Our Christmas Doll Story

Approximately a month ago we received a request from a man named Craig to put together an Ideal Saucy Walker 22" doll for his mother.  We accepted the challenge to do so in a small amount of time.  Craig's wife is Jennifer.  For those who have seen our site recently you would have seen her name in our Repair Doll list .  We put her name on the dolls Web Page to assure that Craig's Mom would not know that Jennifer's doll was actually her new 22" Saucy Walker doll being restored.

Craig's whole family knew of the surprise and they all pitched in with information.  I feel very fortunate to have also been in on this surprise as I actually was blessed to speak with Craig's mother on the phone before we started working on her doll.  Craig got me in touch with her (3-way conversation) under the cover of being a Saucy Walker crazed lady who just liked to talk about our Saucy Walker dolls that she and I had as a child. She had no idea who I really was and she answered all of my questions so I could then be successful in creating a doll identical to hers. 

Now for her story:  When she was a child, her family was poor and she had received a 22" Ideal Saucy Walker for Christmas that her grandmother had gotten for her.  She was so proud of her doll and was the only girl in her area of town that had a real Saucy Walker, not a copy as was sold in the 50's but a real one.  Ideal sold their Saucy Walkers for a few dollars more than all the other walking dolls.  So here she was a little girl from a poor family and she owned a Saucy Walker and the rich girls did not. 

Not long after that, her mother and father separated and her beloved Saucy Walker was yanked out of her life by her own father who then gave her doll to his girlfriend's daughter.  She never saw her doll again and it left her with hurt feelings that carried over into her adult life.  Her son reported that she often she would cry when she told the story about her doll.

With the information that we had gotten from her and from Craig, we put together her new Ideal 22" Saucy Walker below. 

Yesterday 12-24-09 her new doll had not arrived at Craig's brother and sister-in-law's home in PA (Doug and Julia) because of the slower Christmas USPS mailing system as we all have experienced.  Her family and I were beside ourselves trying to think of what to do and her family came up with an idea that worked perfectly.  She was taken to her daughter's home and was shown the gift given to her for Christmas by Craig and his wife Jennifer on the Internet.  The report we received last night was that this special doll was identical from head to toe as her own doll all those many years ago.  She was in tears watching our video over and over again. Craig's mom replied that it is best that her new doll had not arrived at that moment because with all the Christmas excitement she would not have been able to give the time needed to focus only on her doll.  So her expectations of the doll's soon arrival is extending this special Christmas in her life as she had gotten to the point in her life that this season never was a good one for her until now.  

Thank you family for including SAUCY WALKER'S CORNER in your mother's life and allowing us to experience this miracle for your mother. My heart melted with this story and I owe all the glory to our Heavenly father who loves us so much he touches even the smallest areas of our lives.

Dr. Hubby and Sheryl E. Black

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JENNIFER'S 22" (Mother-In-Law's)

Light Strawberry Hair 22" Ideal Toy Corp. Saucy Walker 

She is a "Dream Walker" Saucy Walker By: Ideal 22".  Like New, Perfect Restoration.Original Hair, Original Shoes.  Replica Dress, Attached Slip and Onesie. Replacement Socks. Double Sided Satin Ribbons, stiffened for display.  New Kaiser Doll Stand and an identical replica Hang Tag. She has dreamy, "Flirty" Blue Eyes. They move from side to side easily.

Video will be added later of her walking.

To Go Back To The Saucy Walker's Main Web Site

Click On Each Image For A Larger View

HER VIDEO
BEFORE

Click On All Photos To Enlarge
These are her original Shoes
This doll's new replica dress, and Onsie underwear and attached slip are already made and we are waitingt on shipment.  We do need to buy her socks to look similar to the original.  We are planning (?) to have her finished by next weekend.  Because the body is faded white, we will bring her back to the original color with the "Air Brush" Saucy Walker blend. Dr. Hubby Does work miracles in that department.
RESTORATION UPDATES
Click On The Images To Enlarge
Hair has been re-braided but not cleaned yet.  Bangs will look much better later. We will be "Air Brushing" her make-up also soon.
Body has been "Air Brushed" with our special Saucy Blend Paint.  Gorgeous!  Blushing hands and knees come last.
Thought you might want to peek at her dress that came in today.  Lois even put a yellow flower on her "Onesie" underwear at the leg area.  I put her head next to the dress to give you an idea about how much the hair goes well with the yellow Taffeta.  The white ribbons will be at the end of each of her braids in a beautiful bow to match the satin look of the white eyelet.  I have ordered her socks, they should be here next week.  We will be sending her USPS Priority so she will be there on time.  Next photos will be of her eyes and lashes and her hair cleaned.  Her body is dry as a bone now.  Dr. Hubby will be putting her walking mechanism back in and she will walk perfectly.
Right after Eye Surgery Sleepy Eyes
Saucy has had eye surgery and in two days we will apply her eye shadow.  As you can see hers' has rubbed off over the years.  We will be leaving her cheeks original.  We applied a thin layer of paint on her tongue where it had a chip.  The paint is identical to the original color on Saucy Walkers.  Notice how new her eyes are looking.  We polished them and put all of our preventative sponge platforms in place to keep her eyes like new always. She is drying now.

Her hair is almost dry and she has a big ole roller in her bangs as they dry more. Her hair has more shine now. We will style them and apply her ribbons when she is connected to her body.  Her walking is PERFECT and Dr. Hubby still has the blushing on the hands and knees yet to go.  We want to shoot for shipping her out Priority on the 12th.  Hope you will be ready for that time slot.  We will have many more photos, even of her in the box when we get to that point.  God Bless