Vintage Doll Repair
  • Why Doll Repair?
  • Alphabetical Index of Dolls
  • Dolls by Manufacturer
    • Advance Doll and Toy Company >
      • Tama
      • Walking Wanda
      • Walking Winnie
    • American Character Dolls >
      • Little Miss Echo
      • Petite Sally
      • Sweet Sue
      • Teenie Weenie Tiny Tears
    • Carlson Dolls
    • Celluloid Dolls >
      • Celluloid Doll 1 - Made in Japan
      • Celluloid Doll 2 - Schildkrot Reproduction
    • Deluxe Reading/Topper Toys >
      • Baby Boo
      • Baby Luv'N Care
      • Busy Baby - Baby Party
      • Busy-Baby Ride-a-Bike (aka Bikey, battery operated version)
      • Busy-Baby Ride-a-Bike (aka Bikey, non-battery operated version)
      • Li'l Miss Fussy
      • Nancy Nurse
      • Smarty Pants
      • Suzy Smart
    • Effanbee Dolls >
      • Dy-Dee
      • Melodie 1
      • Melodie 2
      • Noma
    • Hollywood Doll Mfg. Co. >
      • Queen For A Day
    • Horsman Dolls >
      • Cindy
      • Peggy Pen-Pal
    • Ideal Dolls >
      • Baby Giggles
      • Bizzie Lizzie
      • Giggles
      • Magic Lips
      • Patti Prays
      • Play'N Jane
      • Saucy Walker
      • Timmy Tumbles
      • Tubsy
    • Irwin Dolls >
      • Irwin Non-Inflam
      • Irwin Walker
    • Madame Alexander Dolls >
      • Chatterbox
      • Ireland
    • Mattel Dolls >
      • Baby First Step
      • Charmin' Chatty
      • Dancerina
      • Hi Dottie
      • Randi Reader
      • Tippee-Toes
    • Mego >
      • Baby Sez So
    • Minifon (unknown - made in Italy)
    • Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls, Inc. >
      • Colonial Dame
    • Remco Dolls >
      • Remco Company Background
      • Baby Grow-A-Tooth
      • Baby Know It All
      • Dune Buggy Baby
      • Jumpsy (1 and 2)
      • Mimi
      • Tumbling Tomboy
    • Schilling Dolls
    • Sun Rubber Company >
      • So-Wee
    • Uneeda >
      • Saranade
    • Unmarked Dolls >
      • 50's Walking Doll with Teeth
      • Ballerina with detached feet
      • Unidentified Stuffed Rubber
      • Unmarked 24" - "Stumpy"
      • Unmarked Oilcloth
      • Unmarked Wood & Bisque
    • Valentine Dolls
  • Interesting Accessories
  • Hard Plastic Disease (HPD)
  • Useful Tools
  • Cleaning Supplies
  • Hair Care
  • Clothing
  • Doll Houses
    • Littles Dollhouse
  • Storage and Display Tips
  • Stories
    • Cars and Trucks
    • Creature and Whitey
    • Construction Toys
    • Foxy Grandpa
    • Grandma's House
    • Gumby and Pokey
    • Liddle Kiddles
    • Miscellaneous Toys
    • Playhouses
    • Puppets
    • Sock Monkeys
    • Toy Guns
    • Toy Trains
    • Trolls
    • Western Toys
  • Tips for Buying/Selling Dolls
  • Other Vintage Toys
    • Dial Master Telephone
    • Tricky Doodle Duck
    • Tricky Peter Penguin
  • References and Resources

Charmin' Chatty

Here are some of the highlights about Charmin' Chatty:
 
  • Came out in 1963 - manufactured by Mattel
  • Choice of blonde or redhead
  • Wears round black eye glasses - Mattel wanted her to look "scholarly" - this made her very popular with girls who wore glasses (this is before the era of contact lenses!)
  • 25 inches tall
  • Her voice is provided by Maureen McCormick (Marsha of the Brady Bunch)
  • Came with 5 three-inch plastic records (double sided) which gave her a vocabulary of 120 phrases
  • Original records were black, but were soon changed to the more commonly found white ones (there were manufacturing issues with the black records)
  • She "speaks" 7 different languages!
  • Records are inserted in a slot in her side and activated by pulling a string on the back of her neck (only 2 dolls were made this way - Charmin' Chatty and Cynthia)
  • Early versions had hard plastic heads and later versions had vinyl heads - the vinyl heads are slightly bigger and the vinyl face has less cheek color
  • She was a very popular doll and was featured for many years in the doll section of the World Book Encyclopedia
  • She appeared on the cover of the December, 1963 Saturday Evening Post Magazine which now is worth $40-50 (I have one - didn't pay that for it!!)
  • Has many different outfits - all came with their own record packets
  • McCalls produced a pattern so moms and grandmas could make more clothes for her
  • Had many auxiliary products - paper dolls, story books, games, activity books, puzzles
 
 
I haven't been able to verify here original price yet - I know that her "cousin" Chatty Cathy sold for $11.95 in th 1962  Sears Christmas catalog - but she did not have records.  

  • Languages spoken:  English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese (there was also one who spoke English with a British accent!)
  • Came dressed in a sailor outfit with saddle shoes and had 8 additional outfit sets that came with their own records:  Let's Play Together, Let's Go Shopping, Let's Play Nurse, Let's Play Cinderella, Let's Play Birthday Party, Let's Play Pajama Party, Let's Play Tea Party, Let's Talk 'n Travel in Foreign Lands (this is the most sought-after set and very expensive)
  • The Let's Go Shopping set record included the phrase "Shall we buy a Barbie doll?"  Clever marketing by Mattel!!
  • Each outfit set came with a matching accessory/prop for the little girl to wear or use
  • The Charmin' Chatty games also came with a record so that Charmin' could play and call her own moves!
  • Game titles are: Chatty at the Fair, Chatty Skate 'N Slide, Chatty Animal Round-up, Chatty Animal Friends
  • Her facial expression is somewhat whimisical - she has side glance eyes and a smile that is called a watermelon mouth
  • People thought she looked friendly and like she had a sense of humor - she was considered one of the most appealing dolls of the 1960s
  • She was also manufactured in Canada by Dee & Cee under a license issued to them by Mattel (later became Mattel of Canada) - these are considered rare, difficult to find
  • the original black records were vulnerable to warping and blistering and were soon replaced by white nylon records
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