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| A Flawless Sparkle Plenty |
rubber faced toys like Blue Eyed Bear:
there was also Sparkle Plenty.
I have no recollection of this doll from my childhood but learned about it from a reference in the beloved coming of age novel I Will Go Barefoot All Summer For You, Toby Bright by Katie Letcher Lyle. The main character, 11 - year - old Jessie Preston wins a Sparkle Plenty doll as a prize on the "Kiddi Karnival Quiz Show" and her cousin Frances obtains one by shoplifting (14).
The fact that they stole the doll from the store, and that they only took things "small enough to be hidden," makes me wonder if it was one of these miniature versions, barely the size of a thimble:
A trademark of the standard size Sparkle Plenty's was “magic, lifelike skin” (apparently for the body but not the face). Many of these specimens survive today as collector's items but the manufacturers had to discontinue use and revert back to regular doll rubber because the new material darkened and deteriorated. In the novel, Jessie and Frances are growing up in the early 1950s, so perhaps the Sparkle Plenty fad had passed by the time my sisters and I came along. I asked them if they remembered:
Di: I've never heard of Sparkle Plenty, but I found this picture of her wearing gloves, like a scientist or something. Haha! Oh, I see: it's to cover the discolored hands!
Peg: No, I haven't heard of her either, but I looked up her sad backstory, with her odd, homely parents. I do remember some dolls having more lifelike textures, softer than the hard plastic, so this must have been an early attempt.
Kit: Odd coincidence—I’d pretty much say that I NEVER think of the Dick Tracy cartoon, but last on Pawn Stars a woman brought in her grandfather’s tin toy trucks and cars, painted with Dick Tracy’s face at the wheel and other Dick Tracy characters in the passenger seats and looking out the windows.
Then this morning I follow Peg's lead on Sparkle Plenty's backstory, only to find out that Sparkle Plenty and her parents originated as Dick Tracy cartoon characters!
Di: Wow! The universe aligned!
Kit: Yeah! I guess it’s a message to start paying more attention to Dick Tracy!
Peg: Do you remember the old guy next door the summer when we lived in that cabin in St. Charles, on the backside of Blanchett Park? He said his girlfriend was the Moonmaid from Dick Tracy and when the moon came out, her skin turned blue.
Di: Yes, I remember him. Did not remember the Dick Tracy connection!
Kit: I had forgotten that! But we did meet some oddballs on that street! They probably said the same about us! Ha!
Peg: True Kit. "Those crazy people who crammed 2 adults and 5 kids in a one room cabin with no air conditioning, sleeping on janky cots that kept ripping."
Kit: One night when I was at Aaron’s back in June, he and Pam drove me all around St. Charles, looking at all the new Lindenwood construction, old favorite restaurants, etc. — and trying to find “the shack.” One small house seemed a likely possibility, but we couldn’t be sure. [Or could we? More to follow . . . ]
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