DewDrop Doll
#1 Uneeda 1950's DewDrop 19" Babydoll - Original Dress & Bonnet
This is the very beautiful Uneeda DewDrop Sweetums doll. Her head is marked © UNEEDA. She was most likely made in the late 1950's, because she has the separated toes, which were typical of the late 50's or possibly very early 60's. She is made of all soft vinyl and is jointed at hips, shoulders and neck.
Was she named DewDrop or Sweetums? DewDrop Doll was a tears baby, while Sweetums generally was not. But Uneeda rotated the names of all their dolls, so there's no way to know for sure under what name this doll was marketed. When DewDrop was initially introduced, she was a doll that could cry real tears when you gave her a bottle. This doll does have the tear ducts. (Without tear ducts, she may have been sold as Sweetums instead.)
Both Sweetums and DewDrop have the beautiful Baby Dollikin Face, with large sparkling eyes and little dimples at the top of each cheek. This sweet face is our favorite of all the lovely babydolls of the 50's and 60's.
The doll's head is a different shade than the body. This is not unusual for Uneeda, because they often painted the soft vinyl doll parts with durable flesh color paint. The paint holds up surprisingly well, and retains it's color; but the doll's head (which was not painted) has faded some after 65 years.
We like to take photos of our vintage and antique babydolls with bare feet, because experienced collectors can tell a lot about the doll from what kind of feet it has.
DewDrop is wearing an original organza fancy dress with a matching bonnet. The sleeves of the dress have embroidered flowers, and so does the brim of the bonnet. The dress is in good condition but the bonnet is in bad shape: it has many splits in the fabric. I wonder if the bonnet was left in a sunny place. The only thing holding the bonnet together are the seams, but you can see that it looks cute on the doll even though it has problems.
The dress is lined and has an attached slip under the skirt. The ribbons frayed but still look good. There is a spot on the back seam of the dress that has a hole, otherwise the fabric of the dress seems to be good. I washed and ironed it without problems.
We gave DewDrop some new panties, as well as new knitted booties. She is a nice clean doll with rooted hair that still has original curl. Her large sparkly eyes are clear with full lashes.
This doll is in good condition, especially when you consider that she was not stored in her original box, and yet she still has some of her original clothing.