Replacing rubber band on 50s doll arms?

[Taxel]

Today was photoshoot day for my more fragile Madame Alexander Alexander-kin and, well, there were some casualties.

I call this photo "50 year old rubber bands don't last forever"
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We couldn't peg down an exact identity for her, but I have  more detailed photos of her here in her original clothing. She's a lot lighter and feels a bit cheaper than the brunette Alexander-kin. The brunette has a significant weight to her (compared to her size) and feels expensive. In case any of that helps at all. I also took this to show her hooks a little better.
Edit: After looking at her legs and what I can see inside her torso, I think she may be a walker.
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Can this kind of fix be done safely at home? I'm sure any rubberband would "work", but she's a very important family heirloom so I don't want to risk anything. She's in really good shape, aside from the face yellowing and her loose joints. Should I just find a doll hospital when I can? Does anyone have any suggestions for a trustworthy one? At most I'd want her arms fixed, general restringing, basic cleaning, and maybe some de-yellowing on the face if that's possible without touching the paint at all.

[kCherry]

Yeah, those old, gooeybands are such Fun!! Said no one ever..

   I think we have a couple of vintage dolls restoration specialist around here... Maybe.. If not, I would think that since she's an heirloom a doll hospital would probably be your safest bet..

  Here's a bump for you in hopes that you can find just what the dolly doctor ordered for your girl!! :3

[MiRaja]

Late, but seems I picked a good time to pop in.  Dollspart.com

http://www.dollspart.com/cgi-bin/dept?dpt=H&srch=D6

They carry the small bands, listed as rubber loops,  for redoing the arms.  You will want to get yourself a restringing hook to do these small dolls.  The replacement bands are very tight, and it helps to have a restringing hook with a handle on it to get a good, firm grip on it.  Alternatively, you can buy stringing cord and make your own band for it.  Your doll is likely Wendy-kins or Alexander-kins, so you'll need to have the very thin and fine stringing cord for it. 

And also, there is nothing you can do for the yellowing of the face.  Towards the 60's, Mme Alexander changed the formula for the plastic and it's just not very good and prone to yellowing.  The earlier Alexanderkins are made of nicer plastic, but they have the opposite issue of losing too much color and looking like little Vampires.  Early hard plastic is fickle and prone to all sorts of unfixable issues, which is why I limit how much I collect of them, and stick to composition instead.  The site I linked also carries some general doll cleaner's.  Carol's cleaner is a GREAT all-purpose doll cleaner, though if you use it on compo, be careful and never put directly on the doll, use a soft cloth. 

Zero Odor is also a product I suggest for hard plastic dolls.  You can get it from Bed, Bath and Beyond, and it is a PH cleaner, and does well to clean dolls with the dreaded hard plastic degradation and takes out the stink of them. 

[tulagirl]

This is so simple to do yourself.  I actually made my own hook out of a wire hanger and sometimes I just use a ribbon to pull the rubber band to the other side.  If you need any help at all and are in the USA give me a ringy dingy through the message thingy.  I collect 1950's dolls and can do this in my sleep.  By the looks of her I would day if she is quite heavy she is the first issue and the most valuable of all the Alexander-Kins.  I have a book and will look at it tomorrow.

[Taxel]

I was hoping you'd stop by, MiRaja! Thank you so much. It looks like I need to make another order from Dollspart asap. I'm glad its such a simple fix.

That's a real shame about the yellowing, though I can't say I'm too surprised. Next time I go down to California I have a Toodles who may have had temporary plasticizer leak waiting for me. I'm a little worried about how I'll deal with her! Composition sounds like a great alternative, haha.


I had no idea you collect 50s dolls tulagirl! I'll definitely shoot you a PM with the info I've been able to find/guess about my Alexanderkins. I'd love to get them identified (or at least the years narrowed down more) but there's basically no info online.

[MiRaja]

Is it the Toddler Toodles, or the jointed baby Toodles?  It can be hit and miss on some American Character dolls.  The very earliest and unmarked Sweet Sues hold up very nicely though, they're one of the few hard plastic dolls I still collect and will sell happily because they don't get the stink, stank and yellowing that a lot of hard plastic dolls do.  Madame Alexander's hard plastic dolls, especially the earlier ones, are havoc.  I had a couple hard plastic Wendy's that are on the molds for the earlier compo versions and yeah, they all had to go because of bad plastic degradation.  Cissy is usually  not too bad, but make sure always to buy the hard plastic face one and never the one with the really shiny plastic as that can yellow really, really badly and almost always does.

Composition has its own issues, but at the same time, compo can ALWAYS be fixed.  If the doll has really bad lifting and busted fingers, that can be fixed and restored like new.  They don't get stinky, they don't get moldy long as they don't get wet.   Plastic dolls, on the other hand, once they're messed up and have started to degrade, there isn't anything to be done for them. If you want to get into composition collecting, Anne Shirley by Effanbee is a very nice doll to start with.  Effanbee, hands down, had the best composition and it holds up better than anything else, and Anne Shirley was made enough and well enough that she isn't an uncommon doll in the least, while at the same time being very pretty and having a lot of stuff to chase like her outfits and accessories.  Debuteens are nice too, but sometimes hard to find in nicer condition and without a bid war.  Alexander made beautiful composition dolls, but their composition did not hold up well, so combined with their 'name' and the scarcity of good condition dolls, they can be very pricey.  I collect some Horsman composition dolls too, and I love them best, but again, fickle composition, and they're very scarce. 

[Taxel]

I believe she's the same as the one I already have, although she might be a slightly different release or outfit. I spoke to my granny yesterday and she was saying that she considered selling her Toodles so I wouldn't have a duplicate (which I talked her out of, since of course I wouldn't mind a double). Her doll's outfit may not be original but I don't remember it well enough to be sure, and of course when I was little she may have been displayed in an entirely different outfit.

She said Toodles had been in storage (probably a plastic bin in the garage or in the spare room) and felt very sticky to the touch. She pulled her out, washed her gently with dish soap, and keeps her out in the open now. She hasn't had any more problems with being sticky. It might have been the Mojave desert heat, the bin, or plasticizer leak. I'm not sure when exactly it happened or what part of the year it was but its always hot there. I think she'd been put in storage before October 2012 since I don't have any photos of her. I can't be sure though.


I've definitely seen some composition dolls (online) with terrifying levels of cracks. But even with issues they're still such beautiful dolls, generally speaking. The material is really fascinating. I've only done the lightest of research into them, reading the few information based doll books at the library, but its truly amazing how well some of them have held up over so much time. I'm definitely going to add an Anne Shirley to my wishlist! What a beautiful doll.

[MiRaja]

There are some good facebook groups too, I forgot to mention that.  Which is good for information sharing and buying and selling.  I'm actually a seller on one of the groups and it does allow me to sell at much more affordable prices than steal-bay.  Hahaha. 

Selling page -  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1445528222343030/
Showplace - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1626438810922246/

Just make a note, if you join, that Renee Heitman sent you, that way you'll get approved right away as the moderator is having some issues with spam bots. 

I do actually have a couple Anne Shirley's for sale, FYI!  <3 

[Taxel]

I could have sworn I replied but I guess I forgot to click Post, whoops.

Thank you so much MiRaja! I joined and its been quite exciting to see all the beautiful dolls. I've been to shy to post myself yet.

Sadly my doll budget right now is in the negatives, haha! I saw them on the sales group and they're beautiful. Maybe they'll stick around long enough for money to come my way But for your sake I hope they sell fast!