Buddy Lee Revisted

Earlier this blog, as part of the celebration of Labor Day, featured Buddy Lee, who began his career in 1920 as a miniature mannequin for H. D. Lee Company Inc., the maker of Lee Jeans  These charming chubby Buddy Lees belong to member Jenell Howell. They are the 13-inch tall plastic version, first introduced in 1949.  Both Buddy Lees still wear their original Lee Jeans outfits, one dressed as a cowboy and the other as an engineer.

Happy Labor Day; Buddy Lee

Opening our Labor Day week is Buddy Lee, a true working man. He began as a mannequin for H. D. Lee Company Inc., maker of Lee Jeans, in 1920, modeling miniature versions of Lee clothing in stores. The 12.5 inch composition dolls were offered to the public when displays were taken down and later Buddy Lee dolls were retailed by Lee.  Beginning in 1949, Buddy Lee was produced as a 13-inch tall plastic doll.  Although the dolls were discontinued in 1962, Buddy Lee has appeared in Lee advertising and Coca-Cola offered a reproduction Buddy Lee dressed in its uniform in the 1990s. There was no official female version of Buddy Lee; so-called Betty Lee dolls are composition carnival dolls that resemble Buddy Lee and may have been manufactured by the same company that produced Buddy Lee. During his long career, Buddy Lee wore outfits and uniforms representing a wide variety of occupations, including Coca Cola salesman cowboy, gas station attendant, railroad worker, and baseball player. All authentic clothing should carry the Lee tag.

This all-original Buddy Lee dressed as a Phillips gas station attendant belongs to member Sylvia McDonald. He is a childhood doll and was purchased for her at a Phillips 66 gas station run by Bill Balch in New Home, Texas, for $4. 

July 3, 2017, Meeting

In honor of the upcoming Fourth of July, the refreshments were as American as apple pie. 

Member Beverly Evans gave a program on the history of boy dolls.  In the 1800s there were few male dolls, most simply a doll dressed as a man or boy and often serving as the groom for a bride doll or dressed as a soldier or sailor.  The introduction of character dolls by German manufacturers resulted in dolls modeled to be specifically boys. 

Beverly brought many examples of antique and contemporary boy dolls from her collection.

Dolls dressed as brother and sister pairs have long been popular.

Members also brought boy dolls to share.

Brenda Kaye White introduces Logan, the first boy doll created by American Girl.

Sallie Howard displays two boy dolls from Mattel.

Elaine Jackson brought this boy doll by pioneering doll artist Emma Clear.   Clear operated the Humpty Dumpty Doll Clinic in Los Angeles, where she repaired and restored dolls.  Unable to find parts for antique dolls, she began to reproducing her own, and started in the 1930s offering a variety of reproduction bisque and china dolls.  Although Clear is best known for her reproduction dolls, she also created her own character dolls, like this handsome boy.

Myrna Loesch shares Cotton Joe, an early Black character doll by Horsman.

Jennell Howell told us about Buddy Lee, an advertising doll manufactured  for the H. D. Lee Company, the maker of Lee Jeans from the 1920s though the early 1960s.  Buddy Lee dolls came dressed in detailed miniatures of Lee garments representing a variety of occupations.