Dorothy
The Wizard of Oz - Poly Dolly, c.2000
The Wizard of Oz was a HUGE hyperfixation of mine when I was younger. I can't count the number of times I saw the movie or re-enacted it. I always credit Judy Garland as being one of my first singing teachers. Nowadays it feels very easy to find Oz merch between the internet being at our fingertips and the nostalgia wave that's been ongoing for the past few years, but it wasn't always like this. Oz stuff was extremely difficult to come by where I lived. Then, one day, I remember being in Toys R Us with my mother and suddenly there, in the middle of an aisle, were the most beautiful knitted dolls I had ever seen in my relatively few years. I'm 99% certain I lost my entire kiddie mind lolol!
Unfortunately they were quite expensive for what they were, and apparently there was much more demand for Oz dolls than anyone had anticipated, because they (especially the Dorothys) were gone by the time my birthday rolled around and I was devastated. I'm sure I lamented about it day and night for an age. My father still travelled a bit for business then, however, and this brought him about half way across the country at one point. When he came home, he somehow had Dorothy! I think he'd had to go to a couple different locations to get her, and back then it didn't seem like such a big deal. When I think back on it now, it makes me :') that he knew how badly I'd wanted her and took the time to do whatever he could to find her.
Little Details
Dorothy is beautifully, finely knitted in polyester yarn with all embroidered details; there's not a scrap of plastic on her! She's very soft, though has pilled a little bit after years of love and playing. Toto is perfect in his little basket and has never fallen off! They really did make things differently in the past. The pictures speak for themselves; she's beautiful and has held up very well.
