User:Terryjfisher/American Character Tressy Doll

Tressy was a 11 1/2 inch fashion doll introduced in 1963 by the American Character Doll Company. Hairplay was a big gimmick with dolls sold during the late 1950's and early 1960's, with dolls such as Ideal's Toni and Mattel's Fashion Queen Barbie being sold with pretend permanent wave kits and wig sets, respectively. American Character capitalized on this playtime trend by offering Tressy with hair that could actually "grow". Tressy's hair growing feature was a system involving a long lock of hair that extended from a small round hole in the top of her head. The "Secret Strand", as American Character called it, could be extended out, and retracted back in, by way of a button in her stomach and a keyhole in her back. The T-shaped metal key used to wind the hair back in was called "The Golden Key", another marketing idea by the doll's manufacturer, the company hoping to add an air of wonder and magic to their doll. Further play value was provided by the doll's grow strand, and overall rooted foundation hair, being made of a Saran fiber which could be curled using plain water and special hair set lotion. The pretend styling products were provided in sets sold for the doll, along with rollers, curlers and hair clips. Detailed instructions on how to style the doll's hair were included.The play possibilities were virtually endless. The Tressy doll realized great success during her relatively short production run, 1963-1965, with an extensive "Hi-Fashion" wardrobe being produced for her, as well as a Penthouse Apartment, a Beauty Salon and a Hat Shop. American Character also produced companion dolls for Tressy. Mary Make-Up, who had a complete play cosmetic kit, was Tressy's same-size best friend and could share Tressy's clothes. Cricket was introduced as Tressy's little sister and was eventually equipped with the same grow-hair system as her older counterpart. A series of marketing blunders and bad financial decisions would result in American Character going out of business by 1967. The patents for the grow hair dolls, as well as rights to the doll's names, would be aqquired by the Ideal Toy Company in the United States. Ideal would use these to produce their own newly designed and larger grow-hair dolls during the early 1970's, as part of the Crissy doll line. Other toy companies overseas would also obtain these patents and produce similar dolls well into the 1980's. Palitoy in England, Regal in Canada, Bella in France, and Novo Gama in Spain all enjoyed great success producing their own same-size versions of Tressy, utilizing the Tressy name and the original Tressy doll's face molds. A good source for further information on Tressy is the book American Character Dolls-Identification and Value Guide by Judith Izen. A.Glenn Mandeville's book, Doll Fashion Anthology and Price Guide, is also a useful source of information.