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Chatty Cathy was a doll produced and manufactured by the Mattel Corporation in 1959, and first advertised on television in 1960. The doll spoke eleven phrases by pulling the string in the center of her upper back, which was very revolutionary for her time. Seven more random phrases were added in 1963, and she was the second most popular doll of the 1960’s after the Barbie doll also made by Mattel. Chatty Cathy was on the market for six years, the original doll of the Chatty craze that continued on with Chatty Baby, Tiny Chatty Baby, Tiny Chatty Brother, Charmin’ Chatty, and last but not least Singin' Chatty. Chattys are well sought after by collectors around the world, and there are lots of resources full of information about the doll’s history, value, where to find one, etc. on various websites dedicated to Chatty Cathy.
Here’s some interesting Chatty Cathy trivia you may have not been aware of, Maureen McCormick and Eve Plumb of the Brady Bunch were in some of the original black and white TV commercials, and Maureen McCormick was the voice of the new Chatty Cathy dolls that were reissued in 1970. The original voice circa 1959 is June Foray, who also did the voice of Rocket J. Squirrel in the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. You can go online to find more little-known Chatty facts presented by the original Chatty Cathy Collectors Club at www.ttinet.com. Chattys had three hair colors including blonde, brunette, and redhead, and two eye colors, blue and brown; the most commonly seen doll has blonde hair, blue eyes, a soft face, and a cloth covered speaker. This version usually costs between $300-400, but unfortunately it may be mute. Dolls with flaws sell for much less. The African American versions are the most difficult to find, and the pig-tailed doll is the hardest to find of all Chattys. Rare Chattys include mint dolls, Black dolls, Canadian dolls, and Chattys with no marks that often for over $1000. Mint Chattys still in their original box can sell for $600-900.
Chatty Cathy was the first talking doll to capture the hearts of an entire generation of little girls, and then went on to capture more as the doll was reissued twice in 1969 and again in 1998 and 1999 for collectors. To find more general information about the dolls, including doll profiles, characteristics, care guides, prices, how to become a collector, buy/sell/trade Chattys etc., visit any one of the following great sites: www.chattycathydolls.com, www.chatty-cathy.net, or www.chattycathytalks.com, all good online sources for beautiful Chatty Cathy dolls and vintage accessories, and anything else you need. Now after reading all this, you wish you would have kept that Chatty Cathy doll you had when you were little. Whatever happened to it anyway?
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