Crissy

I first owned Crissy when I was a child. Crissy was the most memorable of the larger dolls that I owned because you could shorten her hair (without using scissors) then grow it out in a matter of seconds. She also had the coolest clothes (which basically resembled what was in fashion during Crissy's heyday in the late 1960's-early 1970's) and you could buy separate outfits for her. I even had a large carrying case for Crissy. Basically Crissy was like a larger version of a Barbie doll, except you could grow and shorten Crissy's hair at whim.

When I got older my mother gave my Crissy to Goodwill. At the time I didn't mind but when I got older and realized that, unlike so many people I know who still had one old childhood toy or two locked away in a closet or attic, I had very few items from my childhood because my mother believed that things should be given away if you lose interest in them. (She totally hated pack rats.)

In 2004 I decided that I would reclaim one lost item from my childhood and I picked Crissy because she is easy to find on eBay. The bad news is that a Crissy in excellent shape with her original clothes would frequently get bids of $60 or higher and the bidding can get really competitive. But then I noticed that many of the naked Crissy dolls weren't being sold at all. I also noticed that people who tried to sell a Crissy outfit alone also had a harder time selling the item. So I hatched an idea. I made one bid on a naked Crissy doll to one person. Then I made another bid for an orange lace dress that someone else was selling. I was the highest bid on both so I quickly paid off my bids. What was really neat was that, coincidentally, both the doll and the dress arrived on the same day.

A couple of weeks later, I saw a pair of matching orange shoes being sold on eBay. Since my re-acquired Crissy doll was barefoot, I thought I would purchase her a pair. What's wild is that, of all the Crissy-related bids, the bidding on the shoes was the most fierce. I changed my bid to a higher one at least twice. When I finally went as high as $16, I decided that it would be my final bid. Well, it turned out that I won that bid. My Crissy is missing a pair of matching orange panties (which is not noticeable unless you decide to pull up her dress) but, otherwise, she is complete.

Click on any photo below to see a larger version of the same photo open in a new window.

Here's a front view of Crissy.	Here's a back view of Crissy, where you can see her long, thick, luxurious hair.
Here's a close-up of Crissy. You can see how bright and happy her face looks.	In order to shorten her hair, all you have to do is turn a knob that's located in her back.
Crissy hair grows shorter...	...and shorter...
...and shorter...	...and shorter...
...and shorter...	...and shorter until Crissy is sporting very short hair.
But if you regret making Crissy's hair too short, it's no big deal to change it back to the way it was. All you have to do is press the button on her stomach...	...while simultaneously pull her hair until it becomes long again.
Those 70's dolls! Crissy looks groovy next to an Ashton Drake reproduction of a 1972 Blythe doll and Velvet, another growing hair doll that was originally marketed as Crissy's cousin.	Crissy wears a dress that belongs to her cousin Velvet. Despite the fact that Velvet is 15 inches tall and Crissy is 18 inches, I was able to get the dress on her with no trouble at all. I think it's because both dolls share the same size torso despite the height difference. The only thing wrong with Crissy wearing Velvet's dress is that the hemline is way too short.

Check out more photos of Crissy in the Custom Handmade Doll Clothes Gallery.