Since this website is my project, patiently endured by my husband, Joe, as I have struggled to
get it up and running during my late nights and he has listened to threats to throw the computer
out the window, I will write my own personal story here as it relates to Sasha.
I grew up in the 1970's with Holly Hobbie, the Sunshine Family and of course, Barbie. I played
with my dolls until they fell apart. Hours and hours by myself and they were friends to me.
It was always to my dismay when they just didn't seem to last. Holly's hair always frizzed, the
Sunshine Family always seemed to become so loose they were like puppets and Barbie - well,
we ALL know that she wasn't the best quality doll in the world. I remember my mother trying in
vain to hot glue my Barbie Sweet 16's head, as it had split up the back. I loved that doll dearly -
more than any of my other Barbies. She was also balding from trips to the tub. It was only one
of many casualties that I witnessed. I have distinct memories of my dolls breaking. (In this area,
apparently, Sasha Morgenthaler and I were thinking along the same lines!) Once, was when I
was three or four, my Mattel Timey Tell was dropped by my cousin. How I loved that doll's wavy
hair that could be brushed and curled around my finger (the only Mattel doll I ever had whose
hair did not frizz instantly!) But when she was dropped, her body split completely open. My
parents were not "doll doctors" so such toys had to end up in the waste basket.
Another Christmas when I was around 8, I received a mechanical baby that just would not turn
off, so she too, had to go back to the store. I remember crying bitterly that this poor baby would
end up in the trash at Two Guys and it would be all my fault. I lay awake at night and that
thought haunted me for many nights. I cried and begged my mother to let me keep her, even
though she was broken, but to my mother, my grandmother had paid good money for this doll
and Mattel should have to make good on defective merchandise. I often had thoughts of that
doll lying in a garbage dump in the dark - it really haunted me to think about where broken and
old toys ended up. (How I love my Sashas waifs, needless to say!!)
When I was 8, my grandmother gave me a My Friend Mandy doll. Today, I dearly love the Fisher
Price My Friends. But at the time, she wasn't quite "it". I didn't know what "it" was, but "it" would
be a fully posable doll that would not die - one that had hair that would not frizz or fall out - and
one that could be dressed and posed. I remember opening her and being less than
enthusiastic.
But I always begged for more, because somewhere "it" was out there. When I was 12, I was still
begging for dolls and still secretly playing with Barbies the following year when I was in 7th grade
and all my friends had outgrown them.
By the time I was in 8th grade, I was checking out any and all books from the library that I could
find on dolls. When I was done with the town library, I moved on to the county library and
memorized every doll book I could find. I probably knew more by the time I was 14 than many
adult collectors. I had a small collection of composition dolls by this time, bought with babysitting
money.
My best friend had a Gregor Pyjamas that she had acquired second hand from the mother of
one of her mother's boyfriends. It began her love affair with Sasha when she was 8. Her parents
were newly divorced and he provided a great deal of comfort and security for her. By the time
we were in Jr High school, she had two more Sashas; a Pinafore and Green Dress. I remember
noticing for the first time, that beautiful dark haired doll on her shelf and knowing that this was "it"
as far as what I had always longed for as a child. She was so "heavy" and the way she was put
together - her body could not break open --- her arms, legs and head could move in any
direction! We would pour through the catalogs together - checking out all the dolls posed
together in a line and with clothing. I loved her Sasha Pinafore dearly and today she is
permanent part of my Sasha family, as she was given to me by my friend a few years ago. She
has very long hair - in the front it comes down past her hips and in all my years of Sasha
collecting and dealing I have probably handled about 50 Sasha Pinafore dolls, but I've never
seen any other like her.
During a family trip to Williamsburg when I was about 15 or 16, I saw three Sashas in the window
of a toy shop. I came home with a Sasha Tunic and that was the beginning for me. I remember
playing with and styling her hair for what seemed like forever. I think I had finally found the doll I
really wanted as a kid!
I hooked my husband when we were dating. I had bought a Sasha by mail and it was delivered
to his house. He opened it and put it out on his coffee table where she stood all alone - no doll
stand. He just kind of looked at it for a very long time, noticing everything that we already know
makes Sasha special.
Around the same time, my best friend from childhood, who had introduced me to Sasha dolls,
and I attended a doll show where I bought a very much loved and abused Sasha. I later sold it to
her, she sold it back to me, and I sold it to another friend in a different state. Later, she sold her
back to me. So with me she stays. She is a very early 1968 Frido doll with cut hair and
extremely severe pinpricks all over her body, including her face. But she is just so beautiful that
she is much loved here! I was able to smooth over a lot of her scars by melting the vinyl - yet
another of my Sashas to endure experimentation for the overall good! (See photo 3)
My husband and I enjoyed collecting Sashas for a long time together in our days before we had
real children (and more money!) We learned a lot, thanks to many Saturday mornings spent
with Susanna Lewis and attending festivals with other sharing collectors. Remember, during that
"pre-internet" time, there was really not a lot of information available about the dolls and their
history.
She now lives with me and is very much loved! She is
super special because she has the longest hair on
any Trendon Sasha I have ever seen. In the front, it's
almost waist length and all almost one length, instead
of layered! She was bought in 1979. On the strap of
her pinafore she wears a "friendship pin" (a small
safety pin with beads through it) that was made when
we were younger. When we were kids, they were a fad
and we made them for each other and wore them on
our sneaker laces!
truly blessed. Two of my kids are homeschooled and two of them are still babies. I have enjoyed
watching my now 9 year old grow up with her two beloved Sasha babies. Never wanting a Sashas
child doll, she was happy instead with her "bee-bee's" whom she nicknamed when she was 18
months old "Bee-bee" and "More Bee-bee". Sasha babies really are perfect dolls for small children,
as their hands and feet are curved inward with round edges that do not poke and hurt like other
baby dolls. Sasha Morgenthaler really did think of everything!
My Sasha hobby has changed through the years. Going from a doll I could only dream about
having someday, to a shared interest with my childhood friend, to a serious hobby and learning
experience shared with my husband, to a shared plaything with my children, and now to internet
sales that helped us endure some rough financial times, Sasha has always been very much a part
of my life.
We hope you enjoy your Sasha dolls as much as we do ours!
Baby Sasha
