Girl's World
Palitoy Ltd
Category
Toys
Date
1978
Materials
Plastic, nylon, cardboard, paper, eyeshadow and lipstick
Measurements
Head – 220 mm (approx. width); 335 mm (approx. height); 195 mm (approx. depth), Hair Grip –45 mm (length), Lipstick –62 mm (length) Roller –64 mm (length), Eye Shadow Container –84 mm (length), Brush –168 mm (length), Comb – 193 mm (length), Box –255 mm (width); 365 mm (height); 203 mm (depth), Booklet - 105 mm (width); 146 mm (height)
Place of origin
Coalville
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 662500
Summary
A 'Girl's World' toy, which consists of an oversized doll's head with make up and hair styling equipment, in its original box. She is intended to teach girls how to style hair and apply make up. Her head is made from plastic and swivels on the base, which resembles part of a girl's chest and has four plastic or rubber suction pads on the bottom. The face has moulded and painted features and there are traces of eye shadow and lipstick remaining on the eyelids and lips. Her hair is blonde and made from nylon. In the centre of the top of her head is a lock of hair which can be made to 'grow' in order to create many different styles. This lock of hair can be pulled out whilst holding in a button on the side of her neck. To shorten it again, one must hold in the button whist turning a flower-shaped knob on the other side of the neck. There is a colour-printed instruction booklet with suggestions of which make up to apply and how to style the hair for different 'looks'. On the back of the booklet is a hand-written recipe. The make up, according to the list on the box, should consist of 2 lipsticks, 2 eyebrow pencils, blusher, 2 eye shadow crayons, a hair brush, a tail comb, 12 hair rollers, 6 hair grips and a pair of eyelashes, but the eyebrow pencils, blusher, 1 hair roller, 5 hair grips and the eyelashes are now missing, and both remaining pieces of eye shadow crayon are in the same container. There is an additional item - a pin for securing a hair roller. The box is made from colour-printed corrugated cardboard. The front and back are the same and feature a photograph of a girl combing the Girls' World's hair, with an assortment of the accessories in the foreground. On one side is a list of the contents, with line drawings, and on the other are suggestions for different hair styles and how to use the make up. Total number of items is 20.
Provenance
Donated to the Museum of Childhood by Samantha Chidlow in July 2007.
Makers and roles
Palitoy Ltd, maker