Chatty Cathy dolls were a wildly popular Christmas gift in the sixties that bring fond memories to many, along with some not-so-fond memories. A Facebook post I made about Cathy elicited some of the most interesting stories about dolls and gifts:

Not the doll she’d hoped for

Bunny said she pulled the cord out of her Chatty on Christmas Night; the ring was attached to a string that was connected to a phonograph record driven by a metal coil. The record played eleven sayings in the original 1959 doll. Something quickly went wrong with Bunny’s Chatty, however. Her dad, wearing a tea towel as a surgical mask, performed “surgery” the following morning on the kitchen table; Mother was the “nurse.” Bunny says she still associates the smell of burning plastic with Christmas.

Roberta got a Chatty Baby for Christmas. Unfortunately, after watching the Three Stooges and all their hijinks on TV, Roberta poked her doll’s eyes into her head. Her mother sent her back to Mattel for repairs. Roberta says “I played with her for many years, though she stopped talking at some point and just growled when I pulled her string.” She adds “I also washed her hair at some point and it became un-manageable–like my own–perhaps worse.”

Susan says her sister got Chatty Cathy, but she got Thumbelina, a doll that moved like a real baby when you wound the knob on her back. Sadly, while Susan was at school, her sister wound the mechanism too tight and the doll stopped working. Susan was heartbroken.

My Chatty Cathy was by far my favorite Christmas gift. She was my best friend – it didn’t hurt that she looked eerily like me. I dressed her in her velveteen red coat with a white collar and matching headband, and carried her everywhere with me. I still have her.

Chatty Cathy substitutes

Lucinda said her neighbor had a Chatty Cathy, but Lucinda wasn’t allowed to even touch it. (Sounds like her neighbor was a mean girl.) Lucinda got a Poor Pitiful Pearl doll instead. She loved the doll, but admitted Pearl looked curiously strange. It was created after a cartoon by New Yorker illustrator William Steig. This fact makes Pearl seem somehow sophisticated, despite her raggedy dress, doesn’t it? Maybe Lucinda’s parents read The New Yorker. 

Cynthia K. wanted a Chatty Kathy, but she got a Betsy Wetsy and loved her just the same.

My cousin Myrene got a Chatty Cathy knock-off. Myrene lusted after cousin Patty’s talking Suzi Smart.

Ruth got a Mrs. Beasley doll when she was too young to remember getting her, but she must have hung on to her for years because she says after she married, her grandmother took Mrs. Beasley back and gave her a new dress. “Grammy even made Mrs. B. a new pair of glasses.” An original talking Mrs. Beasley sells for close to $400. 

Lauri got a Baby Pattaburp but her head fell off (hopefully surgery repaired her). Mariam loved her Petra doll. Kaye had a doll named Candy. She set her hair with sugar water. Jennifer still has her Tiny Tears.

My daughter Danielle still remembers the year she got a Baby Talk. I put the batteries in the doll and repackaged her. Danielle was surprised when she turned the box over to open it and heard a little voice from inside. Baby Talk had a Boston accent – she said “Turn me ovah.” My granddaughter doesn’t care for dolls. She’s into stuffed animals, cats in particular.

My mother saved the composition baby doll and carriage she got when she was four years old, which would have been 1925. I have her now. The only sound she makes is a creak when her eyes open and close.

Not every girl wanted a doll

Not all girls’ favorite gifts were dolls. Jeanne’s favorite gift was a set of encyclopedias. Carol’s favorite gift was a big drum set. Tina’s was an organ. (I remember getting two toy pianos when I was five, delighted I had one for each hand.) Diane’s Aunt Betty gave her a stuffed purple poodle that she named Madam Morava. Dawn’s favorite present was twin pearl-handled Lone Ranger pistols. She says, “They were cap guns, and playing with explosives was fun!” They were so realistic you wouldn’t dare let a child run around outside with them today, but my older brother and his friends wore a path around the house playing cowboys with cap guns. Carolyn’s favorite gift was a pair of cowboy boots, but no cap guns. Michaela loved her Steiff toys.

What do you remember as your favorite Christmas gift?

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Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist.
Learn more about her award winning novel, In the Context of Love.
Learn more about her picture book, Gordy and the Ghost Crab.
Learn more about her poetry chapbook, Security