10 to 1. The Canadian and the American dolls do not look alike. The difference is in the head and limbs. The bodies are the same. The dolls look different from one another but the same mold was used for the head and limbs. It's the way Dee & Cee added the make-up to the dolls face is why the dolls look different. Plus Dee & Cee molded their own limbs and head, you can see this in the color and texture when compared to the American dolls. Also the hair is different, Canadian hair is more coarse. Mattel imported most of the clothes for the Chatty Cathy doll (I am still researching this) and I believe Dee & Cee had their own line of clothes for the Chatty Cathy doll by 1962. You can see them in the ads on my clothes page. (click here) As to date I know of 6 outfits Dee & Cee made for the Chatty Cathy doll counting the red party dress and including the 2 different colored fancy dresses. For the American dolls, 14 outfits Mattel made counting the red dress and including the different colors. |
| Chatty Cathy was made in 1959 but was not sold until 1960. Also in 1960 Mattel licensed Dee & Cee of Toronto Canada to make and sell the doll, selling in 1961. Also most people believe the doll was also sold in 1959 in America and it wasn't. The reason people think this is because the first box is dated 1959. The dolls patent wasn't applied for until Jan of 1960. June Foray the person that did the voice of Chatty Cathy didn't even record her voice until 1960. That could also explain why the saying on the front of the first box and in the storybook are different than what the first records says. The box had to have been made before the first Chatty Cathy doll with June Foray voice was sold. Just like the remake doll wasn't sold until 1999 but the box says 1998, meaning the box was made before the doll. It is understandable why they did it that way. It was because the record player itself would have had to be tested with some kind of record before a patent could have been applied for. So the very first record could of very well had the same sayings, as is what is on the first box and in the storybook. Only to be changed in 1960 after the box was already made and June Foray's voice was used as the official voice of the Chatty Cathy doll. The first records are dated MCMLX 1960 in roman numerals. The roman numerals are also on the backs of some of the early dolls. There are 3 sets of recorded phrases by June Foray. The dates on the records are MCMLX (1960), 1961 and 1962. The MCMLX record and the 1961 record are slightly different from one another but both only have 11 phrases as does the French record dated 1962. The American 1962 record says 18 phrases as does the British (English) speaking and the 1963 Spanish record. Also note here that English record is inside a closed voice box and I do not know the date on the record but I am sure it is later than 1962. The Spanish record is the only record that I have even found in a Chatty Cathy doll dated 1963. Also in the 1998 remake advertising video no one talks about the doll ever having another voice other than June foray, plus the advertisement video does not talk about Dee & Cee. But it does talk about the foreign talking dolls. It also talks about now you can find brown eyed 1960 dolls even though the archives say different. It talks about how the Barbie was made in 1959 and after Barbie they wanted to create a talking doll, which turned out to be the Chatty Cathy doll. The Chatty Cathy doll was made but not advertised for sale until July of 1960. July of 1960 is the earliest ad I can find for her. It is an advertisement about the doll being broadcast on the Saturday morning funnies starting in Aug 1960. The first dolls sold were the prototype doll with a record inside her body dated MCMLX 1960 and sold in a box dated 1959. All my research indicates to me she was the blonde bob prototype with blue decal eyes. The first advertisements was the TV commercial we have all seen and love. In that commercial the doll is shown to be a blonde and a brunette. The brunette having brown eyes. So it is completely understandable why you see brown-eyed prototype dolls. They might not of been the very first dolls off the production line but like the blondes they did come with prototype bodies. Mattel licensed Dee & Cee in 1960 to make the doll. Production would of started in late 1960 or early 1961 and the first dolls sold in 1961. Dee & Cee made the head and limbs but the body had to of come from America because the first bodies were not patent yet. The patent was applied for but not granted in 1960. But it was also in 1960 Mattel was stamping the dolls back with their name. The very first early dolls prototype and first stamped dolls have the same body, the only difference being the molded stamped back. So the bodies were sent to Canada and there is no doubt in my mind that Mattel not only sent the stamped bodies to Canada but also could of sent some of the prototype bodies. So this is why I think some prototype dolls could have been made by Dee & Cee. I would think not to many prototypes but some. In fact that could be the reason the body was stamped in the first place, meaning the body had not changed at all but was being sold in another country. But it i possible Dee & Cee also made the body, I just have not found one single thing that has told me so, the bodies are not marked in anyway telling me for sure where they were made other than right here in America. I will update if I find out otherwise. The 1960 dolls prototype and stamped back #1's came in the 1959 box and had the MCMLX record inside the body and my thinking is that Dee & Cee used the same box and clothes for their dolls until 1962. (Note Here) I cannot find a Dee & Cee marked box other than the #3 box dated 1962. So I will assume here that Dee & Cee didn't make any clothes for the doll until the pigtail dolls with the number 4 and 5 bodies came out in 1962 but were not sold until 1963. That is also the year Mattel bought out Dee & Cee and according to what I have read, Dee & Cee had there own line of clothes for the doll. That is also why you will see the Red Party Dress on the 1962 Dee & Cee boxes. Before that and according to the first commercial and some of the early catalog advertisements, you do not see the Red Party Dress. In fact that Red Party Dress is more in line with what Dee & Cee would of made for the doll than Mattel. Which has made me curious on who design that Red Party dress and I have yet to find a Japan tag on the dress so I do not know if the American red party dress was an import or not. (more research?) Also that red dress was retired in 1998 when Mattel decided to bring back the Chatty Cathy doll they also decide to retire that dress. The Black Chatty Cathy doll was produced in 1961 but not sold until 1962. Also by 1961 a new record was made, the phrases just a bit different and a new box was made. The box now was dated 1961 and was a window box. The new records were now dated 1961 and had BLON and BRUN on them for Blonde and Brunette. Later that same year those words were removed. The BRUN was the record that said the second set of phrases with the BLON saying the first set. Both records were used in both blonde and brunette dolls in America and Canada. The doll was such a huge hit in the US and Canada that by 1962 Mattel made the 18-phrase record along with the better body and the #3 box was also made and dated 1962. Those dolls were not sold until 1963 and on. But Mattel was still making the 11-phrase record dating it 1962 for the Chatty Baby doll, but no longer for the Chatty Cathy doll, meaning there isn't an 11-phrase record dated later than 1961 for Chatty Cathy. Also Mattel owned Dee & Cee by 1962 and the Canadian dolls were now dressed in the Canadian clothes and came in the #3 box marked by Dee & Cee. In 1962 the patent was granted and Mattel continued making the doll for how long I do not know. I do know they were still making it in 1963 because of the Spanish record. From what I have read after Mattel bought Dee & Cee in 1962, Dee & Cee closed its doors in 1964. The doll was still being sold in 1965 and 1966 but I do not believe it was being made after 1964. I do not know when Mattel stopped production of the doll in America or Canada. Some fun facts: The patent went through in Jan. of 1962 The more rare open right hand was made so Chatty Cathy could wear her ring on both hands and I have never seen it on a Canadian doll. The only phrase that is constant, that has never changed is "I Love You" in all the American and Canadian Chatty Cathy dolls from 1960-2010 There is an add I read that says the doll came in brunette and blonde hair and the hair was 2 different colors just like real kids, it says so in her story book too... "It says notice how her hair is two different colors like most blonde children". The 1999 Chatty Cathy remake, Mattel gives a 2-year warranty on the doll. That is a huge difference from the 90-day warranty that was given for the original Chatty Cathy doll. |
| The Years |
| My biggest problem with all these dolls is when they were made. The years are very confusing and how their backs are stamped as per the year they were made is all messed up. The only thing that I can say for sure is Mattel starting mass- producing the doll in 1960 because that is the date of the very first recording and there is some questions about that because the dolls body was designed in 1959. Meaning in 1959 a record would of had to be made at some point in order to make sure the doll worked. I know that because the first box is dated 1959 and by the fact the phrases on the box are slightly different as they are different in the storybook. But they are the same, meaning the record design was already made. This is where I wonder if another voice was used before June Foray's, at least on the test records, there had to have been. Also the 1961 records will say blonde or brunette so at some point Mattel must have wanted the blonde and the brunette to say different phrase from one another. It's pretty easy to figure out why Mattel made the different bodies. After 1960, my educated guess is Mattel kept on trying to make a better voice box. We know that because the first dolls voice was so quiet and the record got scratch up easy and most of them do not talk today and cannot be repaired with any kind of reliability. By the time Mattel made the #5 body the voice was much, much better. It was loud and clear and a better record was made that did not scratch so easy and she now said 18 phrases instead of the original 11. My Time Line: (This is not hard fact) The record MCLMX=1960 always says the first set of 11 phrases and is found in the blonde bob and brunette bob but mostly blonde. Hence the "Prototype" We know this, because the 1961 records can be marked BLON for blonde or BRUN for brunette with the blonde record saying the original set of 11 phrases and the brunette record saying the second set of phrases. This is also why I know the first Chatty Cathy doll was a blonde bob because of that 1961 record marked with BRUN, that record tells me Mattel decided when the second record came out it would be for the brunette doll. But that didn't last long, because the words BLON and BRUN were soon remover from the 1961 record leaving only the numbers or words like yellow or IBR1. I have never found the second set of phrase on a record dated MCLMX =1960 but who knows one could be out there, I just have never found one and until I can fine one or someone comes up with one for me, I am saying, and I still think, and everything points to it, the first doll was the blonde bob. But I also think the brunette bob was also made that first year (within months of the blonde) because of the TV commercial and the video saying the guy that created the head, Tony Hower had a little girl that he fashioned the doll against. It also shows a picture of that little girl standing next to a brunette bob with brown eyes. So why then did Mattel make the second record and mark it with BLON and BRUN? I think it was one of those ideas that fell through because that record was not labeled that way for long. Plus I have never found a MCMLX record marked BLON or BRUN and all of the MCMLX records say the first set of phrases. The marking of those records tells me the Blonde Bob is the first TRUE PROTOTYPE doll. I would also like to say here... even if you would like to think that only blonde record (first saying) were used with blonde heads and brunette records only used with brunette heads would be unrealistic. These dolls were mass-produced and Mattel didn't have a problem mixing up the eyes from brown to blue or blue to brown, I am sure they didn't have a problem mixing up the records too. They used what they had They had to, it would have been a cost issue. MoreInfo: I bought a Canadian Brunette bob with blue decal eyes, #1 body (cloth covered gill, unopened), with the Canadian brown limbs and the record inside her is the MCMLX= (1960) record. She is not a prototype but she still has the MCMLX record in her and 1960 body with brunette hair. In turn tells me the brunette bob was made in 1960 in Canada as well as in America and it also tells me that the #1 body was used in Canada and remember the #1 body is the very same body as the prototype the only difference is the Mattel stamp on the back. All three records (meaning MCMLX, 1961 BLON and 1961 BRUN) can be found in the "Prototype doll". So that body was still in use in 1961. Also in 1961 the record was changed again and the words BLON and BRUN were remover leaving only the numbers 686- 201 for the first set of sayings and 683-201 for the second set. You can also find IBR1 and the word Yellow on some of the records. It would have been later in that same year that BLON and BRUN were remover off the record and I think the reason they removed the BLON and BRUN off the record was because the Redhead soft head came out and now they used both records in the 3 different colored haired dolls. It was also in 1961 that the next two bodies were made. Or rather the cloth was removed off the #1 body making her now the #2 doll and the #3 body was also made. I know this because you can find a Hard Head Paige Boy, Blonde and Brunette on those bodies. But I have never found a redhead Paige Boy so the hard head came out before the Redhead Pigtails. I say that because there isn't a hard head Paige Boy redhead doll. I also think the soft head pigtails were the first pigtail dolls that came out because you can find soft head blondes, brunettes and redheads on the #2 and #3 bodies. My thinking on that is… when Mattel made the #2 and #3 bodies and added the hard head, that neck ring was very unstable and would break off easy. Plus the hard head is so stiff. So when they decided to make the pigtail doll adding the red hair they made that head soft to fit over those open neck rings easy and were much let likely to break the neck ring. Also I know for a fact the #3 body was still in use in 1962 because I have a French Canadian doll that has a 1962 record inside her body. The doll had never been opened and is completely original and it was in 1962 that the pigtail dolls came out as did the 1962 better record that says 18 phrases. Also this body can have a closed neck ring I find that the later her back is stamped the more likely she is to have a closed neck ring but that is not always the case. So the transition from an open neck ring to a closed one first happen with body #3. By 1962 Mattel figured out a way to make the body better by adding a solid neck ring and now adding hard head pigtails. I think that is why we see more hard head pigtails on the #4 and #5 bodies than any other body. In fact when you do see a hardhead pigtail on a #2 or #3 body she does not look right. She looks like she never came on that body and she didn't, at least not on the #2 is my thinking. But and as far as I can tell the soft head pigtails did, so that is why people think the hard head pigtail dolls should of also came on those #2 bodies when I am almost sure they didn't. But anything is possible with these dolls. Mattel was mass-producing the dolls so they had to use up all the doll part. I think in the end all the doll part were used up, meaning all the bodies were used up and so where the heads and limbs. They would not of just tossed out those left over parts. Oh, I am sure they did some but in any business where you mass-produce something you are not going to just throw out perfectly good parts. You are going to use them up where you can. Maybe not the body so much as it could have been melted again easily but the heads and limbs would have been used up. So # 4 and #5 dolls can be found with all the different heads including soft head bobs, hard head Paige boys and soft and hard head pigtails. Plus the limbs too from brown to white, to nice and pink. I also know that Mattel shipped eyes to Canada, that is why you will see the blue decal eyes in Canadian dolls (but why not the brown decal? I don't know). Plus Mattel did use the glassine eyes in the Chatty Cathy dolls and in the Tinny Chatty baby and they are the same eyes as in the glassine eyes in the Canadian Chatty Cathy dolls. So Mattel either got them from Canada or shipped them to Canada. Ether way they were used a lot in both American and Canadian dolls. In the American dolls they are mostly see in the blond pigtail soft head. I have seen them in the hard head blondes and in a brunette Paige boy hard head on the video. Which brings me to the pinwheel eyes in the American dolls. I now think they were used (maybe) but I am still on the edge with that one, what bothers me is I had a doll with the pinwheel eyes but my stupidity made me cut those eyes out of the head. Now my thinking is (yes, maybe) some were used but they were too big for the hard head and after the head shrunk up that eye bulged out and would not close up right, so the idea of using the pinwheel eye in a hard head was trashed. It just didn't work just like the idea of using the BLON and BRUN on the 1961 records. Different things were tried some worked and some didn't. But I do believe there was some sort of exchange in eyes between Mattel and Dee & Cee and remember Mattel did buy out Dee & Cee in 1962 because of the Chatty Cathy doll, because the doll was doing so well in Canada. So my time line is as follows and please remember this is my educated guess. 1959 the body was designed and made with some sort of record that did say 11 phrases but that record wasn't used in the dolls. Those first record sayings are on the front of the first 1959 boxes. 1960 early mass production of the prototype body was being made with the first record dated MCMLX. Doll #0 Also in late 1960 the doll was now stamped and in early 1961 the second record was made. Doll #1 Then the cloth cover was removed from the front of the speaker. Doll #2 And the first #3 bodies were made. Doll #3 Also in 1961 the hard head Paige boy came out as did the Chatty Baby doll and later that same year the redhead and soft heads pigtail doll and the BRUN and the BLON words was now removed from the second 1961 record. But here is also where Mattel was using up the early bodies and was using the 1961 record in those bodies. Because you have to remember that 0-#2 bodies are all the same inside and that body had to be used up. It was mass-produced probably more bodies than they had records for or vice versa depending on where the doll was made. 1962 The hard head pigtails and the #4 and #5 bodies came out with the last record dated 1962 and the doll now said 18 phrases. By the time Mattel stopped production on the doll what was left over in parts would had to be used up, Hence all the different heads were used on these two bodies #4 and #5. Time Line and Summing-Up (below) Blonde bobs blue eyes Brunette bobs brown eyes Blonde bobs brown eyes Hard head Paige Boy blondes blue eyes and brunette with blue or brown eyes. This is also when Mattel started using the Glassine eyes. (Also if the pinwheel eye was ever added to the doll it would have been now, but I am still so unsure about that and I have only ever had one doll that I think was original with green pinwheel eyes. So I am still unwilling to go out on a limb and say that the pinwheel eyes were ever used in the American Chatty Cathy doll. But I am sure the Glassine eye was used. Soft head pigtails blonde, brunette, redheads with blue and brown and glassine eyes. Hard head pigtails blonde, brunette and redheads with blue brown and glassine eyes. The dolls that are seen the most below. This is an unrealistic list of the dolls that you see the most and for some odd reason any doll that doesn't fit the description below doesn't belong or some think is a very rare doll. An American soft head blonde bob prototype with blue eyes and brown limbs. An American soft head brunette bob with brown eyes on a #1 body with brown limbs. A Canadian soft head blonde or brunette bob with pinwheel or glassine eyes on a #2 body with Canadian peachy colored limbs. An American hard head blonde or brunette Paige Boy with blue eyes on a #3 body with white limbs and open right hand. An American soft head blonde, brunette or redhead pigtail with blue eyes on a #4 body with yellow limbs. An American hard head blonde, brunette or redhead pigtail with blue eyes on a #5 body with peach colored limbs. When the truth is.... all these dolls are all mixed up and not by one person or some people out there purposely changing around body parts. When I read things like that, I think, "That is such a ridiculous statement"! Mattel mixed up these dolls, people didn't. They were sold all different ways. With different heads, bodies and limbs dressed in different clothes and came in different boxes. There are very few rules in these dolls... they are... A prototype always came as a soft head bob and has brown limbs. #0-#3 always say 11 phrases and never came in box #3. #5 always says 18 phrase and came in box #3. Canadian dolls always have soft heads and if they have pigtails also have 2 bald spots on the back of their heads. And that's it, there are no other rules with these dolls that you can go by and be completely confident she came that way. |
| Phrases On The Black and White Record Dated 1962 1) Je suis bien sage (I am very good! or I am well-behaved) 2) Je m'appelle Caroline (My name is Caroline) 3) Prenez-moi dans vos bras. (Take me in your arms) 4) J'ai faim, je veux manger (I'm hungry, I want to eat!) 5) Amen-moi dans mon petit lit (Put me in my little bed) 6) Je suis tres jolie (I am very pretty) 7) J'ai tres sommeil (I am very sleepy) 8) Donnez-moi un bonbon (Give me a candy!) 9) Je veux mon lait (I want my milk). 10) Je ferme mes jolies yeux (I will close my pretty eyes!) 11) Je suis tres gentile (I am very sweet!) |
| French Canadian Chatty Cathy Doll |
| #3 Last Record Phrases On The Black, Orange or white Record Dated 1962. 18 Phrases Chatty Cathy says: I love you. =1,2,3 Do you love me?=2,3 Give me a kiss.=2,3 Let's have a party.= 2,3 Please change my dress.= 2,3 Please brush my hair.= 1,2,3 Where are we going?= 1,3 Please take me with you.=2,3 I'm hungry .=1,3 May I have a cookie?=2,3 Will you play with me?=1,3 Please carry me.=1,3 Let's play house.=1,3 I hurt myself! =1,3 I'm so tired =2,3 What can we do now?=2,3 Let's play school.= 2,3 Tell me a story.=1,3 |
| #1 First Record Phrases On The Black Record Dated MCMLX (MCMLX=1960) found in the Prototype and early dolls. 11 Phrases Chatty Cathy says: I love you. =1,2,3 Lets change my dress. =1 Please brush my hair.=1,2,3 Where are we going?=1,3 I'm hungry =1,3 Will you play with me?=1,3 Please carry me.=1,3 Let's play house.=1,3 I hurt myself! =1,3 I'm sleepy.=1 Tell me a story.=1,3 Plus but I am unsure about her but the 2002-3 porcelain Chatty Cathy dolls by the Danbury Mint say these. Also the Ashton Drake 2003 Chatty Cathy and The 2007 Christmas Ornament says the phrases above The 1998 Remake. |
| #2 Second Record Phrases On The Black or Brown Record 1961. Also this record can be found in the Prototype dolls. 11 Phrases Chatty Cathy says: I love you. =1,2,3 Do you love me?= 1,3 Please brush my hair. =1,2,3 What can we do now? =2,3 Please change my dress.=2,3 Give me a kiss.=2,3 I'm so tired.=2,3 Lets have a party.=2,3 Please take me with you.=2,3 Lets play school.=2,3 May I have a cookie?=2,3 |
| What Chatty Cathy Says Note: The numbers next to the phrase will tell you if that particular phrase is also on one of the other records |
| Phrases On The Black Record Dated 1963 1) Te quiero mucho. I love you very much. 2) Vamos a campo. Lets go to the country. 3) Dame un beso. Give me a kiss. 4) Juega conmigo. Play with me. 5) Cuntame un cuento. Tell me a story. 6) Estoy cansada. I'm tired. 7) Hola. Qu tal? Hello. How are you? 8) Tengo sueo. I'm sleepy. 9) Eso me gusta. I like that. Note: This doll says 18 phrase but I only have nine of them, Please click here if you speak Spanish. I need help with the translation of 2 recordings of this doll. Please Help! Click |
| Spanish Chatty Cathy Doll |
| . |
