When Mattel's Chatty Cathy first hit the television airwaves and toy store shelves in 1960, her charm was unmistakable. With her inquisitively-arched eyebrows, freckled nose, visible two front teeth, protruding pudge of a tummy, and chubbiest little "knocked knees", Chatty Cathy looked like a real live little girl. Like many dolls, you could brush and style her rooted hair, dress her, and take care of her -- but even better than just looking like a real live little girl, Chatty Cathy acted like one. Here was a doll who could talk to you!

     In fact, this doll didn't merely utter a single word or cry; she spoke in complete sentences, just like a real five year old! And, most charming of all, Chatty Cathy could talk with you.  That's the real magic of Chatty Cathy. Her ability to interact with you made her seem alive. Or at least imbued with life, probably the work of some sort of fairy dust...

     While her 11 (and later 18) sayings were the random gift of a pulled string activating a mechanism and playing one of a few simple recordings, the result for the owner of a Chatty Cathy doll wasn't the awe of a new technology. It was the pure enchantment of a playmate. Every little girl talks with her dolls. (Talking is a big part of what sets girls' play with dolls apart from the play little boys have with action figures!) Now, with Chatty Cathy, your doll participated in the conversation with you. Chatty Cathy wasn't just some passive plaything you used; she took part in the play herself -- sometimes even instigating the play.

     A pull of the string delivered a random "Do you love me?" or "Give me a kiss!" and offered a chance to cuddle and give affection. Another pull, and "May I have a cookie?" or "Please carry me" gave the child an opportunity to dote on their doll. "Let's play house," "Please brush my hair," "What can we do now?" and the like were invitations to play from a friend -- one playdate a busy and tired mom wouldn't refuse. (Unless maybe it was bedtime... But then Chatty Cathy would go to bed with you -- hooray, instant slumber party!)

Like the TV commercials said, "Just pull the ring, you never know what she'll say next!"  It was all so real to play with Chatty Cathy or one of her chatty doll friends.

    Surreal, even. The number of times little girls were shocked by how appropriate their Chatty Cathy doll's spoken words fit the situation is incalculable! Many Chatty Cathy doll owners recall the astonishment they felt when their doll would say, "I hurt myself!" right after a fall. Others fondly remember their best friend Cathy uttering a sympathetic "I'm hungry" during a long car ride. There too were the proper "I'm so tired" or "I'm sleepy" sentiments at just the right time to send them off to sleep... And then the there was the supernatural sorcery of a much-needed "I love you!" -- such as when you were sent to your room or otherwise punished for wrong-doing.

Then again, no one ever really tires of hearing a seemingly random "I love you!" do they.

    But Chatty Cathy seemed to know just what to say so often it would have been alarming -- if it wasn't coming from your devoted little doll.  Chatty Cathy and her chatty friends were from Mattel, and, as name brand dolls, she and her family members were not cheap. Part of the mystique and desire was knowing that you probably wouldn't get one... Every child knew all too well that even Santa has limits to what he could bring. But still, little girls (and boys) hoped all the same!

     The lucky little ones who had their wishes granted received more than a doll, but a best friend. Many collectors today began as former Chatty Cathy doll owners who just wanted their childhood friend back, able to talk with them again. As adults, they are most likely no longer convinced their Chatty Cathy doll is magically alive. But having their very own doll brought back to life and speaking again helps them relieve the magical time when they were children and did believe. And those who now have children and even grandchildren of their own can once again experience that joy as they watch new generations fall under the spell of a talking Chatty Cathy doll.

     Many of the little girls and boys who were not lucky enough to receive a Chatty Cathy still coveted the dolls. Now, finally, they have the means to gift their neglected inner child by buying what they were denied before. Proving, once again, that you're never too old for the magic of a doll.  Like the TV commercials said, "Just pull the ring, you never know what she'll say next!" 

List of what Chatty Says!

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Chatty Cathy is a frequent Visitor to the

  Doll Hospital.

        Because Chatty has been such a favorite doll and for so many years, she has become a frequent patient at the doll hospital.  Most often it is to tighten the arms, but almost as often it is to get her voice back.  The technology that was used was fortunately quite rugged.  The unfortunate part is the voice box is built deep inside the doll and the voice box housing is molded right into the doll body.  A complete and proper repair involves opening the doll and then the rebuilding the voice mechanism.

      This repair takes hours and the skills of our doll surgeon Craig.  Most dolly insurance does not cover this surgery but usually runs around $175.00 plus shipping, and that is even if donor parts are required.  We will feature more of Dr. Craig's work in future newsletters since he does work on other pull string dolls and toys.

A Bit of Talking Doll History 

     Mattel's Chatty Cathy wasn't the first talking doll. There were the "mama" dolls, of course, and many companies that tried to create a doll capable of talking with their little girl mothers; but it was Mattel who succeeded first.

     Two brothers, Jack and Jim Ryan, created and patented Chatty Cathy's pull-string voice box. When the "chatty ring" on the doll's upper back was pulled, the attached string would drive or wind a metal coil which would then play a low-fidelity phonograph record in the doll's abdomen. This mechanism would then allow Chatty Cathy to "speak" one of eleven phrases at random.

     Thanks to the patent, the magic of television and Mattel's commercials for the talking doll, Chatty Cathy would become the second most popular doll of the 1960s. (Chatty Cathy came in second to Barbie, who also made by Mattel.) Chatty Cathy was the first talking doll phenomenon.

     There is some confusion about when the first Chatty Cathy dolls were sold. The dolls themselves, and even some packaging materials, were made in 1959. While the dolls themselves were not marked with the year (the first series of Chatty Cathy dolls bear no marks at all), the earliest boxes have 1959 printed on them which causes some people to think that's when the dolls were sold. But the dolls were not sold until 1960.

     In fact, the earliest advertisement for Chatty Cathy isn't seen until July of 1960; the ad promotes the news that the doll will be broadcast on the Saturday morning funnies starting in August of 1960. Why did it take so long when the dolls were already made? The reason lies in the technology of Chatty Cathy's voice.

     The technology would need to be tested inside the dolls themselves. Once deemed good enough, technology would need to be protected too. (The patent was applied for in January of 1960.) And then the real talent would need to record the 11 Chatty Cathy sayings. June Foray, an American voice actress (best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Cindy Lou Who, Witch Hazel, and Tweety Bird's Granny), would be the voice of the original Chatty Cathy. (When Chatty Cathy became so popular, Foray would also be the voice of an evil version of a talking doll in the November 1, 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone. In the episode, entitled Living Doll, the bad Talky Tina said "My name is Talky Tina, and I'm going to kill you." We can only hope that all little Chatty Cathy owners were long in bed having sweet dreams!)

     Foray wouldn't record her voice for Chatty Cathy until 1960, which is believed to be the reason why the sayings on the front of the first Chatty Cathy boxes and in the storybooks are different than what the first Chatty Cathy records actually play. Someone else's voice must be on those early test recordings! It is also probable that Mattel continued to "tweak" the final Chatty Cathy sayings long after the boxes and other materials were produced.

     While there have been several versions or production runs of Chatty Cathy dolls (as well as her records and playing mechanisms), all the dolls themselves are made of vinyl. The earliest dolls have soft vinyl faces; later dolls have a hard plastic heads and faces. Chatty Cathy dolls came as a blonde, brunette, and redhead, with Paige Boy, pigtail, and bob hairstyles. Most of them have blue eyes, but there were brown-eyed Chatty Cathy dolls too. (All American brown-eyed blonde Chatty Cathy dolls have the "round flat back".)

     There also were Black or African American versions of Chatty Cathy. They were two hairstyles for African American Chatty Cathy dolls: a page boy and longer pig tails. (The pig tailed version of the African American Chatty Cathy is the hardest to find of all the Chatty Cathy Mattel dolls.) In 1960, Mattel licensed Dee & Cee Toy Company of Canada to make the Chatty Cathy in Toronto Canada. The dolls were made from the original American molds, but there were differences: the vinyl used on the Canadian doll had a glossier look, its eyebrows were higher on its forehead, a different type of eye was used in the doll, there was different makeup, and better quality clothing. These little details are what make the Canadian Chatty Cathy dolls sought by collectors, often bringing higher prices.

     By 1962, the Chatty Cathy doll had became such a great success that Mattel did a number of things to capitalize on her popularity. They bought out Dee & Cee (by 1964, the company was known as Mattel Canada). Later issues of Chatty Cathy dolls came with 18 sayings (these are known as #4 and #5 dolls, for their order of issue from Mattel), and Chatty Cathy dolls were made with recordings in different languages. Next, Mattel began to expand the Chatty line of dolls.

     Chatty Baby was introduced in 1962. In 1963, Tiny Chatty Baby, Tiny Chatty Brother, and Charmin' Chatty were born. In 1965, Singin' Chatty came along; she was the last of the new production "chatty " dolls of the 1960s. No original Chatty Cathy dolls were made by Mattel after 1965.  In 1966, Mattel bought England's Rosebud doll company and made a British Chatty Cathy. These dolls were made from completely different molds and therefore do not resemble any of the dolls made by Mattel in North America. The British Chatty Cathy was on the market into the 1970s.

     In 1969, Mattel made a re-issue of Chatty Cathy with a new voice for the 1970s. Maureen McCormick, who had appeared in original 1960s Chatty Cathy television commercials with her future The Brady Bunch co-star Eve Plumb, became the new voice of Chatty Cathy.

In 1984, Mattel introduced Chatty Patty. Chatty Patty had a completely different look from Chatty Cathy.

     In 1999, Mattel re-issued Chatty Cathy dolls for collectors. Like the very first Chatty Cathys, the boxes were made before the dolls were sold. These collector issue dolls have the date of their creation (1989) on the boxes, but the dolls were not sold until 1999.

     Other than the first production Chatty Cathy dolls, all Chatty Cathy dolls, including the reissued dolls, are marked on their backs. The marks include the copyright date and, generally, the doll's name, Chatty Cathy, Chatty Baby, etc. Overall, even if her hair was cut etc.. the marks makes it really easy to identify the doll -- provided she hasn't been modified or repaired. Even in the early years, a great number of original Chatty Cathy dolls were sent in to Mattel to have their pull-string voice playing system repaired. And, over the years, heads, eyes, and limbs have been replaced too.