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I've blogged freshly about a couple of my Madame Alexander Cissette dolls: my of a white color ballerina, and a redhead with a which see hairdo that I partially restored. I also mentioned the threefold-stitched wig part a couple of spells, which dates a Cissette baby to 1957 or 1958.

In this post, I dearth to explain the rest of the ways to age a vintage Cissette doll. When I say "vintage," I medium dolls that were made between 1957 (when the baby was first introduced) and 1963. Cissette's mold was also used for the Portrette dolls, which were made between 1968 and 1973.

Madame Alexander still uses the mold in her new dolls, but the plastic is comely different than what was used in the 1950s and 1960s. A puppet collector who is familiar with both vintage and recent Cissettes should be able to number the difference pretty easily: The formative is lighter and cheaper, and the surface paint tends to be more glittering.

Cissette dolls all have heaven-kissing-heeled feet and articulated knees, except for the Sleeping Grace doll of 1959 — she has horizontal feet and no knee joints.

The most sought-after Cissette dolls are the 1957 and 1958 dolls. If a Cissette has the ensign hairdo (like my ballerina), you can epoch her by the stitching down the part in her wig: In 1957 and 1958, they used triplicate-stitched parts, and in 1959 they switched to a mere zigzag stitch. Cissette dolls with fancier hairdos and a triplicate-stitched part were made between 1961 and 1962.

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