Dawn dolls are small fashion dolls that were made by Topper between 1970 and 1973. The dolls were smaller than Barbie dolls, slightly over 6" in height. The dolls were popular (they topped sales of Barbie for a while), but the company that manufactured them, Topper, went out of business in 1973. They were reissued in the late 1990's to 2003 by Checkerboard. Mattel's Rockflowers, produced in 1971, were in direct competition with Dawn. In England, Palitoy had a doll of similar size known as Pippa Doll.
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Characteristics
The basic Dawn dolls were made of vinyl, were jointed at the necks, hips, and shoulders, with their knees being able to bend with a bending mechanism. The waists also twisted for posing. The dolls had painted eyes and "real" eyelashes. Special types of dolls included "Dancing" dolls (where you moved the arm and the doll "danced"), "Head to Toe" dolls which featured short hair and three wigs (possibly inspired by the Crissy Doll), and "Majorette" dolls which spun a small glow-in-the-dark baton. Another, rarer, type of Dawn dolls were the "Flower Fantasy" dolls, which had the dolls standing in the middle of a plastic flower pot.
Friends
Dawn, like Barbie, was the main doll of the line. Dawn's friends included Angie, Dale, Glori, Fancy Feet, Jessica, Kip, Connie and Longlocks. There were four boy dolls as well: Gary, Van, Kevin and Ron. Dawn also had friends who modelled for a modeling agency: Daphne, Dinah, Denise, Maureen and Melanie.
Items
Cars, purses, cases, and special clothes were all made for Dawn dolls. They also had a fashion show stage, a sofa phone, a beauty pageant stage, beauty parlor, dance stage, and an apartment.
External links
- All about Palitoy Pippa doll
- That '70s Doll: A site dedicated to Topper Dawn dolls
- About Dawn Dolls
- Dawn Dolls: Tiny Doll Stars of the 1970s
- Clothes for Dawn, with photos of original Topper clothes, some within advertising material
