Another update on the Case of the Mysterious Rubber Doll: Part 3

1961 November

Me and my rubber doll.

I'm including the rest of the photos of this doll in this final post.

This photo was taken in our little house on Euclid Street in Vancouver, by the front door.

I'm behind my Mom's sewing box. I loved this box; it was filled with her crochet books, knitting books, knitting needles, yarn, etc. It had a lovely smell. It was red vinyl, with a cream trim on the front and a large button in the middle. Yes, my Mom still has it in her bedroom!

December 1961.

I loved this grey rocking chair.

My Dad often rocked me in it when I had bronchitis, so I could breathe.

It had a lovely comforting creak.

October 1962.

Baby Leona has joined me and my rubber doll.

It looks like I'm actively engaged in entertaining her with my rubber teddy and my doll.

My Mom told me that once I took a rubber teddy with me to Safeway in my stroller and I lost it and was heartbroken. She went up and down the aisles but couldn't find it.

This is a really good picture of my rubber doll.

February 1963

Recently I discovered this photo in my Mom's album; I had never seen it before!

I'm positive that's my rubber doll with her back turned to the camera.

You can see the knob of her pony tail.

I loved pushing my dolls in my stroller.

Christmas 1962.

Amongst the wrapping paper and the thrill of new gifts lays the rubber doll.

It's strange that I never named her.

My next post about the rubber doll will show a clear photo of her, and a new dress!

She has been naked for so long, poor thing.

I double checked the back of her neck, and it does NOT say Rexall like I thought: it says "Reliable" with 1217 stamped above. I used a good magnifying glass with a light.

So there's yet another clue. Reliable dolls were Canadian made dolls.

My very first doll was a Reliable doll.

Here is PART ONE for the rubber doll story,

and here is PART TWO.

With great difficulty I added these new photos today.

Here are some new shots of my old rubber doll.

Isn't she cute?

I scrubbed her clean and she is no longer sticky.

Now she needs a new wardrobe.

Here is a side view of her cute face.

Here is the back view of her pony tail, which always fascinated me.

My Mom used to take a bobby pin and poke a red ribbon through a hole in the pony tail.

My doll has a squeaker; when you bounce her on her rubber feet, she squeaks.

It's really odd how toy companies created dolls...

Her cute red painted shoes and white socks.

Her full body shot.

A close up shot.

Continuing case of the mysterious Rubber Doll

Back in April 2010 I blogged about one of my dolls which appears in so many childhood photos.

I still have this doll and hope to make a duplicate of the dress she's wearing above, once I clean her up.

She's become very sticky over the years! She's made of rubber. Recently I asked my Mom if she could remember where she got her from, as she appears to have been one of my favourite dolls. I guess the doll was just the right size for me.

My Mom exclaimed "How can I remember that?" But she racked her brains, and she said "I believe I bought her from Rexall Drugstore on Kingsway, just across the street from where the Chinese Bakery is now."

I thought at first that I could see the word "Rexall" on the back of the doll's neck, but on further inspection it says "Reliable" which was a Canadian toy company.

I've put a link in my sidebar to take you to my original post, and I plan to update it with more photos, as yes, I've found more of them!

By Loretta Houben

Memory Monday; the case of the rubber doll

I've noticed a recurring theme in some of my old childhood photos from the early 1960's; it's the case of the rubber doll, which if you look carefully can be found on the floor, in my lap, or clutched in my arms. Yes, I still have this doll, but I don't know where she came from.

I assume my parents gave her to me for a Christmas gift in 1961, as she first appears in the photo above, dated Dec 1961, but I seem to be more engrossed with the wooden ducks!
The doll's original clothes are long gone. I'd love to recreate this dress for her; it has a red bodice with a white skirt and red flowers scattered across the background. The doll's shoes and socks are painted on. I remember my Mom using a bobby pin to push a red ribbon through a hole in the doll's pony tail, and then my Mom tied it into a bow.
The picture above was taken on a very hot July day, when my Mom's sister, Emma, visited from Oregon with her family.
This is one of my all time favourite childhood photos.

Here the rubber doll has a change of clothes!

Aren't we cute? I don't ever remember giving the doll a name, but she was obviously a favourite!

We loved to play in my parent's bed on Saturday mornings. This photo was taken in the house on Monmouth Ave. I still have dreams about this room.

Another photo, December 1961, with my rubber doll.

November 1961: behind my Mom's sewing chest.

I can barely remember this little house on Monmouth Ave.

There's my friend, the rubber doll.

February 1963: playing in the small back yard on Euclid Ave.

The stroller was blue...and I believe that's my rubber doll in it, but the photo is too blurred to really see.

October 1962: Leona and I with myself talking Leona's ear off, while holding my favourite rubber dolly, and another favourite, a rubber teddy. Rubber seemed to be the toy of choice in the early 60's.

These are all the photos I could find of the rubber doll, made by the Reliable company in Canada.

I discovered this image in the 1959 Reliable Toy Company Doll Catalogue for 1959 online on

 June 21, 2016. She even had a name; Billie.

By Loretta Houben