Strawberry Shortcake

Back in the early eighties when my daughter was a little girl, a doll came out that she fell in love with and, to tell the truth, so did I. Maybe I fell in love with it even more because once the other dolls came out, I was determined to get them all. I still love them and have had so much fun looking at them again. It was Strawberry Shortcake and soon after came Apple Dumpling, Blueberry Muffin and others. These dolls were played with, so some of the pieces are missing, but I did keep all their boxes. Here they are.

Here’s Miss Strawberry Shortcake with Custard, her polka dotted kitten. Can’t you see why I just fell in love with her? Someone told me I looked like Strawberry Shortcake at church the other day. I took it as a compliment. Some of the kids call me Miss Cake anyway.

This is Blueberry Muffin. She is the only doll who did not come with a companion animal. Poor girl.

This is Lime Chiffon…..

and Parfait Parrot.

This is Raspberry Tart with her monkey, Rhubarb.

I think Rhubarb is especially cute.

This is Orange Blossom with her butterfly, Marmalade. How sweet are they?

This is Apricot. She is suppose to have a bunny called Hopsalot, but somehow Hopsalot has gotten misplaced or lost. I need to see if I can find her. I don’t throw anything away, so hopefully she is in a box or toybox somewhere.

This is Cherry Blossom with her goose, Gooseberry. How appropriate.

This is Crepe Suzette with Éclair, her poodle.

This one had no box and looks like a boy. He has grapes on his straw hat. If anyone knows his name, please let me know.

Ah, the Purple Pieman. He was kind of mean if I remember correctly. His parrot is named Berry Bird.

He must have shaven since I last saw him as his mustache is missing.

As you can see, there is a hole in his head where the mustache should be. A long curly mustache. I wouldn’t have thrown that away.

I also found this butterfly and think it was part of the Strawberry Shortcake collection.

There is a place to put something or someone on his back, but I don’t know what.

If anyone knows about this butterfly, please let me know. I think all these dolls were made in Cincinnati, Ohio by Kenner Toys. They are probably made in China now.

Now on to other things.

David was in the military for thirty-six years and over ten years ago he retired. He took a few months off and then when the new Ralph Lauren store was built up at the outlet mall he applied and got a job. He has been working there ever since. He started out taking out the trash, moved up to full time, became an assistant manager, went back to full time and is now working part time for them. The other day they celebrated him being there for ten years. He is the only original staff member from the very first hiring left. They put up these signs all over the store to include the rest rooms and even the refrigerator.

He enjoys working there and they appreciate that he shows up on time ready to work and has never had a sick day off. He even asks to work more. He gets most of his clothes there at very good prices. He’s always watching for a sale.