Here’s Phoebe with the owner of the red shoe I posted the other day. I had to wait til they were both wearing their red shoes to snap a photo. I had My Friend Mandy when I was a girl and my Mom miraculously held on to her so I have her to hand down to Phoebe but I could not help myself from ebaying this Jenny doll for my dark haired girl. Phoebe loves her. She squeals when she sees her and starts smacking at her and gets all squinty. It is so cute! Of course right now all she wants to do is eat the shoes and gum her face. I’m sure I’ll have to put her up on a shelf for a few years until she’s really ready for Jenny. That’ll give me some time to work on outfits. Maybe even a cool camping outfit like Sadie’s Mandy has!
Oh I just love little girls and dolls! It is so fun to play dolls with a daughter!
She is so a cute little girl and looks like a doll!Sweet!
Oh those little red shoes!! My youngest daughter wore those very same ones and it just became her trade mark. I loved how cute they looked on her,they certainly look adorable on Phoebe.I love your blog by the way!!:)
I had Mandy! And Becky! And Mikey! I think my mom still has them in a suitcase.
Really love your little girl’s tights. Cute.
I had that Jenny doll, and my Grandma made us matching nightgowns!
i went up to my parents’ cabin in january and pulled out a box full of mandy, jenny, becky, mikey and all their clothes. it was so fun! jenny and mikey were mine and the other two were my sisters. my mom sewed them the hippest late 70s wardrobe and we had a few purchased outfits (including jenny’s roller skates). too cool for school
that is so cute that phoebe gets so excited for jenny
I HAD THAT DOLL!!! WOw, thanks for the memories! That little one is the cutest, especially with those lil red sneakers!
I had Jenny!! She was my favorite doll and I toted her around everywhere. As soon as I go the ultrasound and realized I was having a girl I got one on ebay. I still have all the clothes my grandmother made for her and now my daughter has them.
What a sweet photo : )
Boy is Phoebe getting big! So cute, too.
I had Mandy and my mom saved her for me. Alas, no little girls in our family. 🙁
You’ve just cleared up a big mystery from my childhood! I had a blonde version of that doll, but never remembered that she was called that on the box, so for years now I’ve been wondering what possessed me to call my doll mandy… She lives on in a box at my grandparents’ house. With most of her hair shorn, if I recall.
My girls had that doll! We kept them… and when my granddaughter was old enough to play with her mom’s Jenny…I made an entire wardrobe – complete with a bride dress and veil – and gave it to her for Christmas one year. She loved it!
The tradition continues…
It hardly seems possible that your Phoebe is now playing with dollies.
Sweet photo…
I had a Jenny doll. I really should ebay one for Katrina although Mandy matches her coloring better.
I’ve got Mandy and Jenny and some of their clothes and patterns stuffed on a shelf in my daughter’s room. If she’s anything like me, she’ll love looking at them and have no earthly idea how to play with them. But I still love them, and they’re the one set of dolls I might actually break down and make clothes for.
We had both Mandy and Jenny as kids… how could I have forgotten?? Such gorgeous, sweet dolls.
I thought that red shoe looked familiar! I had Mandy and Becky and my brother had Mikey. My Nana used to make beautiful clothes for them and that’s how I learned to sew, by helping her.. I remember she and I went to all the toy stores in town looking for a pair of white shoes- Becky had white shoes and Mandy had red ones and we needed two pairs of white shoes to go with the pretty Easter dresses my Nana had made for them.. we never found another pair of white shoes, of coures, that was pre-Ebay!
My three year old blondie daughter plays with her auntie’s Mandy doll (auntie was/is a total tomboy and never ever played with the doll herself) and loves her. The outfits are pretty awesome, but I hadn’t thought of making more myself. Hooray for Mandy/Jenny.
Ooooohhhhh…I had a Mandy and my sister had a Jenny! My mom used to sew clothes for them–I’ll never forget having a dress and a nightgown that matched my Mandy doll.
My mom still has them at home and now my nieces pull them out and play with them when they visit.
Your Phoebe has the sweetest little face, I love seeing pics of her!
Wow, blast from the past! I had the Mandy doll and my sister had Jenny. I wonder where those are…My mom probably sold them at a garage sale when I wasn’t looking.
I never had a Mandy or Jenny doll, but I do have a couple of patterns for their clothes. Would you like them?
I found your blog a little bit back, and I love it! I also had a my friend Mandy and just recently found a picture of when I received it for Christmas! http://themusicalmouse.typepad.com/the_musical_mouse/2008/01/6-nightgown.html
My daughter is also a brunette like me (so why Mandy, I don’t know!), and my mom has my Mandy doll and all the clothes we sewed for her waiting for my little girl. Wish she would hurry up and ship it, the memories of these dolls are just overwhelming! Thanks for sharing.
I still have my Mandy and Jenny and you are the first person I’ve seen who knows them too. In fact, I still have their outfits and find myself drawn to clothes that look like Mandy’s – particularly peasant shirts and clogs! My grandmother and I used to make clothes for the dolls when we had sleepovers – some of my first experiences with a sewing machine Oh, I should have my mom send mine to me! Thanks for the lovely photo and memories.
omg! I have my old Mandy doll. My daughter loves her. I have all the clothes and the patterns. So glad to see others enjoy Mandy as much as we do!
I miss my mandy!
Anna
Ha, I know that was a My Friend shoe! I was thinking the quilting trio looked very My Friend with their patterned bodies.
I loved my Mandy and Jenny dolls and boy do they hold up well too! I think you can put them in the washing machine, or at least my mom did once when mine got gross.
You two have fun!
I love My Friend Jenny…Had one when I was little. :o)
Ha!
I bought Penny “Mandy” when she turned 2 on ebay. The funny thing, they look a lot alike!
I have the patterns for all of the gangs clothes- bought that on ebay too. I think we need to have a clothes making marathon!
Oh!!! How sweet!!! I had/have Jenny and now my girls love her too! Your blog is too cute!!! I look forward to it daily!!Great stuff/ideas!!!
I remember My Friend dolls. Thanks for sharing.
my mum stil has the two Mandy dolls my sister and I had as little girls. Those babies sure were well made!!
I was just curious… how is oscar doing?
I had a Mandy doll too and my gramma would sew clothes for her.
oscar? the gypsies say he’s doing fine!
I had the Mandy and my sister the Jenny. I am brunette and she a blonde. Bro. had Mikey. We LOVED those dolls. Tried to get a few on ebay last year for my sister’s birthday. We even had a book that had patterns for the clothes and my mom would sew them. Oh, fine memories!
The “My Friends” dolls have the cutest faces. I loved them when I was little. So cute! Love Phoebe’s tights and sneaks.
I have Mandy, Jenny and Becky from when I was little. My daughter who is 5, loves them. They are still at my parents house, and she plays the heck out of them when she is there. Poor Mandy’s hair has been brushed and brushed and washed and curled….and it still looks fabulous! They just don’t make dolls the way they used to.
They are so cute, especially your daughter. The doll will make a great friend for your daughter.
Such a cute picture!
OMG OMG OMG OMG! I SQUEEED with delight when I saw this picture! I HAVE THE SAME DOLL. It is hanging out with my “little huggums” doll downstairs and is missing her shoes! lol.
OH THIS IS SOOO COOOL. *squee*
yippee!!!
and did I tell you I scored a Becky doll right before I had Liddy, you know, just in case I had a girl. . .ha!!
I had a Jenny doll too, but I don’t know if we hung onto her. She was a great doll, and as a brunette, I remember I always preferred having brunette dolls as well (and if not brunettes, then red heads were the next most desirable, then finally blondes). I’m sure you’ll make so top notch accessories for her.
I knew what that red shoe was the second I saw it in your previous post! My sisters and I had three of these dolls growing up – we called them Ginger (red hair), Becky (blonde), and Darling (the Brunette in your photo). Those red shoes were my absolute favorite for the dolls to wear. That brings back such good memories! Thanks for posting!
Come to think of it, Ginger, Becky and Darling remind me a lot of your new Kit, Chloe and Louise dolls 🙂 I can’t wait to see the clothes you come up with for them! Are you going to be selling these as patterns?
Ooh, Love the Jenny! I have two and all the FP clothing patterns! If you ever want to do a Jenny doll clothes swap, I’d be completely up for it!
Jenny’s pretty cute, but she doesn’t hold a candle to darling Phoebe. My girl played with dolls when she was a very little girl. I miss dollies. Maybe I should just by myself one?
Those dolls take me back to my childhood: I had Mandy and my sister had Jenny. I think I still have them somewhere in a box at my mom’s house, along with about 50 Cabbage Patch Kids!
Oh, how cute! And Phoebe even looks a little like Jenny. :0) Love the red shoes!
awwww to cute. i had Becky, my twin had Jenny and my older sister had Mandy!! good times!
I just love your cloth dolls and toys so much better!
Oh! I had both Mandy and Jenny dolls growing up and loved them to pieces. My girls adore going to Grandmas and getting to play with them….I can’t figure out how my Mother ended up with them and not me.
How can you not love these dolls!!!!
ooo, I had my friend jenny too! I cut her bangs and mine:(
I had these dolls and loved them. But I never had any fun outfits for them. Maybe ’cause I only had them for a year or two before Cabbage Patch Kids took over.
I have a special place in my heart for red shoes! Phoebe looks so cute with her dolly 😉
those are so so so sweet 🙂
Also wanted to let you know that I’m having a grand contest over at my blog, so if you get a chance, stop on by! 🙂
Phoebe is adorable!
I had Becky (red hair – to match mine) & my little sister had Jenny (to match her hair). And my mum made them FABULOUS outfits & they are all waiting until my monkey is old enough to play with them. Maybe in a couple of years!!!!! These dolls provided many hours of happiness.
OH! There is nothing sweeter than a pair of red shoes! I have been eyeballing these all week http://www.bestdressedchild.com/wishgiclredl.html Gorgeous!
How my! Is really Phoebe already that big??!!!?? Well I can’t believe I have been away from your blog for sooo long.
She is darling and has still the best hair I’ve ever seen on a baby.
Now guess what? I long to put my red shoes on. Too bad it is raining today.
xo from Switzerland
Ooh, I had one of those when I was little and so loved her! All that brown? So sweet!
I had/have Mandy, AND her cute little camping outfit!
She was one of my favorites… Ah, the memories…
I nearly flipped when I saw the My Friend Jenny doll in the pic! I had one just like her when I was little (cause my name is Jenny too, of course). She had a straw hat and different shoes – probably long gone now… She was my favorite doll. Thanks for the fun memory! Phoebe is adorable, by the way.
Funny how so many of us thirty-somethings(?) had those old Fisher Price dolls. I adored my Mandy doll of course and still have her packed away along with all of her clothes. At least twice a year my husband asks me if I really need to keep that untouched box of dolls (I have sons only!) and of course I say yes. I love Mandy and imagine myself when I’m an extremely old lady taking her out and talking to her like we used to.
I had that Jenny doll, too! My mom made some cute little dresses for her, but that calico jumper was my favorite. Thanks for bringing back some great memories.
I had that doll too! I got her when I had my adenoids taken out. That was a good trade…adenoids for lots of ice cream & my beautiful doll. Loved her!
I had becky. I still have her. She’s seen better days, but she will be passed along if I ever have a daughter.
I just have to say how cute your little girly is! She’s lucky she’ll have a great doll when she’s ready for her!
My little 15 month one loves dolls right now too, mainly licking them.
Thank goodness for baby jail, is another thing I have to say about this post! I never understood until I became a mother.
i had Jenny! she was my fave growing up. i wonder if i still have her.. hopefully she didnt go thru the punk phase like my barbies did!! they all ended up with chopped mullets and sticky food coloring in their hair!
Horaaayy for long lost lovely dolls!
Oh she is just the cutest sweetest thing! All girls love their dolls!
I just dug out Mandy and Jenny for my preschool daughter. I LOVED those dolls when I was young. I didn’t read through all the other comments, so if no one else has offered you copies of the original clothing pattern book for these dolls let me know and I’ll send along copies to you—not that you of all people need a pattern!
Me too, me too!! My daughter loved Mandy and Jenny and I still have the patterns and some fabric for their clothes that i never got around to using. Now I’m inspired again. Thanks!
Since my name is Mandy I of course had the Mandy doll. My amazing grandmother made me and My Friend Mandy matching outfits and even a wee closet. I still have and cherish them.
I have both Mandy and Jennifer saved for my daughter. Who is 32 with no thoughts of reproducing. But when the dolls where first out they came with patterns which I have quite a few, if you want them let me know I can copy them for you 🙂
I had them all too, and my girls are playing with them too. It’s just amazing They must have been made with such great quility. There hair still can be combed, it had to find good dolls now. To bad fisher price doesn’t come out with a new doll
Hey! I have Mandy and Jenny. I received Mandy first, then, as soon as Jenny came out, my mom bought her for me, because she had brown eyes and brown hair. They need clothes, that’s actually why I was searching Mandy and Jenny when I stumbled across you lovely walk down memory lane. Thank you!
This is so funny – I have the exact same doll! I still have her too.