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“Dennis! Did you hear that?”

It was a Saturday in May of 2011 in California. My parents were out doing something they dearly loved to do: garage sale shopping. It’s not as if it were early morning. The sale had been going for hours. And yet there on a table in a box in a bag was a voice calling out that only my mother could hear…THANK GOODNESS.

Thus begins the description of O.L.D. (Once-Loved Doll) No. 103, Presley, who was discovered by my very own parental Valentines. You can see her adoption page HERE.

I confess, even *I* sometimes fail. No, no, it’s true! HERE IS MY CONFESSION:

THE FABRIC

The reason that No. 103 was named Presley is because I had this unique fabric I’d purchased years ago because it was excruciatingly cute. However, while cute, it wasn’t really the kind of fabric I would normally use. Yes, it was a print of vintage Valentines, but the fact that vintage Valentines were printed on fabric was too much of an in-your-face manifestation that it wasn’t vintage, not one bit. They would never have done that back in the day!

But every Valentine’s day I would look at it, and I decided that this year it was finally time to use it. Only ONE DOLL could pull it off. A doll that is indeed vintage, but that has been reproduced in recent years so she could easily bridge both old and new: PATSY.

Here’s a nice example of a PATSY doll.

Effanbee Patsy dolls were extremely popular back in their day from 1928 to 1946. They are distinctive with their molded hair in a bobbed style, their painted, side-glancing eyes, and their crooked right arm, perfect for holding things. In recent decades, they were reproduced in vinyl, and are popular to this day.

Here’s a vinyl REPRODUCTION Patsy

I only had one Patsy, and she had a major issue: She had been in a fire, and had suffered smoke damage. Now, she didn’t smell! But parts of her were discolored and she had severe chipping and flaking.

“No matter!” I confidently said to myself. “I can do this! This is her year!” A theme even came to mind! BURNING for your LOVE. Perfect! I went to YouTube and typed in “Burning Love” for inspiration for a name for this girl. Of course, Elvis Presley’s song of the same name came up (“…a hunk a hunk of Burning Love….”). Presley! PERFECT.

Here’s my burnt Patsy. Soon after this picture was taken, her remaining painted eye crumbled into smithereens.

This, Reader, is part of the reason for the longer than normal gap between this doll and the last. My struggles with Patsy, the Super Bowl, and also, my dog got sick. I know, sounds fake, right? That’s what my mortgage guy thought when I told him that. But it’s true! Thankfully, he got better. My dog, not my mortgage guy. But that’s a story for another day…

Here’s my attempt. Her face paint is too flat and getting her entire body to look smooth without an airbrush just wasn’t gonna happen without a lot more time.

I digress! Anyway, it’s all fun and games to tap your way into smaller repairs with your fingertips rather than an airbrush. But to tap an entire doll? DIFFICULT. I tried, went to bed, tried again and again, but NOPE. This just wasn’t going to work! Did I have anybody else that would do?

Luckily, with great success comes great competition. This is true now, and it was true back in the day. Enter the Madame Hendren doll company and PEACHES. She also has the molded bobbed hairdo and the crooked arm.

As you can see, Presley (II) arrived in pretty good shape – which I needed after the trials with Patsy. Her foot was broken was the main thing. Not bad at all…

Now, don’t you worry about a thing! Patsy will get her turn some day, she will! For now, she’s happily content to at least have two eyes she can see her many friends with.

It turns out, Peaches – now PRESLEY – was meant to be. I LOVE that she was discovered by my parents. What a perfect girl for Valentines Day, a celebration of love! My parents were married for 60 years before my father passed away about a year and a half after this garage sale. I miss him so much.

You never saw such a grateful girl! Dancing as well as her broken foot (since rebuilt) would allow her, so excited to finally get her turn! She helped me with Teddy when he was sick (bad dog food! It took me some trial and error and a good scare or two to discover this) and has an absolute heart of gold.

So now you know. Because of the delays, Presley won’t actually end until AFTER Valentines day. But Valentine’s day will come again! There’s always next year…

JUDE was adopted by…Adele M. of Castroville, Texas! If my count is correct, this is O.L.D. number THREE for her. Thank you, Adele!

And with that, I leave you! YOU ARE MY VALENTINE and YOU are my FAVORITE.

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