A little wild west for Blue Monday

It is Monday and the weekend went by far too quickly. Oh well, at least I can still do something fun for a Monday by joining Sally @ Smiling Sally for her little party, Blue Monday. Last week for another themed party I showed some of my Barbie collection dressed in Red, yup, you guessed it, it was for Wednesday is Rednesday. Continuing on in that theme, I wanted to show a few more dolls today. But these are not Barbies.

Back in the 60's, the West was King. You had shows like Bonanza, Gunsmoke and my personal favorite, Wild Wild West with Robert Conrad. These shows helped inspire a line of dolls known as the Johnny West Line. The lead figure was Johnny West and his wife Jane West. Produced from 1965 - 75 by Louis Marx Co., the dolls were different than their counterpart Barbie and Ken. They were hard vinyl with jointed body parts and their clothing was permanent.

The blue shirt, pants and even boots, comprise the bodies of the dolls. Accessories included rubber skirts, vests, hats, and belts. Like Skipper to Barbie, Jane had Janice West. My brother had Johnny West and of course my sisters and I were always kidnapping him as a date to our Barbies.


This is a later styled Jane. The face on the original 1965 Jane doll was apparently a little too severe, so my 1968 version as seen here, has a softer look. My horse is also part of the Johnny West Line of toys; however, Jane couldn't wear her skirt and sit in the saddle at the same time. I didn't reflect much at the time about the significance of Jane's accessories but looking back now gives me pause. The accessories included make-up kit, frying pan and coffee pot along with a gun and whip. She could do it all. Jane, Johnny and Janice can still be found and purchased through eBay with prices ranging from $10 to $70. I have never seen one at a regular lawnsale or flea market.

My other doll for today is my Dawn Doll. Produced in 1970-73, she was a pint size (6 inches) fashion doll with a glitzy wardrobe. I got her for my 1oth birthday. Here she is wearing her original dress. Unfortunately, Topper Toys, the company that produced the doll, went bankrupt in 1973. You can still find these dolls at lawnsales and at fairly inexpensive prices.

My daughter played with my Dawn doll when she was younger and she loved the horse, but Jane and Janice remained packed away. Maybe it is time to let them go. Who knows ... they may be on display in the toy section of my new shop.

Hope that you all have a fun Monday and be sure to stop on over at Sally's to see what other blue is showing.

Got it at Goodwill
Sherrie