Goodness what a marathon! We started writing about the 1983 Scenesetters in March soon after completing the 1983 Sindy Outfits and Separates. The writing took a while because 1983 had a lot of products and some of these are very complicated and we wanted to get this year as good as we could. True we did get distracted adding other new exhibits to the museum, but 1983 Scenestters was always there in the queue ready for more work.
Scenesetters are enjoyable to write about because you never know what you need to find out about next; from the 1983 Bond film ‘Octopussy’ to 1980s vacuum cleaners, and everything in between. In particular, it was a lot of fun writing about Sindy’s new Hostess Trolley. Those vintage adverts promoting dining elegance and sophistication are just brilliant.
Now I am not a petrol head, but after a lot of reading and pouring over photographs of the Range Rover Classic as it is now known, even I could see just how talented the Pedigree modeller who designed Sindy’s Range Rover was. It’s beautifully detailed and is the showcase photo for this post.
Then came the photos which required dismantling my super mega Super Home and rebuilding it as the 1983 version, heart in mouth that nothing got damaged, as well as the wonderful extensions and accessory packs that could be added to it. The Super Home appeared on BBC’s ‘That’s Life’ after it was launched. The programme wasn’t particularly flattering and more or less described it as an expensive bookcase. On one hand, you can see the programme’s point. On the other hand, it was a blow to Pedigree and their R&D team who had invested a lot into the concept, design, modelling and production of the new Home. When you look across the range of the Super Home, its extensions and the accessories, it really is rather lovely and as a home for a child’s dollies, quite exceptional in its ambition.
With a redesigned kitchen and updated bathroom, Sindy got some great stuff this year. If 1982 had been the Year of Horse, then 1983 was definitely the Year of the House!
Elsewhere in the museum, we have added a nice variation to the ‘Cosywrap’ (Ref 44267) nightie. This was bought by Megan from a newsagent in Yarram, Victoria, Australia with her saved up pocket money in 1978.
Which reminded me to add my 1978 Australian advert for ‘Sunshine Sindy’ (Ref 44693) whilst fiddling with the page.
1978 Sindy Outfits and Separates
We also had a very interesting chat with Anastasia regarding her very odd 3rd edition June doll which came with a Top Pop body. She has owned this doll for many years but didn’t know what she was. We do know that this June became a spare parts doll, but even so, what a find! The text to the June page has been updated.
