Early Crissy Outfits with Unusual Names

Very Early Outfits for Crissy, circa 1969
The very earliest outfits for Crissy from 1969, as you know were boxed in cardboard boxes complete with orange yarn handles. The outfit found within the box is generally wrapped in orange tissue paper, the same paper that the Caucasian 1969 Crissy doll was wrapped. Just to refresh our memory, the first six outfits were (and the word "The" always appears before the outfit's name):

The Groovy Jumpsuit
The Turned-on Mini
The Fun Fur Cape
The Bold Blazer
The Sleeper Bells
The City Pants Look

Just recently found are some outfits in their boxes that break the rules that collectors have become accustomed to seeing. These newly found four outfits have the original names on the labels that Ideal gave them in the pre-production stages. The names that were given the original six outfits are:

Walking Jumpsuit
Party Oufit
Cape Coat & Pom-pon Hat
Sporty Blazer/Miniskirt
Boudoir Ensemble
Bell Bottoms/Blouse/Tie

These names were basically descriptive and not the groovy, imaginative names we are used to seeing. So what's up with these MIB examples? Well at first glance, we'd assume these to be very early 1969 outfits that were released before major production commenced (and before they were renamed). However, in addition to these four early outfits with their pre-production names, there is a fifth one, named appropriately, The Seventies Satin, a 1970 issue outfit.
To add to the mystery, each of these five outfits is actually wrapped in green tissue as is the black version of the 1969 and 1970 Crissy doll. This is admittedly, the very first time this has been seen in early issue outfits.
So, are these five outfits from 1969 or 1970? Or, if they were from 1969, as the evidence seems to overwhelmingly indicate, and were the three new outfits then perhaps already planned for and named for 1970 release, The Peace Poncho, The Seventies Satin, and The With It Knit?
One supposes that collectors may perhaps never know for sure.

"Bell Bottoms"

Close-up of the label.

"Boudoir Ensemble"

Close-up of the label.

"Cape Coat and Pom-Pom Hat"
The 1969 Ideal buyer's catalog uses the phrase 'pom-pon' not pom-pom.

Close-up of the label.

"Walking Jump Suit"

Close-up of the label.

Here is "The Seventies Satin" that came with this group. Just as the previous four outfits, it also has the green tissue. However, this outfit was slated to be sold in 1970, where the other four were sold in 1969.

I hope you enjoyed this page!

All photography and text, (c) November, 2006, by Beth-Ellen Colvin