Pigtail Sally

In 1935, right around the time that Ideal was producing their Shirley Temple doll, Pigtail Sally was introduced to the American market. Pigtail Sally is another composition doll produced by Ideal, and like many Shirley Temple dolls, she has flirty eyes and a dimple in her chin. Unlike the Shirley Temple doll, Ideal did not have to pay royalties to Shirley Temple to manufacture her.

Pigtail Sally is also known by other names: Cinderella, Little Princess, Mary Jane, Betty Jane and Miss America. All of them use the same face mold and can range in size from 13 inches to 20 inches tall. She is jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips and is a strung doll.

My Pigtail Sally is 16 inches tall and wears a factory-made starched dress and pinafore that looks original to her. She also wears rayon socks and oilcloth shoes that look original. Her composition and face paint is immaculate, but her eyes were crazed and someone attempted to enhance them. Pigtail Sally (or Pigtails, as she is sometimes known), is a wigged doll. She is marked on her back, U.S.A. 16. I love her flirty eyes which still work. She has a little felt tongue and four teeth.

Ideal's Ginger often gets mistaken for Pigtail Sally.  Ginger uses the Shirley Temple face mold and wears her hair in pigtails. As you can see from these photos, Pigtail Sally's face is slightly different to Shirley Temple's.

Pigtail Sally is a charming addition to my composition dolls collection. For whatever reason, Pigtail Sally seems to be hard to find, so if you come across her, you might want to giver her a home.